In early May, I went to the dentist for my 6 month cleaning...my first one in 2 years! I went in assuming that the results wouldn't be that great. I mean, I hadn't been in 2 years and I had detected a significant hole in one of my molars. The first step in going to the dentist, is finding a dentist you like. I had heard about a dentist that serves espresso from one of my co-workers and I thought that this sounded like an operation that I could really support.

My co-worker gave me the number for Espresso Dental and when I showed up for my appointment, I laughed to myself because after not going to the dentist in 2 years, I sought out a place that serves lattes and chocolate chip cookies in the waiting room. Does this mean I have a serious problem? Or like most Seattle-ites, am I just incapable of going anywhere that doesn't serve coffee?

Now, I'm almost embarrassed to admit this, but as my cleaning appointment is coming to an end, the dentist tells me that I will need to come back to get some cavities filled. Not a big surprise for me. The big surprise was that I needed to come back 3 more times to get 10 cavities filled! I made appointments for the 2 weeks that followed and quickly became a regular at my dentist. I think that being a regular at coffee shop or breakfast joint is desirable. It's nice to walk in and be greeted by name. They've been expecting you and have your order waiting. I don't think that being a regular at your dentist is desirable even if they serve coffee.

The 3 appointments that followed were a bit stressful. I don't think I will ever be able to relax while having my mouth pried open for an hour and a half as a drill hums in my mouth. Let alone the fact that my first appointment, when the hole in my molar was getting drilled out and filled, the Novocain wasn't able to get certain nerves numb. I ended up sweating, shaking and crying in the dentist chair while I tried to talk myself in to holding it together. They ended up having to put a temporary filling in and I have to go back at the end of June to get it re-filled.

After my dental experiences the thing that left me feeling the most wounded wasn't any of my 10 fillings, but is the emotional damage that has happened due to my dentist telling me that I produce more saliva than most people. I believe her exact words were, "You're a juicy one, aren't you?!"

Computer Adventures

Ron and I have been using my trusty Dell laptop that is almost 5 years old now. Last week we somehow contracted something called Spyware. After running all of the appropriate Spybot thingys that are supposed to fix Spyware, our trusty Dell is officially out of order. Ron and I are thankful that our 15 pound Dell laptop lasted as long as it did and to be honest we knew time was drawing nigh to invest in something new...we just weren't prepared to do it this soon.

Yesterday we decided we take a trip to our local Best Buy to check out what type of lap top computers were hanging out in the Computer section. We thought we had a good idea of what we wanted: budget=$600, portable laptop for Ron starting grad school, something simple to put music on, surf the web as they say and write grad school papers. With in 3 minutes of perusing the Computer section we met "Apple Expert" (or so his name tag indicated) Brian and our adventure began.

After Brian asked us how we were doing, we returned the normal social gesture by asking him the same thing. Brian's response wasn't as socially normal when he replied, "Well, I haven't shot anyone today." Even after that response we continued to tell Brian what we were looking for and he directed us to 2 different Toshiba laptops. Both were pretty big and possibly cumbersome so Brian decided to show us a laptop that he "highly recommends". He walked us over to a 13" Toshiba that was much more compact. Repeating him, I said, "So this is a computer you highly recommend?" This was the point when he began his 10 minute tear apart of everything he had just been trying to tell sell us on.

Brian told us that he has been building and playing with computers since 1979. He and his fiance that lives in Florida like to 3 dimensional online chat (I'm not really sure how online 3D chatting works but I really wonder if they have to wear 3D glasses). He told us about how much better Apples are than any PC. He talked to us about viruses and battery life and gigabytes and memory and processor speeds and bullet proof computer screens, etc. I think that Ron and I must have looked like a couple of deer caught in a set of headlights. We were confused and completely overwhelmed. This is also the point that Apple Expert Brian decide to casually mention that he has been shot before and stabbed.

Needless to say, we didn't buy a computer yesterday. We left Best Buy feeling exhausted and once I found the energy I began laughing out loud at our experience.

Today, after speaking with our trusted friend Brian (different from the Brian that had both been shot and stabbed and works at Best Buy) we decided to go the Apple store in U Village and purchase a MacBook. We were very pleased with our salesman Gene who gave me numerous pounds and made our shopping experience stress free. So now we are new owners of a MacBook just like every other trendy Seattle-ite.

In closing this post I just want to thank "Apple Expert" Brian at Best Buy for convincing us not to buy a PC (or really any computer from Best Buy). I hope you don't get shot or stabbed again.

I would also like to thank our good friend Brian Jensen for your trusted advice to go to the Apple store. I would also like to thank you in advance for teaching us how to use this thing.

I would also like to thank Gene for how helpful he was and for teaching me the Turkey pound.

Lastly, I would like to thank SPU for having some arrangement with Apple that allowed us to get an educators discount.

Possible emergencies

I can't believe it's the holiday season already! Ron and I will be heading to Bend, OR for Thanksgiving very early on Thursday morning... possibly 3am. We have plans to get a Christmas Tree on Sunday with our dear friends, the Henderson's. Ron said we need at least a 6 foot tree. I'm excited for our little home to smell like Christmas. (I'm currently drinking eggnog in my coffee.)I have been enjoying the harvest season. I used a recipe my mother-in-law sent me to make pumpkin chocolate cookies. They are really good. I've had my fair share of apple cider, pumpkin pancakes and really anything pumpkin. So, I guess what I'm saying is that I celebrate the harvest season through eating... a lot.

Life in Ashton Hall has been interesting lately. We had 3 emergency "drill" type situations this week. Monday night we had a planned fire drill. We scheduled this early... around 9:30pm. And on Friday morning we had a campus wide lock down drill. But I guess this wasn't enough practice for the 400+ students living here.
Thursday night someone burnt popcorn and the fire alarm went off around 12:30am. Ron and I were fast asleep and he was really needing a restful night of sleep. He has been working like crazy the past week and had a full day ahead of him. I got up immediately to gear up for "being in charge" and making sure everyone was safe and that the appropriate responders were called. I woke Ron up 3 minutes into the alarms going off, shocked he was still sleeping. I told him to get up and get dressed. I left the room to get us both jackets and when I came back to the bedroom he was putting on dress socks, very slowly. I gave Ron his black fleece and told him to get shoes. It took us almost 6 minutes to get out of the building! As we walked towards the mass of students, Ron made some comment to me about being upset at what he was wearing. Apparently he didn't want to be seen in public wearing a black fleece with black sweatpants. Since this time, Ron has mentioned to me multiple times that he did not want to wear his black fleece and that I should have let him pick out his own clothes. I keep reminding him that there was a potential fire in our building and that fashion wasn't on the forefront of my mind. Plus, it's not like he looked bad.
My husband is a little silly. But these are the little reasons why I love him. You may not know this because Ron acts like he doesn't care too much, but Ron is very strategic in how he looks. Don't be fooled by the faded zip-up hoodie, he has planned carefully to make sure that hoodie matches his shoes and t-shirt perfectly. I love this about Ron. I tease him a lot but I really think he is too cute, even if he is wearing all black.