Odontalgia

It felt good to sleep in my own bed, so naturally I slept really well. I woke a time or two earlier but didn’t get out of bed for good until almost 6am. If not for setting the clocks ahead Saturday night, it was really 7am. No wonder I felt so rested. Mindy’s cough sounded bad, numerous times during the night she woke with coughing spells. Downstairs, I checked out the weather from the deck. It was chilly and cloudy.

Whipped out calisthenics: sit-ups, windmills, and push-ups. Headed upstairs to wake Mindy with a cup of coffee. I asked if she was going to work. She was. She in turn asked if Jacob was up. Nope! I guess that meant that he was staying home. The night before she asked if I could stay home with him. I guess I could’ve but I also knew that my boss wanted to meet and review some numbers sometime Monday morning, not to mention having a dental appointment at 230pm. I really didn’t want to stay home. I suggested that he could call me if he needed me, being just 10-15 minutes from home. Mindy agreed.

Back downstairs I enjoyed a little coffee and internet but also checked in on work since my laptop was still fired up from last Friday. Already, there was an issue begging my attention. And I suppose I could’ve left it wait until I was in the office, but I just couldn’t stand to let it sit. I got crackin on it right then. Unfortunately, it soured my outlook a little. Catching myself midstride, I decided to set it aside at least until after my run. I went ahead and finished my usual, more casual morning routine ahead of a run. Meanwhile, the sun was just coming up in the east so the horizon ablaze in reds, oranges, and dark blues. I couldn’t let it pass without snapping couple photos. Lovely!

By 7am, I slipped into my running clothes then stretched. Before heading out, I went upstairs to say goodbye to Mindy since she, in all likelihood, would be gone before I got back home. I headed out near 705am. It was chilly enough that I wore hand and ear covers. I was comfortable throughout the 4.1 mile run.

I was very surprised to see Mindy’s Pilot still in the drive as I neared the house. Turns out, she was just coming out of the house as I walked up the drive. I said something about leaving the rear passenger door opened with direct access to her purse. Had I been a thief, I could’ve made off with it in a second without being noticed. She wasn’t thrilled with my mentioning it, but I knew she wouldn’t be. Said goodbye and gave her a tiny kiss and hug. Told her to smile and have a nice day. Could tell she wasn’t feeling well.

Inside, I warmed the eggs left waiting in the microwave and dumped Eiknarf’s into her food bowl. We both woofed down our breakfast while Bella toiled upstairs. A little later, when Bella came downstairs ahead of our bus stop departure, I shared that slamming her bedroom door in my face the afternoon prior hurt my feelings. I could’ve used a more direct, imposing approach but decided to share the effect it had instead. Her response was somewhat coy. I bit my tongue, choosing not to make much more of it. However, should that type of behavior continue, believe me, I will deal with it again.

We headed to the bus stop at 757am where we met all the others. Chrissy shared that she and Kenny went to the Browns game Sunday. Said they had a lot of fun. She also razed me about the Cowboys beating the Vikings. Yep, pulling for a long string of loses now so they can get a high draft pick. The bus came along near 805am. And since I hadn’t yet walked the pug, as soon as the bus pulled away, we crossed the street and did our usual walk.

Back at the house by 815am, I was soon off to the shower. I’d all but forgotten that Jacob was home and still in bed. I didn’t really remember until I was on my way out the door and just about to set the security system. Oops! That would’ve turned his day upside down had I done so. I left the house for the office near 850am. It was a sunny drive into the office. Got there just after 9am.

Aside from a quick stop in the office on my way home last Wednesday, I hadn’t worked out of my regular office since the Monday prior. My boss stopped by shortly after I was settled just to chat. We talked a little about our cabin weekend but spent most of our cycles talking work stuff. Agreed to meet at 10am to discuss those numbers I spoke of earlier.

Got cracking on monthly reporting as well as following up on that issue from earlier in the morning. It was 10am in a hurry. Our meeting took no more than 20 minutes. Agreed on some follow-up actions. Had very little time before my next appointment, our recurring11am Monday call. Per usual, the call lasted 45 minutes.

Packed up so I could work from home afterwards. Left for my dental appointment at 2pm. Good chance I wouldn't see my office again until next Monday. Arrived at Dr March’s office near 220pm. I barely had my coat off and on the rack when Lora came out to get me. She’s my favorite assistant. She’s been there for a long time – 10 years maybe.

Right away she took an X-ray of the problem area even though they took one of the same area a month or so ago. These days the X-rays are displayed on a chairside monitor. We looked at it together. Nothing jumped immediately out at us. Soon Dr. March came in and after a quick greeting he reviewed the X-rays then probed around the troubled area. Nothing obvious. Like the last time in, decided to do the cold test. However, in addition, this time he did the tap test, the pick test, and later even a sugar test. Nothing was obvious. When Dr. March walked out briefly to tend to another patient in the next room over, Lora came back in quietly suggesting I go see an endodontist. She was a little taken back that he was guessing what might be causing my pain. She had a referral sheet, but if that was what it would take to find and fix the problem, I would call Jennifer Willet, my old neighbor who has a successful Endodontic practice in the Mill Run area.

Dr March stopped in again to take one more look. He agreed that I needed to see an endodontist since he couldn't pinpoint the exact cause of my recurring pain. Like many times past, he suggested that sinus infections and teeth grinding can be the cause of jaw and tooth pain. I’ve read that too, but seriously doubt that's my particular issue. One, my sinuses have been clear for a year, and two, I tend to sleep with my mouth opened, so there’s little chance of any teeth grinding going on. Dr March was kind enough to have Colleen, his office manager, call Jennifer’s office and get their email address so he could send the most recent X-rays over. I appreciated that since he’s taken so many pictures over the last couple months. I left there heading for home. It was near 3pm.

As I pulled in the drive I remembered that Jacob was home ill. All that meant was that I wouldn’t have to turn-off the security system. Turned out, Jacob was still up in bed. I got my laptop set-up and then enjoyed a couple handfuls of peanuts while waiting for it to boot up. A few minutes later I was once again buried in my day’s work. During a break, I looked up Jennifer Willet’s office number and gave them a call to set-up an appointment. Just as I remembered, she works only three days a week. They offered this coming Wednesday but I declined and set one up for the following Tuesday instead.

Before long both Bella & Mindy were home from school, though. I asked Mindy how her meeting went with a problematic student’s parents. She said that it went well. She checked on Jacob, who shared that he’s never felt this tired before. Said his hair hurt. As I understood it, he didn’t have a fever and his stomach wasn’t upset. Odd!

I stayed focused and busy with work until about 510pm. At that point I walked away from my desk to interact with the family. Mindy received three more boxes of Ava Anderson stuff. Seems to be coming two or three times a week. Mindy brought home Canes chicken for the kids. Jacob came down to have something to eat. That encounter was my first with him since Saturday morning before we both left the house for soccer and the cabin.

Mindy and I agreed to have leftovers, and there were plenty. There were Molly Woo’s leftovers from her Saturday night dinner date, chicken & noodles from a week ago, and even Friday night leftovers – a brisket taco and loaded fries. We heated up the Molly Woo’s leftovers along with the Jean’s chicken from Sunday dinner. The Molly Woo’s was good, but not as good as PF Changs. And come to think of it, not as good as Dragon Palace either. Of course, that might not be a fair comparison since the leftovers were two days old. Chinese leftovers, for whatever reason, generally don’t taste as good as fresh.

Finished kitchen clean-up then ran the dishwasher. Jacob headed back to bed as soon as he was done eating his Cane’s chicken. Next, I headed into the living room where I spent about an hour writing in my blog. Got an email from Glenn sharing that his time-off request for the Tahoe dates was approved. Sweet!

Around 730pm I left my computer to do some reading. I read about 20 pages from my Kindle. All totaled, that was about an hour. Near 830pm, I wandered into the family room thinking that I might watch MNF. However, Bella was watching crap TV – Disney or something similar. Rather than rain on her parade, I quietly topped off my water cup and slipped off up to bed, got under the covers, and tuned the TV to the football game. Ahhh! However, even before the game actually got started, I opted to flip the channel to the Science Channel watching Beyond the Wormhole. I’d seen the episode before, but nevertheless still found it captivating.

Mindy joined me in bed around 9pm. And along with Mindy came Bella and the pug. Those two snuggled up in the bedroom recliner. Mindy dispatched Bella to her own room around 910pm. I was a little surprised that she didn’t put up any type of fuss whatsoever. The pug remained in the recliner, which she’s taken real liking too. Mindy was asleep well ahead of me, and around 930pm I flipped over to the football game. I watched just a little before growing bored and turning the TV off. I laid there maybe another 10 minutes before falling asleep.