Today's Adventure

I'm getting old. Suddenly I'm having all kinds of dental issues. OK. Maybe not suddenly. I've had one tooth that's been giving me fits since I was pregnant with Big Sissy. After getting all numbed up for a root canal...TWICE...they decided that I should just have the tooth extracted and get an implant. But then I was pregnant and they wouldn't do it, and then I was pregnant again, and then I was pregnant again...

There's no waiting any more. Today I had to go get the tooth x-rayed so it can be extracted in a few weeks. It turns out there's no root left. The tooth is literally hanging on by my permanent retainer that has been behind my bottom teeth since 9th grade. I'm thinking I should get a discount on the extraction, but I doubt I'll be so lucky.

Often Hubby meets me at the doctor's office and entertains the kids while I have my appointment. Today, though, he was teaching a workshop and they told me it would just take a few minutes for a quick x-ray. I warned her about the entourage that comes with me, and she said that was fine. It was all good except the building is in Westport, an area that is not especially accustomed to having many small children around and where apparently no handicapped people work either. I got to the entrance, panicked when I realized there was NO WAY I was getting the Big Mama Graco stroller up the stairs, and asked a man who was walking out if there was another entrance. I pointed to the stroller, and made the mistake of assuming that he understood that's why I needed a different entrance. I walked all the way around the building and sure enough, there was another entrance. With more stairs. Ugh. Thankfully a more thoughtful businessman was walking by, and he helped me get the stroller into the building.

The appointment was quick, the nice lady at the front desk entertained my children while I had the x-ray, and this time I thought to ask if there was another way out. She told me I could park in the garage the next time, so I decided to go out through the garage. We must have looked hilarious in the yuppy business district--three of us pushing a big stroller down the ramp, ducking under the gate that raises for actual cars, and trying to stay out of the way of real traffic. It reminded me of a time I was with my friend Krista in high school. We were trying to go bowling at SIUE, which was the only acceptable place for nice Pentecostal girls to bowl since there is no smoking or drinking allowed. We had her parents' big Cadillac, and somehow we accidentally ended up on a bike trail. We barely got the car through the bike tunnel and had to drive over some concrete barricades to get back into a real parking lot. I don't know how I always end up in these situations, but I always have a reason to laugh!