Dreaming of a White Christmas

I always hope for a white Christmas, but I didn't think that the song would ever apply to my own skin. I went to the store this weekend to get some new makeup base after I noticed that my current base was starting to make me look like an oompa loompa--a bit on the orange side (I guess that base was left over from a time when I regularly saw the sun and had a bit of a tan).

I matched my skin to a more appropriate shade and was shocked to find that my new shade is the lightest one made by the whole Maybelline company. I am a 1. I'm basically an albino ghost. All the darker makeup shades have exotic names like "Brazilian bronze" and "Sun-kissed sunset." I'm pretty sure mine is named "Ghastly" or something.

Now, I know I'm not the most tan girl on the block, but if I'm the lightest shade, what must Nicole Kidman wear for makeup? Chalk? Whipped cream? White-out?

At least this Thanksgiving I know that I can be thankful for being melanoma-free.

Jeffrey and I decorated the apartment for Christmas last weekend, and it looks beautiful! I wanted to show you on the blog, but my camera battery was dead. I thought it just needed to be charged, but it turns out that it's really dead--as in, dead as a doornail. I've ordered a new one, but you'll just have to be giddy with anticipation waiting for the pictures--just imagine: red houndstooth wrapping paper, lighted garland, Christmas dishes set out on the table, and stockings hung by the chimney with care!

Murphy's Law

Murphy's Law is a completely un-scientific saying that goes something like this: "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong."

Clearly, Murphy was a second year dental student in Operative dentistry lab when he made this law.

Operative dentistry is basically the class where we learn how to drill and fill cavities. Like all of our classes, it has its high points and its low points, a few fun things and a few annoying things.

One of the annoying things is that Murphy's Law seems to apply to all of our practical exams. During practicals we work on dummy heads (to be clear, I'm actually talking about manikins--that's not how we refer to our live patients) and drill and fill plastic teeth. The practicals are timed and graded, and, (as I mentioned before) are often the time in which things go wrong.

Disasters happen. Mistakes are made that have never been made before. Drills take on a life of their own. Instruments break, teeth fall out, and other minor catastrophes commonly take place during these two hour exams.

Just today I had a bur break off in the middle of drilling, a screw came loose that was holding in one of the teeth, my filling material squished into places in my manikin that I had never even seen before, and a huge chunk of tooth just broke off for no good reason. The last straw came when I felt my left hand go entirely numb below the elbow because I had been holding it at an awkward angle for 2 hours. Murphy's Law. I had to finish the practical by balancing my mirror on a plastic part of my "patient." (I hear that that's not really acceptable behavior with live patients...)

One of my friends thought he was doing really well until he noticed that a piece of metal he had been using to protect a tooth had inexplicably fractured and caused major tooth damage. Murphy's Law.

If things don't improve soon, I'm going to be forced to go into the "grill making" business--if you know what I mean...



Because nothing says, "Dental school was hard--I dropped out early and this is all I'm qualified to do" like a sparkly grill.

Tonight

Tonight is the first really cool night of the season here in San Antonio, so for me that means a fire (professionally built using only leftover cereal boxes as kindling and tiny gardening tools for pokers), a dinner by the fire, making homemade wheat bread, talking to my husband about Thanksgiving and Christmas plans, and reading over a few notes for my test tomorrow.

I like tonight.

Remember when...?

Remember when you used to stay up late at night just because? It felt so cool to be awake when everyone else was asleep--like having your own little private anti-sleep rebellion. Slumber parties were even more intense. People who fell asleep early were punished by having their bras frozen (trust me--it happened to me).

So when did staying up late become such a drag?

I'll tell you when--last night. I stayed up late; I got up early. I studied and studied until I couldn't cram anymore in my little brain. Staying up late has lost its forbidden delicious flavor. Unless...I did well on my test...

Also, remember when your Christmas list looked like this...

1. A puppy
2. A baby brother
3. Candy
4. Teddy bear
5. Cabbage patch doll
6. Barbies
7. Pancakes
8. Red Rider BB Gun

I made my Christmas list the other day and realized that I am officially an adult. About half of the items can be found at William Sonoma, and the rest are completely practical (curling iron, personalized stationery, tennis shoes). I'm boring now, and it's sad.

In happy stories, though, I read today on AOL that a little boy was digging in his backyard and found two gold wedding bands. He gave them to his mom who somehow tracked down the owner. The woman cried when she received the rings and explained that she had lost them 8 years ago while gardening in what used to be her backyard (the new family had moved in shortly after). She got her wedding rings back just in time for her 50th anniversary.

All's well that ends well.

Cyrus vs. Cinderella

Do you remember my cute little flower girl?This is Jenae. She is one of my precious little friends, and she was also the flower girl in our wedding.

Yesterday while I was wandering the world of Facebook, I came across this quote from Jenae that her mom had posted:

"Mommy, why do I like princesses, but all the other girls in my class like Hannah Montana?"

Just for the record, Jenae--Cinderella will always be my favorite...I love her more than Hannah Montana, too.

Criminals and Costumes

I read the news fairly regularly on aol.com. Aol.com fairly regularly posts ridiculous "news stories" (I have to put this in quotes because I don't really know if they count as news). Yesterday, among all my favorite stories about Jon and Kate + 8 + Hate - Jon + lawyers = 4X +2, I found this gem:

"Michael Jackson's 'This is it' heals the world"

I could not bring myself to click on the link to this story. Allow me first to apologize to all of you MJ lovers out there--I'm sorry. Now that I've apologized, let me say that this headline is ridiculous. His documentary healed the world? Was the world terminally ill with need-a-crotch-grab-itis? Was the world in need of one sparkly glove that Michael gave up and wore the other? I think not.

Today AOL published a much more interesting article about 2 women/thieves in Pennsylvania to whom the judge had handed down a public humiliation sentence. The women, who are mother and daughter, stole a gift card from a 9 year-old girl on her birthday at Walmart. When they were caught, the judge offered them jail time for petty theft or standing for several hours in front of the courthouse with signs describing their crime. They chose the latter.
I love the fact that the punishment fits the crime, but it's a little Scarlet Letter-ish don't you think, Mom?

Also, for your viewing pleasure, here are a few pictures of Jeffrey and me in our Halloween costumes from this year. I went as Barbie and Jeffrey went as "God's gift to women," a costume idea we stole from a college friend.
My friend Carly went as Elle Woods from Legally Blonde, but without her little stuffed dog, she could also have been Barbie. We tried to take a picture of ourselves giving a "Barbie hug," you know, the kind you give without separating your fingers or moving your wrists or bending anywhere but the torso. Carly's brother asked us if we were robot barbies.
I told him that we were, and that all our accessories are sold separately.

As it turns out, Jeffrey may not be God's gift to women, but he is certainly God's gift to me. I emailed him today after we got to school because I realized that I had forgotten to pack a lunch. I asked him if he thought I should buy something from our overpriced school places or try and fight the traffic to go home and come back. He replied, "It's no big deal, just buy something at school--it won't throw off the budget that much. If you do buy something, buy something semi-healthy--if you eat sour skittles and pop tarts for lunch, I'm going to be mad at you."
How did he know?!?!?