First, today is National Homeless Animal Day. If you don't have any pets, please go out to your nearest animal shelter and adopt some. If you already have some pets but know (not "think", but "know") that they'd do well with another critter sibling or two, then by all means go out and get them some.
Next..."Where have I been?" Well, I've been right here, plodding through my days. I have a bunch of projects lined up, but nothing I can really discuss, since they're mostly Christmas presents for people who actually read this website. (Hi Dad!) So you can just forget about pictures or descriptions or even hints until sometime in January.
Also, I'm having some dental issues that have had me in a ragingly bad mood for several weeks. Last year I went in and was told that I had three cracked molars. I then went through the pain and expense of getting three crowns done...by the worst dentist in the world.
Actually, I take that back. The dentist actually wasn't that bad...or at least she was fine for the 20 or 30 minutes I saw her over the course of seven visits. But her techs were the worst. Hello? What part of "I'm not numb" or "OW!" don't you understand, you jackass????
Anyway, it's a long story, but in a nutshell they put on three crowns and one of them they completely screwed up. They had to grind it down so much to get it to where I could close my teeth together that they came practically all the way through the enamel. It has never stopped hurting, but it did get to the point where I could deal with it on a daily basis. However, as I think I mentioned before, any time I wanted to eat something hot or cold or hard or crunchy, I discovered it was just easier (and much less painful) to chew it on the other side of my mouth.
Until recently, that is.
A few weeks ago, I was munching on something and noticed that the defective crown was bothering me more than usual. Upon investigation, I decided that either it had finally cracked, or the molar next to it had. A few days later, further pain in a different area caused me to reach the conclusion that the rear-most molar on the bottom had also cracked. By now, I was eating everything over on the other side of my mouth and cussing that damn dentist up and down.
A couple of days ago, I was having lunch and got this stabbing pain in the other side of my mouth. Yep, another cracked molar. This time, the crack is so big I can actually see the damn thing. See, I have all these fillings that are about 20 to 25 years old. Apparently, they've all reached the end of their lifespans and have formed a suicide pact or something.
So here's my life at the moment...I have probably three more crowns to get done. I have dental insurance, but, like most dental insurance, it sucks the big one, so I'm looking at spending lots and lots and lots of money...money that I don't have. I can't eat anything that isn't room temperature and mushy, and in spite of all this, I'm actually putting off going back to the dentist! (Yes, the last time was really that bad. I'm a little gun shy.)
So, if you managed to sit through several paragraphs about my teeth, there you have it. My mouth hurts, I'm hungry, I'm pissed about the whole situation, and what little energy and patience I have for artwork is being directed at getting some Christmas presents done. Y'all will just have to entertain yourselves for a while.
(And, I'm revisiting some old writing ideas. But that's a whole other post that I don't have time for at the moment.)
