Fuzzy Yellow Sweaters

Growing up, dental hygiene was not a priority in my family. I don't remember being told to brush my teeth, although I'm sure I must have gotten some instruction on the topic. Living in Chicago, there was fluoride in the drinking water and I'm sure that contributed to my parents general lack of dental worry.  Visiting the dentist was a hit or miss proposition with enough hitting to make a nasty impression on me.

When I was 10 I started spending my summers with my grandparents in Wisconsin. My grandmother is the only person that I remember cussing at me to brush my teeth. Fortunately, they had Crest toothpaste (which is my favorite) and I learned that tooth brushing could be a good thing. But then I would go back home and have to use nasty Colgate toothpaste. The brushing of the teeth would then be sporadic at best.

I remember having a conversation with one of my cousins about teeth. I don't remember much about that conversation except that she said that when she didn't brush her teeth for a long time they developed fuzzy yellow sweaters. Then she smiled and, sure enough, her teeth did have fuzzy yellow sweaters. Hahaha! But really, ICK!

When I went away to college peer pressure helped me become a more diligent brusher of teeth. I would say that I probably brushed my teeth about 90% of the time, a vast improvement from living at home. Years went by and then I found myself married. And then I found myself pregnant.

Ah pregnancy! The joy of growing a new life. And the misery of having a parasite sucking the life out of me. Morning sickness was my constant companion for 8 months. (Why is it called morning sickness when it lasts all day?) I could smell everything more acutely and most of the smells were bad. Some things grossed me by their mere presence (namely, hair). And brushing my teeth sent me into paroxysms of retching. Once again I stopped brushing my teeth on a regular basis.

And then the baby came, and with her came sleep-deprivation. And with sleep-deprivation came forgetfulness. I choose to blame the forgetfulness for why it didn't occur to me to resume brushing my teeth until my dear little one got her own teeth.

Well, by now over a year had passed and all my good dental habits were gone. And since I had three more babies, that pattern was followed three more times. Random tooth brushing was to be my lot for the next decade. Sigh.

Recently, while watching some random Super Junior show on YouTube, I heard Leeteuk talk about brushing teeth. He steps out of a mini van somewhere in South Korea and starts talking about the fact that he brought his toothbrush along. You would think he was doing a PSA for dental hygiene: "See! Look! I brought my toothbrush along. (Turns to camera and points at toothbrush.) You should brush your teeth every day! Three minutes each time! Three times a day!"  No wonder he has such beautiful teeth.

Ever since that day I feel compelled to brush my teeth. Every day! Three minutes each time! But only twice a day. No fuzzy yellow sweaters for me!

Where Did December Go?

I seem to have misplaced the month of December. Can someone please help me find it? Hopefully before Christmas? I really can't imagine where I've left it.

It seems like just yesterday I was cleaning up the mess from Thanksgiving. Then I was attempting to pick up  my #2 Daughter from the airport. I was thwarted by pea soup fog that prevented her from getting back from India in a timely fashion. She spent the night "sleeping" in the airport in Chicago. I spent the night tossing and turning, hoping that a 19 year old alone in the airport would be safe. She was. Sigh.

Then there were days of grumping at The Boy about getting his homework turned in. I mean, honestly, how hard can it be to get him to see the light? School is important! Right? Well..... I'm still working on that challenge.

Many days have been spent eating out. This makes me sad. Normally, I love to eat out but Dude-Man and I made a deal that gets me money for a trip to South Korea. The money comes from not eating out. I have saved so little money it is pathetic. And depressing.

Why have I been eating out so much? I blame it on #2 Daughter (who shall hereafter be known as MoLi). When she got back from India she wanted to eat out at all her favorite places, and I caved into her pleadings. I'm a wimp of a mother. And she wants to do stuff every day too. Like shopping. And seeing her friends. And shopping. Aigoo!

I have been trying to keep up with my Korean studies but that is going slowly. There are many distractions. Especially since #1 Daughter is home more because finals are over. Argh! I love my kids, I really do. But they are bossy! (No, they do not get it from me! I am never bossy!) And I am easily persuaded to take them out to eat or do whatever they want to do.

Now I understand that it's the Christmas season. When did that happen? I'm usually nearly done with Christmas shopping before Thanksgiving. Well not this year! I typically love to listen to Christmas music and watch Christmas movies. Har! Can you say boring? Then there's the decorating. Turning the house into a cozy haven of Christmas cheer has often been one of my chief delights of the holiday season. Not any more. It all just seems like a bunch of work. Bah Humbug!

We bought a tree. No one cried. The tree got set up in the living room window. Giggles (#3 Daughter) put the lights on the tree. Sort of. It was more like she was lashing the branches together using strings of Christmas lights. I am not exaggerating when I say she used at least 400 lights on the top two feet of the tree! I tried to help but I only seemed to worsen the problem. Later, Dude-Man took care of the lights on the rest of  the tree. I think he used 200 lights on the other 6 feet of the tree. A lighting master piece!

I did not like the tree in the window. It was taking up too much room so I decided that it needed to be moved. The Boy and I moved it to another part of the room. I didn't like it there, so I moved it across the room. It finally has a home! But the poor thing only has 4 ornaments on it. Four. That's it. No one wants to put any on. They seem to be happy that there are lights on it and some red bead garland.

So now it's five days until Christmas. I have 5 pairs of pajama bottoms to make. Wrapping of presents to do. Cooking and cleaning to take care of. Decorating! Peace negotiations to make since all of the kids are off from school. And somewhere amongst all that chaos I need to find the Spirit of Christmas. Heaven help me!

I think I will watch a Super Junior Christmas music video and go to bed. After all, tomorrow is another day.

Perserverance

Long time, no post. I keep trying to post something and then I hate what I write, therefore, no posts. Maybe this time I will actually do it.

During the last week I have actually exercised every single day. This is a real breakthrough for me. I always have great intentions to exercise regularly but then something happens- I sleep in, life gets busy, I hurt myself , I loose my motivation, ad nauseum.

I have been regretting that I have not really followed through any of my goals that I stated in My First Siwon Post (you can see the goals at the very end of that post from September). So I decided to at least work on the exercise goal. I have learned from the last couple of months that having a routine really helps me to get stuff done. The one day I slept-in and exercised in the afternoon I regretted it. Now I get up, make my bed, get dressed, and then exercise. No breakfast. No checking emails. No cleaning. That's it. It is working. I have exercised eight days in a row.

Of course nothing can go off without a hitch. On Saturday I attempted to do the 5k workout on my treadmill. Half a mile into the program, I needed to go to the bathroom. I paused the program to do my business. When I got back to the machine there were less than 30 seconds left before it would reset itself. In my hurry to get started I knocked the emergency shutoff and reset the blasted thing. Since I was feeling kind of lazy, I decided to different program. A program that I had not done for months. Big mistake.

I chose level 4 which has a max speed of 5mph and 3.5 incline. Off I went, feeling rather smug for my great idea. As I walked and jogged I thought, "Man, I'm really getting into shape! Look at me go!" But the jogging quickly turned into running and the running did not end. Sweat was dripping into my eyes. I was gasping for each breath. Then I noticed a pain in my hip.

I have been very over weight for 20+ years. I have given birth to four children. I now have what I call an apron of  flab. It is gross. It is disgusting. I hope that with exercise it will go away, but right now it seems to be threatening to become a permanent fixture of my body. I really, really hate it.

Anyway, as I was running and sweating and gasping I realized that stupid apron of flab was flopping around with great force. Before I knew it, I pulled something in my hip because of that thing. I slowed everything downed and "finished " the program hobbling about like some old crone. Crap!

All day Saturday it hurt to walk. Sunday morning I did some yoga, hoping that all the slow, gentle stretching would help. I felt better, but not much.

This morning I was back to my regular routine until I had to run. As my flab apron started to bounce and my hip started to throb, I felt a wave of desperation hit. Was I going to have to give up exercising so my stupid hip could heal from whatever it was my stupid flab apron had done to it? Then remembered some pictures that Donghae and Leeteuk put on Twitter of their injuries while preparing for the concert season-

Those are Donghae's legs after he strained muscles in his calves during the intense practices For Super Show 3 and SMTown 2010. There was never any question that he would keep on practicing. He is so dedicated to always doing his best in every performance.

I know, it's gross! That's the blister Leeteuk got while preparing for the same concerts as above. I got a blister on my heel this summer. It was actually a blister on a blister. I didn't exercise for a month. Leetuek didn't let that little blister slow him down a bit. He performed in at least three concerts while keeping up  his other responsibilities.

Now I realize these are not really bad injuries. But they are very uncomfortable. Donghae and Leeteuk press on. I go to bed. Well not this time. As my hip erupted into flames of pain I gained strength from their examples. I changed the program, walked at a quick pace, and was able to go for over a mile today. Success!