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My dental dilemma is still going on.

Right off the bat, I’ll apologize for burdening you with post {I won’t be offended if you skip it because quite frankly I am sick of hearing about this, too.} I just need to sort through my options and see for myself what choices I really do have–and since my blog is personal, and all about me, this is where I am choosing to do it.

Dentist 1: My General Dentist
- He has been treating me, and several family members, for a long time. He understands my deep fears of the dentist.
- He has always “bought me time” by placing large fillings into teeth that needed work, as opposed to sinking loads of cash into the teeth
- Now I am at a crossroad where several teeth are crapping out and his biggest recommendation to me is to get the dental implants, which is still not an option that is sitting well with me
- His reason behind this recommendation is less time in the chair for me vs. the cost of all of the other procedures and hours I’ll have to spend in the chair getting other solutions to the problems done

Dentist 2: My Oral Surgeon/Family Friend
- This man is totally approachable, lovable and trustworthy, not to mention a phenominal surgeon. I feel very safe with him.
- I went for a consulatation with him the other day, and he immediately said I had options and that it’s always best to keep your own teeth rather than pull and replace.
- He validated my concerns about the implants by saying that I had every right to be concerned, which is a lot more than anyone else in my life has validated these concerns, even if some of them are far fetched.
- His recommendation: Second opinions are the healthiest option. See another dentist.

Dentist 3: The Peridontist/Implant Dr.
- I felt instantly comfortable with him, and he spent a great deal of time with me outlining my options {which was a relief to me because I was certain he’d say my only option was the implants.}
- He said that, aside from the implants, I could go through crown lengthening, root canal treatment and crowns on all of the bad teeth.
- Pros: Keeping your own teeth is the healthiest option and he would feel safe to say it’ll last me over 10 years, if not more with excellent care. Cons: It’s a long process in which all 3 procedures have their own success/failure rate. Could we get 2 steps in to learn that the implant is the only option? It could happen.
- I left his office with an appointment for extractions and 2 dental implants. Still not 100% certain, though, but since the appointment was two months away, I figured it gave me plenty of time to make my decision.

Or so I thought.

Here I am today with a throbbing tooth and a nagging decision to make. I scheduled the extractions for Monday. As I was coming to terms with that choice, my phone rang and it was Dentist 2. He said that he doesn’t think I should get the teeth pulled and wanted to know if I got a second opinion, which I have not. I asked him that if I wasn’t so scared of the implants and didn’t have the concerns that I had, would he say to go ahead with them. He said No. Flat out No. He said that there are options to keep my teeth and that it’s the safest thing on many levels. He stressed that no one has addressed my concerns {he said suggesting the implants are a quicker solution is not addressing the concerns I have, which he also says are valid and true}.

So….back to freakin’ square one. Except, unlike a month ago, my tooth is actually bothering me.

Tomorrow I am going for a consultation with my parents dentist, who they both love and highly recommend. I am scared. I hate “news.” I am always afraid it’s going to be worse than it is/was. That he’ll say, “really? 2 bad teeth? No, sorry, there are 4 bad ones.” But knowing that I am following the advice of Dentist 2 {and my girlfriends who have been suggesting this for a month now!} I am going to go for a second opinion.

You might be wondering why this is such a big deal to me–why so much drama about this decision? All I can say is this…I am scared to death of the dentist. And the only thing I fear more than the dentist is death. I feel as if I am facing my two biggest fears at once.

…it’s only 2 weeks away.

Apparently I lit a fire under my own a$$ today. After spending the last two weeks complaining about this and this, it was inevitable. And necessary. And now it’s done.

It wasn’t that I had much cleaning to do {did I mention DaddyMac rocks at house cleaning??!!} it was all of the other time-consuming tasks that got pushed aside that could not wait another day for doin’.

Here is what I managed to get done today:

~ Bills, bills, and more bills. Always a freakin’ good time.

~ Cleaned out Buckaroo’s fish tank since the filter wasn’t running ’cause the water was so low. How is that fish still alive?

~ Cleaned out all of my kitchen cabinets–lysol wipes, vacuum, and all.

~ Organized the pantry {it’s really just my hall closet–my cabinets are too high for me to reach the top two shelves, and I am too darn lazy to just grab a stool every time I need to get something, so the hall closet is a better storing ground for me!}

~ Folded (is that even a word?) & put away 3 loads of laundry from our weekend getaway.

~ Tore apart the kids playroom {it’s actually a 20′x5′ closet off our family room–you must be thinking I have a thing for closets!!} and re-organized it. Every lego is where it should be, every game piece is in the right box…you get the picture. It was a royal mess.

~ Re-hung Miss Mac’s wardrobe and put away all of her socks. Her new “thing” is redressing every hour and just throwing her stuff all over her room. It’s really annoying.

~ “Who let the dogs out? Who? Who?” I did!! I ran to a friends house to let her dogs out since she was working all day.

~ Designed a nifty little calendar for my blogs so that I can keep track of the awesome giveaways and reviews I have coming up on here, and all the recipes I need to post over there. Boy, do I have a lot in store for you guys this month!!

~ Hit up the pharmacy. No, I didn’t rob them. I asked, very nicely I may add, if they could help the moms group that I belong to out with our medicine drive for Haiti. They generously supplied our group with $90 worth of vitamins and medical supplies for just $50. I love when the community comes together to support those in need.

~ Ran to two different paint stores to see if I could get 20 painters hats for Buckaroo’s 100th day of School party but didn’t find any. I am determined not to suck at class mom anymore. Gotta brain storm for this milestone party…

Phew! Off to dinner with the family at a great, little Italian restaurant up the street. Then I’m gonna change the clocks so that Buckaroo thinks it’s 8pm, instead of 7:30pm, to guarantee that they are asleep and don’t interrupt my ice-cream snackin’ during the premier of LOST tonight!

Will you be tuning in to LOST tonight!?!

Sure, a vacation with kids is no “vacation” but it’s still so nice to get-away! We were able to escape for a long weekend to Rocking Horse Ranch Resort with several friends and their kids, and it was exactly what the doctor ordered.

Our experience far exceeded my expectations, which were set kinda high given the type of person that I am! We stayed inside the Main Lodge in a newly-remodeled impeccably clean room complete with 2 queen beds and bunk beds. Everything we needed was within steps from our room, which makes the getaway much less stressful when toting little ones all around.

Most of our time was spent here:

Miss Mac and Buckaroo have always been water babies, and what I liked most was that the pool area was small enough where you could comfortably sit back and watch your child play {with the most delicious strawberry margaritas in hand} without having to get too wet yourself, yet you didn’t feel out of place jumping in for a swim with the kids. There was just enough water slides and wading areas to keep the kids entertained indoors. And, did I mention it was clean!?

The all-inclusive resort allows you to take advantage of loads of outdoor activities like skiing, tubing, and horseback riding through the wintry trails. Not knowing if our kids would enjoy these sorts of outdoor winter activities, it was worth our while to at least try them since they were already included in the price. We were able to make a run, or two, down the bunny slope, and we even enjoyed some night-time tubing under the stars. Here is a picture of my family at the top of the slopes getting ready to tube for the first time:

Traveling with children who have severe food allergies is not easy, but the chef at Rocking Horse Ranch made it less intimidating. I came prepared with meals for my kids, but he graciously came out before each meal and offered to make special foods for the kids. These little touches and attention to detail are important to me as a mom of food-allergic kids. I love watching my kids enjoy eating, which is exactly what they did at every meal this weekend. We also really enjoyed the family-style environment that the meals were served in. Having gone away with several families, we were always able to reconnect at mealtimes and enjoy conversation with one another.

Aside from the above mentioned, you have full access to nightly entertainment, an on-site arcade, Wii Game room, playgrounds, pony rides, “Fun Barn” with inflatables and play areas, and even a spa {massage rates were reasonable, too!}.

Our experience at Rocking Horse Ranch was filled with friendly staff, round-the-clock activities for the kids {and the adults!}, delicious meals, and loads of fun. I highly recommend that you look into visiting Rocking Horse Ranch to make some memories of your own.

Oh, and by the way, I really wasn’t lying about those strawberry margaritas!

Just thought I’d share a little update, and beg for a little more “it’ll-be-ok” vibes to be sent my way through the blogosphere…

I went for my consultation with the oral surgeon today, and I left feeling better than I anticipated. But that “buzz” has worn off a bit, and I am on the road back to Dwellville. I am going to try to take a break from the dwelling, at least for the next few days. I’ll be meeting with an Endodontist on Thursday who will share with me her take on my mouth.

My oral surgeon suggested that before these teeth are removed, I consider a full evaluation by someone who specializes in root canals. He feels that we should do all we can to save the tooth/teeth before resulting in extracting them and going ahead with the implants, especially given how uneasy the thought of implants makes me. The thought of 3 root canals pleased me beyond imagination {sounds crazy!}

But then we got home, and DaddyMac & I started talking about it and he doesn’t think I should get so excited yet. He said that, like the oral surgeon said, there may or may not be enough tooth structure left to support the post/crown. I am hanging on to the may, apparently he is being logical and hanging on to the may not.

So, call it wishful thinking, call it pleading and begging, or call it praying, but you bet that’s what I’ll be doing until my appointment on Thursday. I’ll be siked if she can save 2 of these 3 teeth this way. I just don’t want those darn implants…

I’ve teamed up with 5 other women blogger’s in the hopes of breaking out of the staple of stale supper’s. We want to challenge the same old standard’s that we have created for ourselves! We will be pulling out our cookbooks, dusting off our creativity and getting busy in the kitchen.

We will give you recipes, idea’s and inspiration all while blogging about the trials and tribulations of learning new techniques for getting dinner on the table.

Each week we will host a MckLinky blog hop for you to share your recipe posts too! We are looking for some recipes to feature in February…if you have any delicious recipes that you think we should see — Link Up Below!!

I hope that you will join me on my yummy journey!

I have an amazing husband who truly loves me in good times and in bad. He supports me and encourages me every single day. He works hard year-round so that I can stay home and raise our children. He is a respectable man, loved and enjoyed by so many. He’s opinionated yet honest and kind. He’s handsome. And he’s a wonderful daddy.

I have a adorable son who loves me more than life itself. At just 5 years old, he knows just what to do to put a smile on my face. Sure, he does typical 5 year old things that drive any parent crazy, but he is sweet, and gentle, and hilarious, and healthy.

I have a beautiful daughter who is already my pal. She is spunky, and witty, and healthy. She is full of energy and life. She is entertaining, to say the least. She is always at my side and I’d have it no other way.

I have a home bigger than I need, filled with more stuff than I need. It’s bursting at it’s beams with love and joy. It’s a happy home–warm and colorful on the inside, with a huge yard for my kids to play in complete with swing set and pool. A deck and screenroom for DaddyMac and I to sit back and watch them enjoy their childhood. We have fantastic neighbors, to boot.

I have a large extended family that adores me. Each one of us is so unique and we are a complete package. As with all families, we all have our fair share of craziness, but that makes our family interesting.

I have an amazing circle of friends who have accepted me as the fun-loving yet crazy (in all sense of the word) person that I am. They always have a shoulder to lean on, an ear to listen, and a glass ready to pour some wine into. Our children adore each other, our husbands get along well, and our time together is filled with laughter for us all.

I have my health. And although I am battling my mental health these days, I will bounce back like I always do because I am blessed with all of the above.