Wisdom is overrated

I had my wisdom teeth removed last Friday. At the age of 34 it seems a little late to have this done, but periodic infections and the fact that they weren't ever going to find the space they need in my mouth dictated that they find another place to reside.

Overall, Friday’s events went better than I thought. I didn’t exactly know what to expect given the range of stories people opted to share with me, but the procedure itself was relatively painless (thank you, scientists who discovered nitrous oxide and novocain, and a good oral surgeon), and I switched from prescription painkillers to ibuprofen as of Saturday evening. I am still in the take it easy stage where I can’t really run, lift weights, or really do much of anything that puts pressure on my head (makes my mouth hurt in a weird way) – as you can imagine, that is the hardest part of it all.

On the bright side, the healing seems to be going well, my mouth has stopped randomly bleeding, I’ve become an expert rinser, and, perhaps most importantly, the procedure is behind me.

In this time of healing, I've spent a lot of time with the cats. I've been reminded that they really do sleep a lot. In fact, it is their main activity. If I move around they'll follow, but when I stop they find a comfortable position and nod off. Perdiodic playing, but mostly naps.

Hopefully tomorrow I'll be back to running or at least something involving exercise. I am getting antsy. I went for a decent walk last night which felt good, but I paid for it with a headache that reminded me I am still not 100%. Twenty fours more hours of relative stillness will perhaps do the trick, and I will try for a 2 miler at a slower pace. If nothing else, to get over my fear that my mouth will bleed when my feet hit the ground with any force.

Plus, after a four day diet of yogurt, cream of wheat, bananas, and other soft things, I wouldn't mind something crunchy.

Tomorrow I shall sleep past 7

This week I felt like an actual New Hampshire resident. Yesterday I made the time to volunteer to help with the inaugural festivities of our Governor, John Lynch. My big political contribution? Handing out yogurt.

It was a fun job, actually. More than handing out local dairy goodness, it was more of a schmooze opportunity. Say hello and thank you to the state employees, try and foist a yogurt or three on them, make small talk. The only down side was that I had to be there at 6:30. Which meant getting up around 5:45. Psychologically, getting up before the first number reads 6 is tough.

The flow of the event was well done, with people entering the main hall (where I was) for coffee and yogurt, and then being directed either to a photo op line (with the Gov and his wife) or a breakfast line. Either the breakfast line was slow, or the photo line was fast, because it was clear that the wait was much longer for food.

In a weird way, I didn't want to leave the event. Between enjoying my minor task, enjoying the time I was spending with the other volunteers and staff, and just a general sense of happiness at being involved in a small way with our state government, I was feeling happy about being a New Hampshire resident. Maybe I don't need to head back to Boston after all... Ask me again in three years. :)