Phew!

I had my first dentist appointment in 6 years on Tuesday! (Please don't yell at me Herbisons! I'm already ashamed enough as it is...) I thought I would have a TON of cavities - but what do I know? As of my last dentist appointment I'd never had one so I didn't know what they felt like. Well, the dentist came in after my cleaning and examined me and proclaimed that I had " a wonderful set of teeth" (which made me feel a little like a horse) and that there was only one spot that they had a tiny bit of decay which would be easy to fix and it looked like a little bit of the sealant on one of my molars had been polished off at a prior cleaning (whatever that means) so they'd take a look at that at my next appointment but other than that, I looked great. Hooray! So now I'm back on a regular cleaning schedule and because I was referred by a friend I got a $25 Border's gift card and so did my friend! Hip Hip Hooray!

Next week I have my first eye exam because my eyes have been wiggin' out from all of my reading and computer monitor viewing. As I am Queen of the Worst Case Scenario I spent all of last week convinced that my retinas were detaching and I would be going blind within the year. But my eyes don't hurt as bad this week and I can't feel them trying to focus while I read or fill out paperwork so I probably over thought the whole detaching retinas thing...

Speaking of reading, I've just started reading this book called "Trespassers Will be Baptized" by Elizabeth Emerson Hancock. I might only be on chapter three but I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone who grew up in or currently attends a Southern Baptist Church and to anyone who likes to laugh and thinks church people are crazy. Here's an excerpt from chapter 2, where 8-year old Elizabeth has taken her little sister to the bathroom and discovered a pair of acid wash Guess Jeans in the GA Castaway Clothes Box (I hope I'm not breaking any copyright laws...well, just in case, you can buy her book here):

"When I heard Meg groan again from the stall, right like a voice from the beyond, it reminded me of how Micah had laughed at her for saying the blessing with her eyes open, when she was just a toddler. Right then, I decided I could not let any of the spoiled missionary girls who Micah played with in Africa get their grubby little hands on a pair of brand-new acid-washed Guess jean. God did not want the bratty little children to be blessed at all, and he was telling me, personally.

"If there was any doubt in my heart as to what I should do, it was erased when, through the large crack in the bathroom door that led out into the hallway, I spotted the glowing edge of the church trophy case, full of all the marvelous instruments of ministry. Mrs. Mounts herself had told me that when God called you to be a missionary to the downtrodden, one of the ways you knew it was Him was that He gave you special tools to minister.

"Now fancy clothes may not seem like a very religious tool, but any child who grew up in east-central Kentucky and ever flipped on Channel Three would tell you differently. At age eight, I was convinced that the TV Minister lady on Channel Three was the most famous and best lady minister lady in the world. And as far as I was concerned, anyone could see it was all because of her beautiful clothes. Every Sunday night, I tuned in anxiously to see children line up all around her to feel her furs and play with her fancy beads while she ministered the Word. my mother always said she was nothing but tacky trash and made me turn the channel, but sometimes I would sneak and watch because I was fascinated with the TV lady. I thought her huge, white poofy hair made her head look surrounded in light, like the picture of the angel on the King's Way Baptist nursery wall. I could not imagine a more wonderful life than to look so glamorous, and to be a TV-star servant to the Lord at the same time. I told this to Mrs. Mounts once and she said, "Now, Emy, remember that Lottie Moon was a wonderful missionary as well, and she got by with next to no clothing or food." (I wanted to tell Mrs. Mounts that Lottie Moon was no kind of missionary anymore because, as we learned in GAs, she was dead of starvation in China. But I bit my tongue.)"