The Ultimate Sacrifice

The Country Mountain Dew and the City Mountain Dew, originally uploaded by SeeMidTN.com (aka Brent).

No, okay, not the ultimate sacrifice, but a pretty big one. For lent (no, I'm not religious in the slightest, tiniest little way), I'm giving up soda. It's a good way to jump start weight loss, and... well, it's not like it's good for me. I considered giving up caffeine altogether, then came to my senses and decided soda was a good place to start.

Consider this your warning.

In all seriousness, I don't think it'll be that bad. It'll just mean remembering to prep up tea or something for myself to have during the day instead. I enjoy it just as much, though there will definitely be days when I want my Dew fix. Are you giving up anything for Lent?

Really, Weekend?

So my weekend started with a trip to the ER Friday afternoon. I'm 99% sure it was high blood pressure (I was shaky, dizzy, nauseous), but since they waited an hour and a half to take it, it was fine by the time they did. Super helpful. They took six vials of blood, a cat scan, and four hours of my time, then $150 of my money and told me nothing. Not that I'm, um, bitter. I'm going to get a cuff to use at home to check myself. I've been getting the nausea/dizziness thing a lot recently, and I'm not loving that, so here's to hoping keeping track on my own at least gives me something concrete to go to my real doctor with.

Then Sunday morning, my son decided it would be a nice way to start things off by poking me in the eyeball and scratching my cornea. So I spent the first half of Sunday with a Halloween eye patch on. Thank you, Pike. I love you, but it would be great if you could NOT maim mommy.

Now today I'm still tired, I'm feeling the nausea again, and I'm just plugging along to make it until I can go home. Upside? I was down a pound when I weighed in the other day. At least something's looking up!

The Dentist

Plush tooths, originally uploaded by abductos.

Today I got my teeth cleaned. Yep, it's a good thing. But I have to say, I really hate doing it. Everybody hates it, I know.

The weird part is that I like the scraping. For some reason that always makes me feel accomplished. It really feels like it's DOING something. Sadly then they turn to the nasty, gritty toothpaste. I know logically that it's baking soda, but I can't help but feel like I'm having my teeth sandblasted. If the stuff I use every day prevents cavities without tasting like I'm eating part of the beach, why can't this stuff?

Then there's the every other visit application of fluoride. I understand that this is good for me. Probably very good for me. Thing is? That doesn't make me gag any less when they shove the tray in my mouth and that gross flavor starts dripping down my throat. Seriously, I get queasy just thinking about it.

Crap, there should be a point to this. Um... let's see... Oh! Even if it's nasty and unpleasant, go to the dentist now. It's good for you.

Are you inked?

Mom Heart Tattoo, originally uploaded by IKE 09.

No, that tat isn't mine. It was just on Flickr and looked cool. Like I need a reason. Anyway, lately I've been considering getting a tattoo. Actually, I've been considering it for years, I've just never actually done it or settled on what I want to have done. That's always my problem.

But I thought maybe some of you could help inspire me. Are you inked? If so, where do you have them? Would you get them there again if you had a chance to do it over, or would you get them someplace else? If you have a tat, what was the pain level like where you got it? Uh, not that I'm a wuss, just... um... yeah, okay, I'm a wuss.