owwwww

I am such a big baby. I went to the dentist yesterday and had my first-ever filling. So much for me with the perfect teeth.

Turns out that my tooth was actually cracked (I got scolded for chewing ice) and a cavity formed in the crack.

A big scoop of topical lidocaine and four shots of novocaine later, I was feeling only a little pain. The sound of that drill is the worst — worse than the needles in my mouth, and worse than the weird feeling of little tiny electric-metallic jolts I kept having in that tooth as she was working. It didn’t exactly hurt, but every time she brought that drill near my mouth I got this awful nervous dreadful feeling.

My face was numb for about 3 hours after that. but only on the left side… and it really was exactly the left side, like she had taken a ruler straight down the middle of my face. It was so weird to drink cold water when I got back to work, because I could only feel it on the right side of my tongue.

Sensation came back halfway through lunch, and with it came a big old headache, a sore jaw and neck, weird pain/nonpain throbbing in my tooth, and a general feeling of strange ickiness.

Today it feels like the insides of my gums were sanded down with coarse grit, and the tooth itself tastes kind of weird and metallic — even though it’s white enamel.

I’m also pissed about the whiteflies in my yard. Garlic and seaweed is not keeping them away. I will try horticultural oil, dishwasher detergent, and yellow sticky traps next.

Leslie found Henry yesterday. She was at an animal shelter in East Dallas. Pongo came home on his own the day before. A dogcatcher saw Leslie’s flyer, recognized Henry running down Abrams, called her by name into his truck, and returned her safe and sound. I figured at least they would stick together while they were out cavorting around town — guess not.