1. What did you do in 2011 that you’d never done before?
   I got to see a little bit of California’s wine country! So lovely, I want to go back.
2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
   I don’t usually make real resolutions, but in 2012 I’m going to continue improving my domestic diva-ness: canning my own food and sewing my own quilt.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
   My friend, Erin, had her daughter, Lillian, last New Year’s Eve.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
   Jason’s uncle (aka Dad #2), Fred, passed away in August. My mom’s uncle, Roger, passed away in September.
5. What countries did you visit?
   I decided to stay in the US this year… (I should use my passport more.)
6. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011?
   Paint on the walls in my home, a comfortable crafting room (“lady town”), and my dream bathroom. We have a lot of housework to do in 2012! (And thanks to my generous siblings, we have a very good head-start with our home improvement funds.)
7. What date(s) from 2011 will remain etched your memory, and why?
   Over the 4^th of July weekend I photographed a very lovely half-Indian, half-Scottish wedding. August 21^st was the day Uncle Fred lost his battle with cancer. July 29^th was the day Jason closed on the house. (There were a lot of good days mixed in with bad days this year.)
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
   Advancing my career as a web chick (aka web developer)!
9. What was your biggest failure?
   Not paying off more debt.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
    Excellent timing: I was diagnosed with an ear infection about two days prior to my insurance ending with my previous employer — and I would’ve had to wait another month for my insurance with my new employer to kick in!
11. What was the best thing you bought?
    Movers really helped me out mid-August (as did my fantastic brother-in-law).
12. Where did most of your money go?
    I’m honestly not sure — a lot of little things really add up, I guess.
13. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
    Moving into the house with the man I love! Also, becoming more of a domestic diva: cooking for Thanksgiving dinner with friends, canning, gardening (next year), knitting, and sewing.
14. What song(s) will always remind you of 2011?
    Cloud Cult’s “Running with the Wolves.”
15. Compared to this time last year, are you:
    • happier or sadder? Happier!
    • thinner or fatter? About the same, though my new employer feeds me a lot and I haven’t been walking or standing as much.
    • richer or poorer? A little bit richer, but still working on paying off that pile of debt!
16. What do you wish you’d done more of?
    Crafting, reading, hanging out with friends.
17. What do you wish you’d done less of?
    Wallowing in depression about money.
18. How will you be spending/did you spend Christmas?
    Over the last couple days, Jason and I were in South Dakota with my family. This afternoon we’re celebrating Bertine & Zach’s wedding. In another two weekends, we’ll be celebrating with Jason’s family in Iowa.
19. Did you fall in love in 2011?
    I fell more in love, if that’s even possible.
20. How many one-night stands?
    I try to stand at least once every night.
21. What was your favorite TV program?
    The Walking Dead. It makes me nervous and I can’t watch it without Jason being around, but it’s so well written and acted!
22. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
    I try not to use this word/feel this emotion.
23. What was the best book you read?
    The only book I read this year was The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom, but I did very much enjoy it.
24. What was/were your greatest musical discoveries?
    Florence + The Machine is probably my favorite from this year.
25. What did you want and get?
    For the last five months or so, I’ve been dying to trade in my Android for an iPhone, but it was never financially feasible. I was going to wait until next month to take the plunge, but my sweetie did some sneaking around and got me an iPhone for Christmas! I may or may not have cried (just a little bit). (Excitement, you know?) (Who am I kidding? I cry at everything.)
26. What was your favorite film of this year?
    Harry Potter!
27. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
    I turned 30 this past November. I had a couple friends visiting, Bridget and Lindy. We went to brunch at Fat Nat’s Eggs, visited the Museum of Russian Art and IKEA, then for dinner (with Jason and Kristi joining) we made Tater Tot Hot Dish and watched both of the final Harry Potter movies back-to-back. It was a great day!
28. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
    If our girl kitties would just (at least) tolerate each other.
29. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011?
    Too poor to shop for clothing, make do with what I have.
30. What kept you sane?
    Jason.
31. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
    I very much enjoyed watching Will & Kate’s Royal Wedding (and seeing what she wore and her jewelry and etc. etc. etc.)
32. What political issue stirred you the most?
    I don’t know, I’m not really very political (out loud, I guess).
33. Who did you miss?
    Friends from South Dakota (I didn’t make it home enough this year).
34. Who was the best new person you met?
    I met a lot of new people this year — my new team at work, friends’ friends, or people just passing through my life’s adventures.
35. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011:
    Just breathe. Everything will work out.
36. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
    Then lights they fill the air, or were they always there?
    I finally see it. I finally see it.
    And I heard the captain say, I heard the captain say,
    “You’re always close to it, so very close to it.”
    There’s so much energy in us.

a little over a month ago, i had a ct scan to determine whether or not and how much bone grafting i would need.

tooth implant #1 (and likely #2, as well) is in a spot where my sinus cavity needs bone or whatever to support it. since my previous tooth was a tiny baby tooth, the cavity had been falling sort of inward. this meant that i would not have enough bone to support the necessary post implant for my soon-to-come new tooth. kind of awkward to explain since i only sort of understand it. it sounds scarier than it is, i know now — i had my bone graft yesterday.

my doctor told me that he may not be able to do both the bone graft and post implant in one surgery, which would be regrettable for time and pain and all of that jazz. i just simply might not have enough of my own bone to support the post while the graft heals at the same time. luckily, though, good news in the end — he did both parts of the procedure yesterday! this means i’ll probably be healing for most of the rest of year and maybe get my final tooth sometime in the fall. i have a check-up in two weeks to make sure it’s all healing nicely.

although i thought i’d be knocked out like i was when i had my one wisdom tooth removed, i was simply on a sedative that made me sleepy. i was listening to the whole conversation my doctor and the nurses had about their personal mattress preferences (mixed reviews on the sleep number bed) and opened my eyes a couple times, but otherwise i just chilled. i heard drilling noises, but didn’t feel much pressure or anything else. (i probably could’ve used this sedative when i had my frenectomy a few years ago — i burst into tears towards the end of that procedure. embarassing, but i am good at crying at just about anything.)

afterwards i was wheeled into a little, private recovery room where i laid down and had a fluid drip for about a half hour. it would’ve been a nice time for a nap, but i also kind of just wanted to go home. after making sure to ask about my sweater and toothbrush a few times (i was really nervous about forgetting something), they took out my iv, got me sitting up, then wheeled me out to meet jason, who had pulled his car up. we stopped at walgreens for my prescriptions, then came back to my apartment.

i really like that my doctor called me later in the afternoon to check in on me and remind me to keep putting the ice pack on my face and to drink a lot of fluids.

i came home with four prescriptions: anti-bacterial mouthwash, an antibiotic, special ibuprofen and vicodin. my whole left cheek, including half of my nose, was numb for most of the evening. jason doted on me though he was expecting me to be much more whiny. either my tolerance for pain is high (which i’ve always thought it was), or the drugs are helping to keep me quiet. i mostly just laid around with him all night. we watched “the king’s speech” and “the social network,” leaving only three of the academy award’s best film nominations from this year that we haven’t seen. (i have my doubts that we’ll get around to watching “toy story 3″ anytime soon.)

the photo was from last night, before heading to bed. my face looks a little less puffy today, i think, but smiling is still difficult. i’m feeling a bit nervous about over-excising my cheek muscle so near my sinus cavity. it’s probably a good concern to have.

everything considered, this whole experience has (so far) been much easier than i anticipated. i would still rate the tooth-pulling as the worst part, and that’s over pretty quickly!

i’m not sure how old i was, maybe 6 or 7? i had a huuuuge crush on this cute boy named jon, so one day at day care, during sesame street, i managed to trap him in a corner and i planted a big smooch on his face.

he did not like this.

i don’t remember what happened afterward. did i faint from happiness? did i get in trouble? who knows.

i think it’s hilarious.

what kind of photos best accompanies this memory? i don’t think i have one. i’m tired of being sick, by the way. can i go to bed now?

Today I visited Dr. Molletti. She had been out due to having a baby, and she wanted to see how my gum graft was healing. Everyone tells me it’s beautiful. That’s good.

She also gave me a brief time line if I were to get dental implants to replace two of my baby teeth (the adult teeth are/were missing). The two teeth in question are on the edge of my smile—they would get pulled, then I would wait a few weeks to allow healing. Then she would install the implants (titanium screws, I think she said) into those spaces and we would wait half a year for those to heal. (During this time, I can either live with gaps or get falsies to maintain a normal-looking smile—but I wouldn’t be able to wear them when eating, so it’d be kind of like having a retainer again.) Then I would go back in and she would install permanent false teeth/crowns. Then I would be sufficiently normal mouth-wise and hopefully she won’t think of further surgeries for me to have.

Whether or not she recommends me having the implants done soonish or laterish depends on the panoramic x-ray she took of my teeth today. She wants to see how deep the roots of the teeth are now—if they are deep enough, then we can wait. So she’s giving me a call a little later.

On another note, in order to take the x-ray, the hygienist asked me to remove my 10 earrings. None of them have been removed since I received them. They’re between 3 to 6 years old. I was mad. I am better now, but what a pain. I decided to reinstall only 7 of the earrings… and on my way home I have to stop by the Ink Lab and ask them to help reinstall three of my beads.

Update: Implants will be laterish…

I have to sort through photos to keep/delete/print. You can not even imagine how many photos I took.

Iowa is lovely; I have many plans for the future when I possibly live on the farm. I’ve decided that I will be a hot-shot editor of some very small town’s newsletter. Maybe even several small towns’ newsletters! Or church bulletins!

My itchies aren’t really very itchy any more and the swelling has gone down.

I just bathed and scrubbed my feet and I feel SO GOOD and/or beautiful. Note to self: buy better shoes for next year. In fact, buy better shoes before heading to Canada. There will be lots of outdoorsness to hurt me then, too.

I found the snipe and I’m responsible for it’s life until next year. Ellipses so far hasn’t noticed his new companion because he is just so excited that I returned! I missed my kitty so terribly. Farm kitty was nice, Ellipses is wonderful.