No Holiday For A Blogging Sheep.

It seems that Debby and The Sheep are somewhat in "synch" right about now. She made a reference to my grocery store issues in her blog and I posted about the grocery store that very same night. In her comment regarding this happy little karmic "ko-inky-dink," she also referred to tonight's very topic! Perhaps there was some sort of weird "separated at birth" sorta thing that happened there... (note to self: check with Mommy Sheep on the whole twin possibility)

Today is an anniversary of sorts for The Sheep. Not my Blogoversary. Although that is upcoming. No. Today is a day that marks for this Sheep the beginning of 5 months of horror the likes of which she had never previously experienced. A time fraught with peril, anxiety and pain that has never been equaled. A period of my life dominated by a quite horrible fellow, one with whom I continued to associate despite the pain and angst he rendered.

It was on Veteran's Day, 2005 that I first made the acquaintance of Dr. De Sade, DMD. Also known as, "My Dentist." I wrote of him often. I filled the screen with descriptions of the horrors he visited upon my choppers and shared with the blogosphere many of his "insightful" comments regarding the state of education, child rearing, politics and any other topic he saw fit to expound upon while I was helpless in his chair of doom.

In the five months we spent together I endured a mechanical cleaning, 10 fillings, a root canal and crown placement. Much of this was done without benefit of pain killers as Dr. De Sade is not one to coddle his patients and does not necessarily believe them when they happen to mention three or four hundred times that novacaine does not always work well for them. Did I mention the root canal? Think about that for a minute...yeah. It was as bad as you are imagining.

He also may have dislocated my jaw at one point, but I can't prove that. I snapped it back when he was reaching for another pointy thing to stick into my gums and opted to keep that little piece of information to myself. I feared that pointing out what had caused the loud snappy sound might result in more chair time. I really didn't want more of the chair time...

Dr. De Sade was good for quite a few blog posts back in the early days when I didn't have a flourishing readership. (not like my twenty loyal readers now!) As the comment count began to rise a bit, I made the decision to pull back a little since I was sort of wondering if calling someone a, "souless demon from the underworld" might constitute some form of defamation of character. I also have to admit that my opinion of the dear man might be slightly influenced by the fact that my "relaxed" schedule of dental appointments in the past had led to a few issues to which he must attend. Not his fault, really.

But I still hate him. He did a freakin' root canal without working novacaine!!!!! He redeemed himself a bit with a hefty Vicodin prescription as a Sheepie going away gift after that particular visit, but it was not enough to bring back the love.

And it all began on Veteran's Day. Thus, The Sheep breaks her usual Friday Silence and posts. It has been a day of quiet reflection and flossing. It was all very spiritual and stuff...

When not lighting candles in memory of that carefree Sheep who did not fear the dentist and who is now gone forever (may she rest in peace), I knit furiously on the Feather And Fan scarf. I even have some "knitting pain" in my poor little thumbkin as a result! I feel just like a real knitter, by gum! Not that I have a lot of progress to show for it all, but in my little heart of hearts, I will know that I worked my digits pretty hard today.

Please...somebody tell me this looks longer. I beg of you!!!!

I hope that everyone took a minute today to thank a veteran, if only in your hearts. Whatever your political leanings, you gotta give it up for the men and women who serve in our stead. Policy is not set on the front lines. But that is where we see valor unlike anything that most of us will ever need to summon. Those who serve and their families have my unfailing gratitude for their willingness to sacrifice in our names.

And if you happen to have a nice dentist, you probably should drop him or her a big, old, "thank you" as well. You are so very lucky...

SA