Monday, July 16, 2007

Things that cut into my yarn budget: The Dentist: Part One

So a couple of weeks ago, I won a $200 MasterCard prepaid gift card in an incentives contest at work. What was I going to spend this on? So many yarns to choose from...

But I had to spend it on my teeth.

I'm trying not to look at it as "wasting" my prize, but being lucky enough to receive some much needed help paying for the dental work. After all, I won the thing the day after a cleaning and exam. At the exam, I found out that I was about to max out my dental insurance for the year to get neglected cavities filled.

About this time last year, I had to get a bridge. At the time I new I had lots of "little" cavities to take care of as well. But I was dealing with other health problems, and they were forgotten.

Until a piece of tooth broke off last April. Right before my new dental insurance kicked in.

So today I spent $191 of my gift card getting the upper left portion of my mouth worked on. I'm still numb (but it's wearing off, and now I'm starting to feel sore from all the Novocaine shots.)

And that's just part of it. I have another appointment next week that will cost about $140. And another after that that will be in the $180 range. Actually, I could do the right side in one sitting, but I can't pay that much at once.

At any rate, I did get to leave work early and spend time in the chair working on the blanket for Project Linus. It amazed the assistants. One said she was just learning to knit, and I recommended Knitting Help. The other said she learned how to crochet "circles" when she was younger. She was amazed by the yarn and had all sorts of questions.

The dentist seemed amused. He thought he was insulting me when he said I could knit while my brain was still numb from all the Novocaine he gave me (I'm hard to numb.) I took it as a compliment. After all, at this point, I probably can knit with one lobe tied behind my back.

In other news, I just checked Ravelry. Only 1,862 people ahead of me today. They're making progress!

PS- Don't forget to floss. I know I won't.

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