My braces are off!!

A little over 2 years ago, my foray into the world of braces and oral pain began.  I am here to tell you that yesterday, my braces were removed.  I didn’t have braces in the traditional sense because I was fitted with Invisalign aligners.  Part of that process, though, involved the installation of tons of knobs and buttons and bumps on my teeth so the aligners could grab onto something.  So, I had knobs and bumps and stuff removed yesterday and my teeth are straight!

 

Growing up as a boy with a brother who liked to fight (it was mutual), my teeth were a wreck.  I had chips and dings in my teeth, both top and bottom.  After grinding all of the extra stuff off of my teeth, they ground my teeth too.  I no longer have chipped or uneven teeth!  Although those chips were hard won, I am happy to be free from their unhappy appearance.  I have to tell you though, it was a lot more fun getting those chips than having them ground away.  Holy cow was that awful!

Before Invisalign

 

After Invisalign…cheesy grin at no extra charge

 

So, I was fitted for retainers and now I will spend 4 months wearing them 24/7.  If all goes well with that, I will wear them only at night after that period.  I am pretty pleased with how all of this went down.  I would do it again if I had to go back in time.  What I wouldn’t do, however, is use Invisalign.  I would get the regular old fashioned braces and be done with it. Mainly, I like the cool colored rubber bands.  Actually, either way you can see stuff in your mouth.  Invisalign aligners are not invisible and I needed to wear rubber bands anyhow in order to move my teeth and bite around.  With the bands, Invisalign aligners are a ton more work every time you eat or drink anything besides water.  No thanks.  Hopefully I will never know though.

 

8 Comments

warren, September 15th 2011 | Tags: ,
Posted in Adventure, Thoughts

Gimme a call

My baby boy is growing up!  It seems like just yesterday he was born and here we are preparing to send the boy off to that wasteland that is middle school.  I grew up in BFE so we had k-6 in one school and 7-12 in another.  It was somewhat terrifying because of that age span but there were a lot fewer kids and most everyone’s family knew everyone else’s family so trouble was somewhat minimized.  Anyhow, Isaac will soon be headed to “real” middle school where there are hundreds of kids…my little baby!

As a sort of “nerve pill” for Emily and me, we decided that we wanted Isaac to be able to reach us at any time.  So, we ventured out to the mobile phone store and were thrilled by the technological spectacle that presented itself.  Well, actually, we were flabbergasted by the price of phones and mobile plans.  Holy cow!  Anyhow, we decided that with soccer practice starting soon, Isaac needed to be able to contact us and, more importantly, contact his friends.

Isaac put up quite a sales pitch for a full-blown smart-phone.  The sales guy was all too willing to help Isaac make his case.  Fortunately, we held our ground and got Isaac a poverty-level phone…you know, one with calling and texting only.  I sure hope he can survive.  My poor baby!

I know, lots of people made it through middle school without phones.  I don’t care.  Technology is around us and we embrace it.  We are trying to be sensible though and are using this as a way to teach responsibility.  Any time I see a way to expand communication, I am for it!

None of us is too worried about middle school.  We are building it up so we all have positive expectations of the next school year.  A little bit of trepidation crops up now and then in the back of my head, but I know it is going to be alright.  Heck, my baby boy is only a phone call away!

2 Comments

warren, August 2nd 2011 | Tags: ,
Posted in Family, Thoughts

It’s gouda stuff!

I was wandering through the grocery store the other day (which is really the only way I ever experience the grocery store) when I passed by the cheese area.  A certain joy overtook me as I saw that delectable red wax wheel covering, what I remembered to be, the cheese of the gods.  When I was a kid, my parents used to get a wheel of gouda cheese every now and then.  My brother and I waited patiently as mom and dad unwrapped the cellophane and sliced through the wax to cut out our wedges.  It was a bit of a delicacy when I was growing up so we got a fairly small piece each time so we could make it last several days.  I remember enjoying that whole experience so much.

That was supper one night

So, I bought a small wheel of gouda cheese the other day and did the routine, opening the wrapper, cutting the wax, doing all the stuff like when I was a kid.  You know what?  It was almost as good as I remember.  My tastes are probably a little more exotic now than they were when I was a kid but I think my “taste memory”  kicked in and made it taste far better than it really was.

Now I am no longer bound by rules of sharing or making it last or even letting anyone know I even bought the stuff.  It’s weird maybe, but I wanted to sort of keep it to myself a little.  Isn’t that weird?  Anyhow, I plowed through that wheel all by myself.  It was the first I had in a long time and was just sort of cool.  I think I will buy another wheel of gouda cheese though, and this time, I may just share small slivers with the kids.  We may try to make it last and talk about how special gouda cheese is.  I think my kids need to develop a “taste memory”.  I don’t know if they will ever have the love affair with gouda that I do, but I can try!  After all, not too many other foods can describe themselves…it’sa gouda!

Anyone else have a “taste memory” for something from when you were a kid?

6 Comments

warren, May 13th 2011 | Tags: , ,
Posted in Family, Food, Thoughts

Dirt Road People

We have started talking to some of the folks who live around our property in the woods and they are absolutely wonderful people.  One neighbor and I were talking about the view from atop our mountain.  He talked with a sparkle in his eye about when he first came to the ridge.  One view and he said that he felt like he could never leave.  It’s funny but that is pretty much the exact same reaction I had.  There is something about that ridge that leaves me in awe.

The view is incredible for sure but there is something else that makes it special.  Driving up there is a lesson in roads.  We start on interstate, do a little time on nice paved roads, then move on to a “paved” road, and finally dirt.  Our road is not dirty or sort of like dirt.  It is plain and simple a dirt road.  When I was a kid, there were lots of dirt roads around home.  Lots of people lived on some dirt road or another.  It seems like most of those dirt roads have since been paved and I think the pavement took a little something away from those roads.

Dirt roads are a different world.  Maybe it’s about being someplace simpler or maybe it’s reminiscent of old times.  Of course, maybe I just like playing in the dirt.  Either way, part of what makes our ridge special is that dusty old dirt road.

The neighbor and I were talking about how the world works and he said something along the lines of, “it doesn’t mater what happens ‘out there’.  We are just dirt road people and things just make sense up here.”  I am sure that is a paraphrase but it’s the absolute truth.  Regardless of what happens, “out there”, dirt roads just make a lot of things make sense.  While we are not full-blooded dirt road people yet, I like to think that a big part of my heart is up on our ridge and that I have a “dirt road person” inside of me ready to bloom!

7 Comments

warren, May 10th 2011 | Tags: , ,
Posted in Thoughts, WV

Our woods

We spent our time at the property on Saturday walking in the woods.  Our plan was to walk more of the property line as we still haven’t seen the entire place.  We did hike the better part of the boundary and discovered all sorts of excellent things!  Except for the constant chatter of kids, the sounds of the woods were magnificent.  Actually, the chatter wasn’t so bad either as the kids were having fun.

When I was a kid, hiking in the woods was not high on my list of fun.  I played in the woods a lot but plain old hiking wasn’t good for me.  I was so surprised that Isaac and Abigail walked the entire 2 miles in the woods with only a small handful of complaints.  Incredible!

We did walk the better part of the lower edge of the place and saw all sorts of beautiful flowers and animal tracks of all sorts.  There were too many deer tracks to even keep track of but the kids tried to identify every print they came across.

That's Abigail's finger...she's the brave one

We spooked a turkey and saw the biggest centipede the kids had ever seen.  We found just a little bit of poison ivy and a lot of slippery moss.  Squirrels barked and birds announced our path through the woods.  All around us was noise but it felt like silence.  It was marvelous walking in our woods and this weekend was the reason we bought the place!  I am absolutely positive that my blood pressure is still lowered because of it!

10 Comments

warren, May 2nd 2011 | Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Adventure, Awesome, Family, Fun, Nature, Thoughts, WV

Maple blooms

Last weekend when we had our first false spring, the maples really showed their stuff and bloomed beautifully.  The bees were out and about and desperate for an opportunity to stretch their wings and look for a bit of fresh nectar to eat.  Many folks fon’t know that maples have floral blooms (I guess as opposed to fungal blooms?)  Blooms on a maple are super tiny and most people  just think they are the beginnings of leaves on the trees.  Anyhow, with the warm weather and blooming maples, the bees were out in full force.  Tons of bees were dragging back all sorts of pollen also.  Pollen is the protein source for bees and early protein usually means that the queen can start ramping up egg production as soon as the weather stays warm enough, long enough.

Some beekeepers find it necessary to add pollen patties about this time of year to prime the queen for early egg production.  Of course, early eggs mean early bees which usually makes for a strong colony when the honey flow begins in a few weeks.  With so many maples so close, we do not need to put pollen into the hives.  I have been into the hives this time of year and sometimes there is so much pollen that I worry the queen won’t have room to lay.

Look closely at all of these pics…the yellow stuff on the bees’ back legs is pollen!

Anyhow, the bees were out and doing their thing and I, as always, decided to hang out near the hives and stick my nose into the doorways so I could smell the smells of the hive.  Unlike a few weeks ago, I managed to avoid being stung.  I love summer plenty but I think I might just like this time of year more than any other time.  This is the time of year when stuff starts to come alive again…including me!

I thought the pics were especially nice so I hope you enjoy my bees (from afar) as much as I do!

6 Comments

warren, March 7th 2011 | Tags: , ,
Posted in Bees, Nature, Thoughts

Closed!

On Monday we signed the closing papers for the piece of property we bought (yeehaw!  Past tense!)  We have bought a few houses and been involved in a few other real-estate related things.  This is the first time we have done a transaction with absolutely no realtor involved.  And you know what…the process is not scary at all!

The previous owner put out a post on a message board I read, saying that she had some land for sale.  I saw it and emailed her (it’s cool that I already knew her from blogland…just didn’t know she was selling property).  We went up to visit and walked around the property with her husband.  My kids hung with her as she made apple butter.  They got to stir the big kettle she had over the fire and play in her yard where the turkeys gobbled to offer their greetings (or were they asking us to rescue them?  Not sure on that one…)  We took home some apple cider and a few days later discussed the deal we wanted to make.

After some time, we got back together when it was time to finish the deal.  I wrote up a sales contract all by myself.  Since I wrote it, I was able to have a little fun.  For instance, when you write a contract on a house, you usually say that you want the blinds, lights and toilet seat to remain.  There wasn’t anything like that on the property but I did lay claim to any indian arrowheads that are currently on the property.  No one cared…it was legit!

We worked with a banker and a closing attorney and they handled their details without any hassle at all.  So, on Monday, we decided to meet the sellers at a mom-and-pop restaurant in the nearby town and have breakfast.  Have you ever done a real-estate deal where you get to hang out with the other party?  I don’t know why the transaction of real-estate always seems to be built up as a contentious mess where the buyer and seller have to be kept apart.  I know it isn’t always that way, and I know that some deals are ugly, but being pals and eating breakfast before the deal was just plain awesome!

Anyhow, after we signed the papers, the sellers gave us 2 dozen eggs, fresh from their chickens and we headed to the property (in a downpour) to walk around.  I grew up in the country and had forgotten what rural sounds like.  In the rain, as I walked into the woods, all I could hear was water running in a stream.  I could not hear a single car or radio or another single person…only the woods.  I found deer trails and thickets and some awesome places for a zip-line.  I think I found a spring and a few places for a treehouse.

Even in the rain, I could not have been happier.  This whole deal was so simple and pleasant and I already love the place.  The deal is closed and I can once again lay claim to being a (part) country boy…

10 Comments

warren, March 3rd 2011 | Tags: ,
Posted in Awesome, Thoughts, WV

Sign of a fine romance?

I thought I was pretty hip and still somewhat aware of what is going on around the “cool scene” these days but apparently not.  I was walking through a local grocery store last night looking for a bag of potatoes or a new cheese slicer for Emily’s Valentine’s Day present when I walked past a sign.  I cruised right on by until my brain finally registered what my eyes saw.  Do you ever have that double take thing going on in your head?  So I circled back around and decided that this blog, ever a bastion of freedom, culture and honeybees, needed to report on the new face of romance for this year.

Behold:

Now this is a G-rated blog so I won’t say too much more.  Instead I will leave it to you folks to make of this what you will.  Instead, I will just remind you of some of the other interesting signs I have seen around.

I would also like to report that we will no longer have to just cut the cheese around our house…we can now slice the cheese!  Happy Valentine’s Day!

6 Comments

warren, February 14th 2011 | Tags: ,
Posted in Fun, Thoughts

Tea for two

I was reading my friend Granny Sue’s blog the other day and she had a great poem about coffee and tea.  I drank a little coffee in college and now and then afterwards but never was I much of a fan of tea.  It was not something I could even choke down.  I am not sure what really got us started but Emily and I have been drinking a cup of English breakfast tea every evening the last month or so.  I have really our tea and we both really look forward to our new tradition.  I sort of feel all grown up and stuff.  Grownups drink tea in the evenings and grownups talk about important things while they drink their tea, right?

Has anyone else ever noticed that adults are really just old kids?  I surely do not feel any more mature or any more prepared to be an adult than I did when I was, oh…13 or so.  It’s sort of a funny realization I guess.  When I was a kid, I always held adults in high esteem…like it was a special privilege to make it to adulthood.  Surely adults got a special membership card or access to a secret library of adultiness.  Surely adults must be some special sort of creature, right?  I mean, adults drink tea.

5 Comments

warren, February 8th 2011 | Tags:
Posted in Thoughts

Let’s see if the banker sees his shadow

And now, ladies and gentlemen, is the time you have all been waiting for…the announcement of my big surprise.  Well, let me preface this by saying this is undoubtedly more exciting for me than for you.  But humor me, ok?

So, I bought the farm!  Wait, I mean I bought a farm.  Well, technically it’s not a farm…yet.  But I will be moving my bees there and it will be the beginning of a farm.  We are buying 30 acres of raw but beautiful land not too far from Charleston.  We’ve been in this process since the end of September and things are just now beginning to move forward.  Emily says she is curious whether the banker will see his shadow and retreat back into hiding or let us close on this place in 6 weeks!  Phil didn’t let me down this year and I have super high hopes for the banker too.  Actually, he is a great guy and the snafus are not his fault.  Anyhow, we seem to be moving forward very well now and I think we are rounding the corner to the finish.  I am sure that something could still go wrong, so please, find a bit of wood and knock on it for me!

We are actually buying the land from a former blog friend turned real-life friend, Granny Sue.  It turns out, she is cousins with one of the guys I work with. As you might guess, since this is raw land, we will be on it a lot doing whatever we can to make it functional for our use.  I see plenty of projects in the coming months/years.  That means lots of pictures (mainly to show the insurance agent when he asks how I got that car stuck up in that tree.)  So, here are some pics, pre-car-in-the-tree!

These pics don’t really do it justice…It’s WV land so it has hills and hollers and flats and bottoms.  This really is a beautiful state and I am proud to (almost) own some of its best parts!

I am pretty excited!  I suppose I might have hyped my surprise a bit.  No babies or anything like that for us…

15 Comments

warren, February 2nd 2011 | Tags:
Posted in Nature, Thoughts, WV
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