Grin and Bear It

See this big, beautiful grin, pizza sauce and all? It's worth a million bucks. Ok, well maybe not a million . . . yet. When the orthodontist gets done with it, it ought to be worth a million. They sit you down so nicely, and they say, here's what's wrong, here's what we want to do, here's how much it costs, and after they revive you and pick you up off the floor, then they say, "Oh, but look--your dental insurance covers half of that! Isn't that so nice?" It was still more than my house payment and my car payment put together.

Yes, we've entered the wide, wide world of orthodontia. Actually, we entered the fray several years ago, but I had (somewhat naively) hoped that because Hannah sucked her thumb and none of the rest of the children did, we might escape relatively unscathed. Yeah, that's nice. I think we could spend enough at the orthodontist this year to deduct our medical expenses -- and that's not counting Sariah's little surgeries or all the other things that come up.

And all for nice teeth. Hmm.

But now I'll take a minute to count my many blessings. For example, today my friend watched all 5 of my kids for free while her son was running away and my kids were shooting rockets. See what good friends I have? And in the blink of an eye I've been reconnected with all sorts of fun friends. I love that. It's one of the blessings of the internet.

And the pineapple is still intact for Bob when he gets home from the East Coast. It smells so yummy. It might not make it another day. But have no fear, the dishes and the laundry will definitely wait.

Just kidding.

Maybe.