Thursday, July 11, 2024

Well. My Life Just Got Better.

 


I texted a friend of mine this morning when I was on my way to the dentist's office saying that I wished I had taken an Ativan earlier because it was too late then. Going to the dentist doesn't freak me out as much as going to the doctor but it's still extremely stressful as it is for so many people. 
I'm very superstitious about my dentist visits. I've been going to the same dentist forever and he's been in the same office forever. So I always go in on the same driveway (there are two) and I always park across the lot facing away from the office, even if there are spots open right in front which there usually are. But some stupid little ancient part of my brain tells me that if I do everything in the correct order and location, all will turn out well. 
I really wonder if I have OCD. At least a little. 

I went into the office and signed in. They are all really so nice in that office. They call me Miss Mary now because I am old and that is what we do here in the south. I suppose I could resent it, but why? It is an honorific and as such, I'll take it. 
I'd brought my New Yorker magazine and sat down and began to read and had to wait a little longer than usual, but finally the hygienist came and got me and yes, it was that same sweet girl and forgive me but I can't remember her name. I did remember that she was to be married this spring to her high school boyfriend and I asked her, "So, are you a married lady now?" and she said she was and told me that her wedding day had been perfect and she remembered me talking about my husband's hunting and fishing as I remembered her talking about her's. She and her husband have bought a house and gotten a little black lab named Emmy. 
Yes. I do know the dog's name. 
So that was sweet, having our little chat before my mouth was involved with other things and again, she gave me the power of the suction wand and I thanked her. 
Everything looked great except that I have a chipped molar that I didn't even know about but she wasn't too worried about it. She said she'd mention it to the dentist. If there is one thing I do well and consistently, it is to brush and floss and somehow I lucked out for the most part and have all of my own teeth but one and there's an implant there. They are not pretty teeth, but they are mine and I like them and they are good at chewing my food. 

I knew that the dentist I've been seeing since Christ was in a diaper had retired and I thought he'd been replaced by some other guy whom I'd never met. For awhile, there was yet another dentist working there but I did not like him. He had no chair-side manner and his touch was not gentle. So when my hygienist went to fetch the dentist to come and give me a look over and returned to say, "She's talking to another patient," I was shocked. 
She?
The new dentist was a woman? 
Okay, I know that women can be dentists, are dentists, of course. But I've never once had a woman dentist. I was pretty thrilled to hear that Dr. Jones was a very, very young female dentist who, according to my hygienist was terrific, very smart, very educated, and was not a believer in unnecessary intervention and she does it all. No more need to go to an oral surgeon to get things like implants. 
The clouds parted and I could hear angels sing. 

And when Dr. Jones came into the room, we were talking about gardens and I mentioned my eggplant and she sat down in her chair beside me and said, "I'm so sorry you had to wait but were y'all talking about eggplant?" And before you know it, she's telling me about the eggplant she's growing and we were discussing eggplant recipes and talking about tomatoes and cauliflower and baby squash and, well. 
I love her.
She checked my teeth and the one with the chip and said everything looked great and if the chipped tooth didn't bother me, no need to mess with it and by the time it was all over, I told both the ladies that I am now looking forward to my next six-month visit so I can see them again. And I meant it. 

The whole experience has made me realize how very difficult it is for a woman to sit in a dentist's chair and have a man, a relatively strange man, be right up in her face, probing her mouth, doing things in her mouth that are sometimes painful and frightening. Our mouths are the very portals into our bodies and I don't know about you, but some of my worst dreams have been about teeth falling out. Another ancient part of us, I think. And male dentists talk about golf. That's okay. I got nothing against golf, but to have a dentist talk about roasting vegetables? 
It's an entirely different experience. 
Honestly, I've had many, many male OB-GYN's and that's mostly been fine. I'm not sure why. Probably because they're not right up in my face, but "down there" and it's pretty easy for me (at least) to just stare at the ceiling and disassociate, separating myself from what's going on. The experience is not that different whether I have a male or a female operating the speculum. I could be unusual in that way. 
But today's very short experience of having a female dentist has opened my eyes and my heart to the possibility of a true and distinct difference. 
I feel like I just discovered that water is wet or something. 

So that was that and I spent a little more time in town afterwards, trying out the new Del Taco and then...going purse shopping! I went to Marshall's. Do y'all have Marshall's? I've found some pretty sweet purses there but not today. I did buy a new pair of shoes to wear in the garden because mine are so shitbeat. They were my walking shoes for a long time until the soles started peeling off and I've been wearing them to work outside in for years so you can imagine. 


Bless their old hearts. I will toss them into the trash with gratitude. 

It's been a good day. I've done nothing that required physical work or sweating but I will tomorrow. And tonight is the night I'm using some of my precious tomatoes. 



These glories of the garden. 


There are probably four types of tomatoes in there along with chopped basil and green onions. On top is a mixture of Duke's Mayonnaise and different cheeses. And smashed garlic.


It is nothing short of a sin. 


With it, we shall be serving my favorite roasted cauliflower recipe with olives, lemon juice, capers, and parmesan. 

I am practicing hedonism tonight. 
La-di-dah. 
La. Di. Dah. 

I think Mr. Moon is about ready to be home. I know I'm about ready to have him home. I'm not lonely but I'd love to hold those big hands of his, to have him wrap his arms around me. 
I will make him another tomato pie and cook him some of his fish and kiss him a lot. 

Meanwhile, here I am and happy to be and so very grateful not to be in Las Vegas. 

Love...Ms. Moon


31 comments:

  1. OMG ... I want a bite of that pie! 🥧🤤
    Your tomatoes are glorious!
    So glad ... for you ... that you really like the new dentist!
    You were overdue for a new pair of shoes! 👟

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    1. Yes. Those poor old shoes. I wonder how many miles I've walked in them. The pie was fit. To eat, that is.

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  2. my tomato snack is sliced tomatoes (warm from outside if possible), mayo and lawry's red salt. glad the dds appt went well! xxalainaxx

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    1. That is a delicious way to eat a tomato. My very favorite salad of all time is some lettuce, tomato, avocado, onion, mayonnaise, salt and pepper. That is some excellent shit.

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  3. That tomato pie is b.e.a.u.t.i.f.u.l!
    My dentist is a woman and has been so for ten or fifteen years. Her name is Dr. Kate.

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  4. That pie is beautiful! I wonder if there any male hygienists. All the ones I've met are women.

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    1. I have been wondering that myself. I've never met a male hygienist.

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  5. Wowsers on the new dentist and the beautiful food!

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  6. I also have a female dentist (love her) as well as a female Vet, a female lawyer, a female eye doc and a female dermatologist. Love them all and much prefer them to most males, though my GP is a male who is wonderful. Lucky lucky am I. I've never seen a male hygienist. That tomato pie looks beyond! Oh, how I wish I could cook like you. Maybe it's just as well I don't as I'd probably weight about 800 lbs.!
    Paranormal John

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    1. It's a wonder that both Glen and I don't weigh 800 pounds. Not to be braggy but my cooking is one thing I'm pretty sure I'm decent at.
      Good for you for having all those females in your life! My GP is a male too and I adore him. He's young and thus, going to usher me to the grave.

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  7. Oh that recipe looks divine before it's cooked and after, I can only imagine how good it tastes!!! Nothing short of a Sin is my kind of Food. *LOL* Glad your Dental visit went well, I had my semi-annual visit too and it went well, which is always a huge relief. I think Dentists give everyone an element of Anxiety. I'm just glad that now I'm Old our Medicare Advantage Plan covers just about any Dental work I've needed.

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    1. There are a few good things about getting older, aren't there?

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  8. I am glad to read that you still have all of your teeth. I think the biggest difference is that all of you in the US are taught from age zero to brush and floss and see your dentist twice a year. I was raised with no knowledge of dentists AT ALL and eventually learned that if you had toothache that didn't go away, you went to see a dentist. Often the offending tooth was removed. Dental insurance was unheard of. All old people had dentures. It's the one thing I wish our country had copied from yours.

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    1. Yes. Dental hygiene is taught here from an early age. People take their kids to the dentist at very young ages now. Far earlier than when I was growing up. Keeping one's own teeth is a good thing.

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  9. Great news about the dentist! All three of my dentists in Spain have been women. I’m very happy, although we don’t talk about eggplants. If I take Xanax even a half hour before an event, I’m already less anxious. I don’t take it often, though, and very little. — Moving with Mitchell(on SG’s iPad)

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    1. Maybe you should ask your dentist how she cooks her eggplants! I'm the same exact way you are with my Ativan. I sometimes go months without taking one but I just need to know they're there if I should need one. Or a half.

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  10. Mitchell again… By the way, that tomato pie looks exquisite. I have never in my life had tomato pie. (Northerner!)

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    1. It's so funny, Mitchell. I never even heard of tomato pie until maybe ten years ago. And then, all of a sudden, it was like, "Southern Tradition! Tomato Pie!" What? I honestly don't think it was around until fairly recently.

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  11. I hope you had a good evening practising that hedonism! Whatever your style of celebration, the pie deserves one.
    All the doctors I need to see are female. That's the first rule, age is the second (must be younger than me), within walking/cycling distance from my home and if I have to wait longer than 15 minutes beyond the agreed appointment time without reasonable explanation, I am out.
    As for the finger eggplants, I make pasta alla Norma, almost daily, the simplest version.

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    1. Woman! If I followed your rules for doctors I'd never see one. First off, there's no doctor at all within walking or cycling distance. Well, that's not true. I could theoretically either walk or cycle the miles to get to one but it would take a very long time. My GP is much younger than I am. Younger than most of my kids! And I like that. Now- same with this dentist.
      I've been making a "sort of" pasta alla Norma with the eggplants and cherry tomatoes, garlic, and onion. So good.

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  12. I'm glad you had such a good time at the dentist and got a good report too - no cavities!! That tomato pie looks really delicious!
    Happy Friday to you!

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    1. I've hardly had any cavities my entire life. I came blessed with good teeth.
      Thank you!

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  13. Your tomato pie looks amazing and delicious. Fresh tomato will feature on your menus. Your tomato crop is impressive. Your new dentist sounds perfect.

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    1. I am pretty darn sure that will be plenty of tomato pie left when Mr. Moon gets home on Sunday. It's not a food you can just sit down and eat a ton of.
      I really do like that new dentist.

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  14. I have a female dentist and I love her, much better than the young man who scarred me for life with his painful freezing injection. I'm glad you're looking forward to the dentist now. We don't realize how important our teeth are when we're young, same with all our body parts I suppose:)

    That tomato pie looks lovely.

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    1. Yes. When we're young, the thought of losing teeth is centered around getting hit in the mouth, I guess. We don't even think about losing them to decay or bad gums. But we live and we learn.

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  15. That tomato pie looks wonderful. And simple too. Is the shell prebaked?

    And yeah, those Sauconies served you well. Inquiring minds want to know what kind of shoes you got this time?

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    1. I did prebake the pastry.
      These shoes are Sketchers. Wouldn't do for walking or running but they are fine for outside work.

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  16. 37paddington: so glad your dentist visit went so well. I definitely prefer women dentists too, having had both, but last week I had a lovely young man as a hygienist who cleaned my teeth and gave me verbal gold stars along the way and it occurred to me that his energy was very feminine and affirming and that’s why I liked him so. Men tend to be more brusque, or else really chatty about their own interests like cycling or golf. Women ask how your children are doing and tell you about theirs. Also, that is a beautiful tomato pie.

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Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.