How I spent my day; or, the never-empty dresser.

I cleaned off one of my dressers today.

I wasn’t planning to, I just wanted to find a particular item. But as I kept searching, I ended up with more and more stuff on my bed and it turned into a monster cleaning session. Finally, I was left with an empty dresser scarf.

Well, ALMOST empty. Let me tell you, if you feel like using a vacuum on your dresser scarf, you’ve left it waaaaaaay too long. ;P

I finally found what I was looking for, but along the way I also found all of this: 2 emptied giftcards, an immodium packet, a small can of baby powder, ribbon holder with umpteen ribbons, 2 fabric scraps, old caladryl bottle, ladybug trinket box, lots and lots and lots of long hairpins, old ponytail bands on caladryl, heart trinket box, 2 price tags, card case, little chest, deposit receipt from ‘98, pocket bandaid case, basket, 2 pairs earrings (never worn because my ears closed up), 2 combs, yellow tray, a pair of nylon footies, 2 brushes, 3 hair scrunchies, trim scraps brought home from work, pocket comb, deodorant, a small lego block, a steel crochet hook, assorted business cards, mini screwdriver set (incomplete), 2000 datebook, old watch, wallet insert with old family pix, 12+ paperclips, 6 good rubber bands, lots and lots of barrettes, empty pinbox, 2 pieces fabric, train ticket, 2 packets hairnets, assorted sm. plastic bags, empty card box, 2 snoods (one too stretched out to use), several craft instruction sheets, spring barrette still on card, an unused giftcard to JoAnn Fabrics (!), 2 bookmarks, throat drops, instructions for walkman & headset, a miraculous medal, 4 extra shirt buttons, 43 receipts from as far back as ‘05, and enough dust for a respectably-sized dust bunny. LOL

(By now you're probably thinking I'm a packrat.)

Wait, there's more! The yellow tray contained a 7 day pill box, exacto knife, more old ponytail bands, spring barrette, assorted scraps of paper, a recipe written on printer tape, more long hairpins, an inexpensive green rosary, 3 loose large barrettes, 3 large barrettes still on the card, 3 holy cards, a Happy Easter paper basket with a lot of small hair clips and the ponytail bands I actually use, and a checkbook box containing EVEN MORE long hairpins, a box of oldfashioned hairpins, 5 screwhooks, a rubber ball with colored swirl, a few small bobby pins, old single ball ponytail bands, an ancient pair of small barrettes with bluebirds, 3 God Bless You Dad cards, and 2 more extra shirt buttons.

(And a magpie.)

Hey, where are you going? You haven't heard about the basket that holds 2 claw clips, 1 mini claw, 1 butterfly clip, a spring barrette with a bow, 7 other spring barrettes, a french twist doodad, a magic bun doodad, yet another unidentified hair doodad, 3 terry hairbands, a tiny dolled wrapped in a ribbon, a banana clip, a packet of french hook earring keepers,2 pens, a really old pantliner sample, and an old deodorant container kept so I can color-match the lid for paint. Or the little chest, which only has 6 pins, 5 pendants, 4 rings, 5 pretty stones, 2 small safety pins, a crystal on a string, 2 pairs of earrings, my grandmother’s pearls, a wooden cross necklace, a gold butterfly slide, a long black ribbon, a silver ankh on a chain, another chain with 2 more pendants, a silver tone bangle, a gold/pearl necklace, a multi-strand seed bead necklace, a tarnished silver puff heart necklace, a cloisonné pendant from Greece, a turquoise and silver necklace, and a set of HB 0.5 mm pencil leads.

(And you'd be right. LOL)

I can see your eyes glazing over, but there's just a little more: a heart-shaped trinket box with a pink butterfly pin,a silver angel pin, a gold circle scarf pin, and a pair of small safety pins; and last but not least, the object of my original search, a ladybug trinket box containing an old watch face and a pin and coin from Russia.

(I was looking for the box, not the contents.)

While I was sorting all the junk out, I washed the dresser scarf and most of my ribbon collection. Then I relocated a lot of stuff and threw quite a bit out or collected it to give away. Here’s an “after” shot of the newly clean and organized dresser. It’s not empty by any means, but at least now I can not only SEE the scarf, I can even tell what color it’s supposed to be. LOL

Maybe next week I’ll tackle the other dresser.

Then again, maybe not. ;P

Crowns, cleanings, and crappy insurance

I got my third permanent crown this morning. He had to test fit it several times to get it the right depth (even my teeth are short!), but all in all it went pretty quickly. No shots, no drill, no problem. Next came a full set of xrays -- uncomfortable, but not truly painful. I've got a couple of spots that will need a little work, but all things considered, I'm in pretty decent shape.

Then came the real fun --- a thorough cleaning. :o(.

I have always hated having my teeth cleaned. He was lucky to get me in once a year for the torture session. It's been several years since my last one (yeah, I know, I'm a very baaaaad girl), so it was definitely NOT a fun experience. I think he probably rinsed my mouth at least 20 times to get rid of the blood and the "boulders" of plaque (his word, not mine). He would like to do a follow-up cleaning in a month or so, but my insurance says 6 months, not just twice a year. Which leads me to my next topic, my crappy dental insurance.

It apparently doesn't pay for crowns. I mean zip, nothing, nada. On my urgent visit in June (diagnosis: abscess/infection and root canal required), it paid exactly $23. And when I had my root canal, it only paid about $150. I pay for my (extremely) minimal dental/vision coverage through payroll deductions, and I'm seriously contemplating dropping it during the next adjustment period. Since virtually all of this is coming out of my pocket anyway, I might as well put the extra money in the bank for the next round of dental bills.

I'm going to get my teeth cleaned every six months in future to avoid the pain.
I'm going to get my teeth cleaned every six months in future to avoid the pain.
I'm going to get my teeth cleaned every six months in future to avoid the pain.
(I'd write this 100 times, but that would make this post waaaaaaaay too long.)

Cross my heart and hope to spit.