How's that feeling?

That was the very question that my dentist (and at least 100* people that either work in his office or were just passing by and thought "when in Rome" and joined in) asked me at least 50* times today.

You see, he had stabbed* me with his HUGE* needle in at least 20* different places at or around the area where normal people get novacaine to numb their mouths.  And then like every 5 seconds* he kept hounding me about whether or not my lips were getting tingly and if my tongue was feeling fat*.  It just wasn't.  Not at all.

Now I have been to this dentist for a million* appointments and they have all lasted longer than 2 hours (note the absence of an asterisk on that one ... you'll get there ... wait for it).  Even the very first appointment, which was for a deep* cleaning and a somewhat* relaxing chair massage (I think the chair really enjoyed it).

Today, I was un-numb-able (oh it's a real* word ... trust me).  They ripped* my temporary crown off (it said "King James" on it and I just had to dump the traitor) and then mercilessly* caused me great pain and anguish by touching the tooth and asking "can you feel that?!"  YES I CAN !!!  And it hurts!

This was the small* needle he used.
PS - See if you can pick out the male assistant.

So after THREE (also note the absent asterisk) different shots of novacaine, with both the small and BIG needles (also no asterisks) and still no numbness (my tongue felt a little fat, but he's not exercising as much as he used to ... I blame some questionable mouthwash and the fact that Karen is really tired) ... where was I?!  Oh, yeah!  The dentist gave me 2 options: we can just "work on it and see how it goes" ... or ... I could "go about my business and come back an hour or two later when numbness would supposedly occur."  Being a tough-guy* I opted for the former* option.  The male assistant (don't judge me ... he was the ONLY male assistant in the place) suggested that we just head over to Indigo's and get hammered.  He then slurred his words a little too accurately and vomited* on* the* nearest* female* assistant* to* sell* the* whole* joke*.

I called the dentist back at 4:00pm (one hour later) to advise him that I could not move my right arm* but that my teeth were still not feeling any numbness whatsoever.  The receptionist advised me that he shouted* something about "never wanting to see me again"* and that we should let my mouth rest and try again next week.  So next Thursday you can expect a blog about the remaining 27* attempts to numb my teeth, as well as the male assistant's use of a baseball bat to "seal the deal."

*Please assume that anything marked with an asterisk

 may possibly* be an exaggeration or a complete mistruth

that was made up in some lame* attempt

to add humor to this dentist-themed blog post.

What's good painting music?

Well I am sure everyone has their own preference but today I listened to my John Mayer CDs while I was painting Brooklyn's room (stage one painting that is ... there will likely be a dozen stages since she wants blue sky, white clouds, brown mountains, green grass patches, and every color of flower and butterfly imaginable).

I have mentioned before that I love all kinds of music and John Mayer's stuff is definitely on that list (sometimes my favorite and other times just nice to have in the background).  I listened to two of his CDs today while I painted:  Heavier Things (which I had not heard in a LONG time) and Continuum (which I only heard a few songs on because I listed to the first CD several times over).

My favorite song on Heavier Things has to be Come Back To Bed.  It is just a smooth song about making up and I like the message when he says "What will this fix?  You know you're not a quick forgive." and "You can be mad in the morning.  I'll take back what I said."  I just think it supports the theory of not going to bed angry and working things out when they happen and not days later.

But I enjoy all of the CD (two songs a little less than the others), especially because the tunes and words just beg you to sing along with them.  And I love singing!  I am not particularly gifted int hat area, but I can carry a tune and my mom taught me to harmonize quite well to virtually any melody.

Continuum has some very different songs on it but I love so many of them it is impossible to highlight them all ... so I'll pick two:
First, Gravity.  I have my own personal reasons for loving the message of this song, which I will not be sharing here.  But I will say this much ... the following words from the song have deep meaning for me: "gravity, wants to bring me down" and "twice as much ain't twice as good and can't sustain like one half could ... it's wanting more that's gonna bring me to my knees"
Second, I'm Gonna Find Another You.  This song doesn't have much meaning at all to me personally as I have found the only YOU that I ever want in my beautiful wife Karen.  But it is a sweet break-up song and I can picture myself back in high school and I would have loved to have this song to sing to a certain ex-girlfriend.  The lines "I hope she looks like you and she's nicer too!" and "I'm gonna do some things you wouldn't let me do!" really mean alot when you're in a break-up situation.

The "hot mama" of my Daughters (& sons too!)

Anyway, I could go on and on about other songs on these CDs but needless to say it made the time while I was painting fly by and gave me a chance to reflect on lots of things.  I have a super great life and I am so very blessed!

So are we supposed to STOP? Ok, but where?

Short written blog tonight but the pics will tell you "the rest of the story" (c'mon, I know there are some Paul Harvey fans out there!)

I drive down Dublin Blvd to Shimmering Creek Dr / Black Forest Rd almost every evening on my way home from work.  I noticed one day that there are 3 Stop signs on Eastbound Dublin Rd at this intersection.

Note the lack of mountains (you are facing East)

So I had to ask "why?"  And then I had to check to see if those travelling Westbound on Dublin Blvd are equally blind and stupid.  Turns out they must be.  (No offense intended to anyone who is actually blind ... in fact, if you are blind and you are reading this blog then we should talk 'cause that's frickin' impressive!)

And note the presence of mountains (you are facing West)

And that would have been my blog ... except ... apparently we are too stupid to notice the three HUGE stop signs (coming or going either direction) ... so they had to add these about 100 yards before the intersection.  On BOTH sides !!!

Seriously?! Math is not my best subject (Karen says it's "kissing and stuff" but she's biased ... absolutely correct, but still biased) but I count a total of 10 stop signs and/or stop-sign-related warnings on ONE SINGLE ROAD within 100 yards of ONE intersection!

I also question the wisdom in giving
ONE ROAD two different names.
People already get lost as it is!

The moral of the story is that when car sales drop because of a recession, the inmates have to resort to making other road signs (instead of license plates people, please try to keep up!) and now the rest of us have to STOP excessively so their rehabilitative efforts are not wasted.  Hmmmm ... I was just wondering if maybe they can make warning signs about the stop-sign warning signs ... 'cause those come up awfully fast and I would hate to miss them.

Can it really be Fall already?

I have to begin today's blog with another shout-out ... this time to my little sister Jaimee.  It's her birthday today and she will remind me every day for the next 11 days (we were born 11 months and 19 days apart)that we are the same age ... although now that we're in our mid-30's I think she is not trying to keep up with me in years as much as when we were both 17.  I love you Jaimee and perhaps on your half-birthday (or on some other random date) I will have to start the first of many blogs committed to just my memories of times with you.  My favorite was still our "dates" to the Hallmark store in the Greeley Mall where we would try to find the most hilarious card.  So much fun!  Hope your birthday was awesome!

If the weather change from this morning (too hot for the balloons to go up) to this afternevening while I was grilling (seriously 20-30 degrees colder outside than in the house) is any indication, then Fall has arrived ... and he/she is ANGRY!

The winds were howling this afternoon.  So badly that while trying to play 500 with my boys (football players of all ages will know the game, if you don't ... ask a football player you know) it became almost impossible for me to throw a pass that either of them could catch.  It was like tossing a frisbee that is actually a boomerang.  I think I scored more points than they did, and I didn't even use the "dead or alive" points system much at all.

I saw a shooting star this evening on the drive back from dropping my mother-in-law and niece back off at their place (after an evening of dominoes that Karen was killing us on until she got Myra back and then her concentration and luck was OVER).  I haven't seen a shooting star in years so it was very cool.  But I forget if you are supposed to wish on them or follow them to their resting place and wait for Will Smith to do that flashy thing on you.  I just pulled in the garage and closed the door to be safe.

The pool is closed now and at the start of the summer it always seems like Labor Day is way to early to be thinking about closing the pool.  But it hasn't really been warm enough to want to swim in at least two weeks (especially if you add the chilly wind in).

No matter how you shake it ... fall is here and I am happy to welcome him (or her ... which is it?)

Is being spontaneous overrated?

I am a planner.  I plan things.  I think about what is coming in life, at home, at work, for school, at church ... and then I plan things.  When do we do this or when can we fit that in.  This usually works just fine for me, but I know many around me probably view me as very anal-retentive.  That's probably pretty true.

Here's my argument though, based on the "spontaneous" side of life in general.  If you don't plan then:
 - you will almost always pay more
 - it will almost always take longer
 - guaranteed you will forget something important
 - you won't be able to get as many things done
 - and what I believe to be worst of all ... people around you that plan will begin to resent your perpetual spontaneity

Don't mistake me on this ... I am a fan of surprises.  But think about it ... most surprises are well-planned events.  Not planned by the surprisee, but the person doing the surprising usually has put in lots of time and effort to make thing go off without a hitch.

I am also open to being spontaneous every once in a while.  The problem is that non-planners LIVE spontaneously.  Planning is the exception, not the rule.  I am probably just a stick in the mud, but I am not talking about planning EVERY detail ... but is it too much to ask for 80-90% of the BIG details to be planned?

My current role at work absolutely requires me to plan hours, days, weeks, even months in advance.  I could be mediocre at what I do ... or I could present myself poorly in most interactions by not planning ahead.  I choose not to look the fool and think ahead.  I doubt we were given our brains to just creatively solve problems that we likely created for ourselves by not planning ahead.  I think we were entrusted with this gift of predetermined thoughts so that we can eventually be more like Him.  After all, cleanliness is next to Godliness and isn't order cleaner than chaos?  Isn't it more God-like to think eternally instead of waiting until the moment has passed and then realizing you really wanted to do whatever passed you by?

At the very least ... the VERY least ... people who don't plan for their future will forever remain held back by their past.

So I apologize for all non-planners that are forced to interact with me at work, at church, in my large extended family, etc.  I am not trying to be holier-than-thou ... but don't expect me to be all smiles when you fail to plan and then get a less-than-excited reaction from me when you ask for my support or help in throwing something together last minute.  I'll still help, but if you mistakenly ask me if something is wrong prepare to be redirected to this Blog Post before you get to ask me any more stupid questions.

Are you guys hiring?

I got a call from my sister-in-law Tisne this evening, which normally never happens.  It's not that Tisne and I don't talk, just practically never over the phone.

The VERY moment I recognized her voice I thought "Why haven't you told her about all the hiring we are doing at Progressive?!"

Well, you will never guess what she was calling about ... really ... try and guess ... go ahead ... nothing?!

The Progressive Colorado Springs Call Center

Tisne has been working at her current job (in a call center that has horrible hours, mean managers, terrible training, and questionable quality) for a while now.  She doesn't really enjoy it but in this economy you take what you can get, right?!  Needless to say I was very happy to chat with her this evening about applying to work at Progressive (locally, a call center that has flexible hours, holistic leaders, comprehensive training, and a huge emphasis on quality care for customers).

Who doesn't know our current
spokesperson, "Flo" ?

I am very proud to say that

I love Progressive!  I love working there!  Sure we have our problems and issues (good luck finding a "perfect" workplace in this life), but for the most part I have been there 12 and a half years because it is a great place to work!  I will not bore you with the details ... but ... if you live in the Colorado Springs area and are not already working at Progressive, give me a call sometime (or send me an e-mail on Facebook) and I'll talk very candidly with you about why I love my job and company so much.

So tomorrow I will be refreshing my memory on how to submit an employee referral (for Tisne) and then giving her a call in the early afternoon to help her prepare for the interview(s).  Of course I cannot interview her myself, nor can I guarantee she would get hired or anything like that.  But I know she cares about her customers at her current job and gets most upset when she is not provided with the freedom to help them out.  That alone makes her a great fit for Progressive!

And the $500 bonus I would get if she is hired and works there for at least 90 days isn't bad either.  :)

What do all these words have in common?

A special treat today for all my loyal readers, but first a quick "holla" to my little brother Jordan who turned 29 years old today.  Jordan, thanks for holding out past 2:00am so that we could all have September birthdays together (no offense Jeremy, but you got to share with Grandpa so it's all good).

Today's treat is a game.

See if you can find out the common denominator of all these words and/or phrases:

12-step program     1980s     afternevening     Albuquerque low     aliens     all-knowing brother     aloof     animated movies     anniversary     anxiety     Atonement     awesome     backfill     Basketball     basking     bathrooms     Bill Cosby     Black Hole     blessings     Blog topics     boat     Bob     Bonus points     Boraxo     boring meetings     boundaries     boyz N da hood     bragging     Broncos     buzzer     BYU football     Captain Moroni     Card Club     cats     chair     challenge     charity     Chinook wind     chocolate milk     Christmas     cloud buddies     Colorado Springs     Come What May     comic     compasses     conversations     couch     crotchety     curiosity     Dangit     debacle     defense     Dennis     dentists     deposited     depths of my soul     Dilbert     dish     Diversity and Inclusion     divide and conquer     Dr Seuss     dream home     driving     dusty     empty nest     etc.     example     exercise     falcons     Family Feud     fantasy football     Father's Blessings     favorite     fighting     fillings     Finding Nemo     Flair     flavoring     fools     fretting     future     game night     Garden of the Gods     gardens     Geek in the Pink     glare     glorious and beautiful     goats     great day     Greeley     grievances     groceries     grudges     grumpier     hairstyles     Halloween     Hannah Montana     Happy Hour     Hawaii     helicopter     hold your breath     Hollywood     homages     Humpty Dumpty     I am a Child of God     I-25     ice cream for dinner     idiosyncrasies     idiots     imperfections     interesting     Jazzmine     Jesus Christ     just another day     Karen     ladies     laughs     laundry     leagues     left-handed     lemonade     lifeguards     lighter side     LinkedIn     Long Beach     Love     Love One Another     lovely     low self esteem     loyal fans     made my day     Mafia     mankind     Marcos     Martial Law     Matchless Sock Drawer     mediocrity     Mindy     missions     moisture     movies     music     musical chairs     My Blue Heaven     MySpace     national anthem     Netflix     Nicknames     nightmares     non-Mormon readers     non-sensical     nothing to say     offense     old friend     older     opportunity     Orem     outspoken     paraffin wax     parents     pavilion     peaches     peanut gallery     peanuts     peeking     perplexed     Phineas and Ferb     Pikes Peak     ping pong     pivot foot     playing chicken     porches     power steering pump      praying for money     precarious     pregnant     preschool     Pretty Lady     projector     projects     Prom dates     promise     Pull and Pay junkyard     pulley     puzzles     pwetty     quitting choir     rain     Raziel     real     redemption     rematch     reservior     rides     roller coasters     sabbatical     Scentsy     school     Scouting     secret love song     seminary     serpentine belt     shells     Shout-Outs     silly game     skipping     skirts     Sky Sox     slap-happy     sleep     sleeping     sleepovers     smiling     something better     Spectrum     speeding     stand-up     steak wrapped in bacon     stealing     stereotypes     Stetson Hills ward     straight     stretch     stupid     summer vacation     sums     suspense     sweating profusely     swimming     syrup     Temples     tendencies     testimony     texting     the list     the Office     The Princess Bride     throwing up     thumper     tickets     today     Tony     topics     tracking     train wreck     travelogue     trends     trifecta     trust     turn signals     Twitter     two     warning     waste     water     waves     weather     wedding     weeds     what the heck     Willow you idiot     winded     winning lottery ticket     wolves     wood chips     woodworking     Woooo     Yahoo     yesterday     YouTube     Zoo

Okay ... so if you seriously read all of that (or at least scrolled down to the end) here is the answer:  All of these words have ONE TIME and one-time only been featured as a "Label" for my blogs.  I specifically utilized different words and themes to create the most off the wall list of words and phrases over the first 30-days of posting.

What an incredible waste of time huh?!  Oh well ... it gave me a free blog post so I got that going for me.

Good night!  :)