late december

Yesterday, I had my regular six-month dental appointment. I spent many years not going to the dentist (many more than I like to admit). I think it had something to do with early bad treatment that makes me face-shy (I'm trying to be a little delicate here. I wasn't punched in the face, at least, but it was along those lines.). But a while back, a tooth crumbled and I finally went to a dentist whom friends had been recommending for ages.

With the tooth repaired (the waiting, sleepless nights and all, were far more traumatic than the event) I ended up with a hygienest who was in a terrible place in her life at the time, and she told me about it while she was cleaning my teeth. At the end of the cleaning, she gave me a big hug. Six months later, she told me how much it had helped to talk to me (I had managed to say a few things during that initial meeting) and how grateful she was, and now we hug at the end of every mouth cleaning.

Yesterday, I actually relaxed during the cleaning. It was good to see my hygienest, and the hug at the end is a much better present than the free pencil I could get at the front desk.


Robert decided to send an anonymous Christmas present to a dear friend. The friend first suspected me, because she says that she doesn't have any friends more creative. But all signs really do point to Robert. He sent it to a name that's a bizarre combination of the names of the two adults in the household, from a return address near his office, postmarked from Stow. And he looked really guilty when I asked him about it. There's apparently a main present linked to an old residence of my friend's husband, but he threw in another present (which sounds fascinating) because the guy down the street is obsessed with the topic and therefore would be likely to give them that present. (This was supposed to throw them off the trail.) And there's another present that, well, I'm not sure I ever understood it except that it was supposed to be interesting too. Before I understood that it was supposed to be anonymous, (as if it could be with all those glaring clues), I suggested that perhaps my friend could ask Robert herself, because I know I can't begin to explain it in a way that will make her laugh as hard as I did.


And in a delightful surprise move, we were invited to Christmas dinner by a friend I used to swim with and still keep up with (her intense master's class meets at another pool now). How lovely. I always think that Christmas is a family-only holiday (perhaps dating to the time that my boyfriend was specifically not welcomed at our Christmas dinner and ended up eating a turkey sandwich at a local diner; but perhaps it was just as well -- our holidays were not always to be witnessed). So it's a particular honor to be invited to someone else's house. It's kind of nice because it's one of those years when I was thinking of having Christmas with others, but not sure how to go about it, and also really ok about just having it with Robert and me. So it's especially nice that an invitation came around when I wasn't feeling desperate for one, but was still open to one.