Pop a la Mode

Mom and Dad came through and stayed at my place last night after visiting Mississippi. That’s what I have become - a stopover on the way to Mississippi. Very sad.

But when they came in the door, at that point, I wasn’t in a very good mood and this is the conversation that followed:

Mom: So how was your day?

Me: Really bad. It was horrible.

Mom: [GASP] Did you have a wreck?

Me: No!

Mom: Well then, it wasn’t so bad after all was it?

What does it say about my day when the best part of my day was getting a cavity filled? The most relaxed moment I had was laying back in that chair with a drill going 90 to nothing in my mouth. So sad.

And I’m pretty sure the dentist used too much novocaine. Because the whole right side of my lip is numb as well as my right nostril. Strangest feeling ever.

Dentistry has come a long way from when I was a kid. My dentist growing up was awesome. All his machinery was at least 30 years old and the sofa in his waiting area was totally from the 1960s. It was naugahyde and bright orange so you didn’t really sit in it. You sort of slid into it. And I remember it dipped really low in the back of the seat so that you had a hard time getting up. And the dentist office was the only place I ever got to look at People magazine. I had to wait six whole months to find out why Bobby Ewing came back from the dead.

Dr. Wynn was a confirmed bachelor (still is I guess) and a friend of my grandparents so he always had a lot to talk about. He would ask me questions and all I could do was grunt because he was working and it’s not like I could answer him. I also remember he ate Pizza Hut for lunch a lot. I couldn’t understand why the dentist wouldn’t brush his teeth after lunch.

Nanny and Papa I’m talking to you now - don’t you print this out and show it to him or even tell him about it. He would be mortified.

I’m rambling - maybe some of that novocaine leaked into my head.

You’ll notice in the right sidebar that I’ve made a few upgrades to Pop a la Mode. I’ve added two sections: Currently Reading and Currently Listening To. I’m reading much more lately and I want to be able to share my library with all of you. And my music is always a bit eclectic so I’m throwing that in also.

If you click on the title of something you’re interested in, you’ll be taken to either a site that sells it for more information or the web site of that person. Warning: if it’s music, it may have sound.

I’m not promising I’ll update it all the time but as I read something new or find a new artist, I will share.

It sounds like the start of a bad joke doesn’t it? But unfortunately, it’s the start of the latest episode in humiliation that I’ve had in public.

So today I was flying back from Detroit and as I was sitting at the gate, I noticed two nuns were waiting also. My colleague and I commented on how interesting it was to see a nun working a Sudoku puzzle and another reading a David Baldacci book. The flight was also overbooked and we were trying to guess whom they would kick off the flight. We came to the mutual agreement that no one would dare kick a nun off a flight. That’s just not right.

Well don’t you know I am sitting right next to one of the nuns on the plane. The one reading the not very religious book with really big letters. We exchange smiles as she returns to her reading and I return to my “Eat, Pray, Love” book that I’ve been working on recently.

Evidently between buckling my seat belt and the first 10 minutes of the flight, I fell asleep. A really deep sleep. Because the next thing I know we’re in the air and someone nearby has coughed loudly, making me physically jump and jerk awake. It scared me to death. I didn’t know where I was or what the noise was - I was completely disoriented.

Of course when I open my eyes and finally realize where I’m at, the nun is staring at me. I couldn’t tell if she thought she was going to have do an exorcism on the plane or if she was scared for her safety. I sort of smiled at her and looked sheepish and she smiled back but totally didn’t make eye contact with me.

I freaked out a nun on an airplane. Maybe she’ll pray for me tonight because Lord knows I need it.

That all of you laughing at me getting in the dumpster, there is such a thing called “karma”. I hope it bites you all in the butt.

And an update from Karaoke Friday - I did do an okay rendition of “Midnight Train to Georgia.” The group that I was with said that I sounded good but they could be lying so I’m not sure what to believe. Because I really couldn’t hear it myself. I do know that one couple should have kept their “Summer Breeze” to themselves. I couldn’t tell if they were so drunk they thought they sounded great or just didn’t care.

I’m in Lansing, MI at the moment and will be headed back to the big Ham tomorrow (Wednesday). I’m not excited about returning to 100 degree heat. Today it was 72, overcast and actually chilly outside. It was so great. Maybe I need a summer home in Wisconsin and winter home in Alabama. Maybe I’ll work on that.

I dropped my keys in the dumpster yesterday. I have lived here for seven years and not once have I done that. And of course it was 95 degrees and I was on my way out and needed to look presentable.

At first the keys dropped on top of a box so I thought I could pull myself up and lean over to reach it. Right as I was about to curl my fingers around the key ring, my cell phone pops out of my pocket and all the way down to the bottom of the dumpster. As I reach to grab my cell I hit the box and the keys clatter down with it. Perfect.

There was nothing left to do but to climb over into the dumpster. Visions of CSI, Law & Order and every other crime show I enjoy flash through my mind. Only problem, there was no cute detective or crime scene person to send in other than me. Arrggh. So up and over I go.

Thankfully the dumpster had been emptied the day before and there was not a lot of trash in there. So I grab the keys and throw them over the side, grab the phone and throw it over and then my next problem hits. How the heck do I get out of this thing?

There is no foothold on the inside and my upper body strength stinks. I was the gal that just hung on the pull-up bar in PE class until the requisite 15 seconds had passed. I ended up kicking over a Dirt Devil vacuum box that someone had thrown out and just using it to push myself up a little further so I could get some leverage. I backed in to the corner and was able to push myself up and sit on the side.

I am so sure I had some neighbors watching. I’m just waiting to run into one of them and they mention it. Especially this busybody named Ms. Barbara - she’s always up in my business and I’m sure if she was home, she enjoyed the show.

Next time, the keys stay in my pocket.