Torture!

To be perfectly honest, most of the past week has been a big blur of tooth pain for me. It started a couple weeks ago with a mild toothache - pain, but manageable with ibuprofen. I went to my dentist, who sent me to a specialist to have a root canal of a tooth that already had a root canal four years ago. I guess I have weird roots with more phalanges than normal, so they weren't all cleaned out the first time around. So he cleaned it out and pack it full of antibiotics to get rid of the bacteria. And then, over the weekend of course, the gum area became infected and I spent a great amount of time laying in my bed shushing & shooing anyone who came to talk to me. 

It's still not over - I had it refilled yesterday and some time next week I have to go back to my dentist to get my crown repaired and then, at another time, get another crown replaced. But a month ago at my check up, everything was fine and no new cavities. Sigh.

Why is when something like this happens, my kids decide it's time to start hanging on my head and smacking me in the face? Torture! On the bright side, I did get to spend more time than usual reading and watching a few of my favorite movies to try to distract myself. 

I'm taking an adult scholar class through our commonwealth of American West Literature - we've read & discussed Lord Grizzly and a number of short stories - The Ransom of Red Chief was a fun one. I also recently finished The Canyon, but the discussion won't take place until November. 

Last week, we talked about the Greek Hero Journey versus the Hebrew Hero Journey, and then how a bunch of different books fit into these two categories. Very interesting stuff. I'd forgotten how much I love reading & discussing literature. 

Left - Greek, Right - Hebrew, Triangle - man needs balance in all areas for happiness

Also, since it's Halloween, I've been doing some seasonal reading: Washington Irving's "Rip Van Winkle" & "Legend of Sleepy Hollow," some of Edgar Allen Poe's stories, and Psycho is on my Netflix list, but certainly can't watch it with the kids around (speaking of which, if you are familiar with Poe & Psycho, you may enjoy watching Psych season 2, episode 10: Gus' Dad May Have Killed an Old Guy - there's a hilarious moment in the middle). 

I watched Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (the book is very similar and fun, too), Simply Irresistible, some of Ken Burns The West documentary, a few Psych, and some Horseland and Magic School Bus :).