So far so good...

As promised, I have awarded myself a goal for breaking a bad habit (leaving my shoes all over the house). Yes I know I said I back-slid a bit last week, but I renewed my efforts, and it's been over a month, so I'm claiming it.

(Hey, these are actually the shoes I bought to wear to my daughter's wedding. They are currently up on the closet shelf in a box. They are a lot sexier in person.)

I also renewed my exercising efforts. Yesterday I had to get on the elliptical because for some reason the treadmills wouldn't start up. I discovered that a lot of my workout mix that hadn't meshed too well with my walking works just fine on the elliptical! I think I'm going to need two mixes, a fast one for walking and a slower one for the elliptical.

And I need HELP with this. I know hardly anything about rock/pop music. The songs I have currently (my daughter AC put a mix together for me) that I really groove to are "Let's Dance" (Bowie) and "Cocaine" (Clapton). I think I'll have much more incentive to exercise if I have some really fabulous, driving, fun-to-listen-to music, preferably not too bubble-gummy. Any suggestions???

ALSO, I have pretty much settled on another virtuous habit: establishing a flossing routine again. I was doing pretty well until a couple of years ago when a series of accidents put a real cramp in my style. At one time I had both hands in braces, from falling down and hurting my wrists. And I also broke a rib. Not that time, another time. And now I have this hand thing going on.

I'm not going to put off developing the habit until after surgery--I'm going to try to cope with dental hygiene right through the recovery period. My dentist sold me a nice Water-Pik, AND I have another new ally in my quest: I only discovered this brand lately because my stepdaughter left it behind when she moved out. What a revelation. My teeth are really close together and really hard to floss. This stuff makes it easy!!! And fast! (Please don't tell me it doesn't do as good a job as the regular floss.) And yes, it is more expensive, but it makes it so much less onerous a task. In fact hardly onerous at all.

My first product review! (*simper*)

Goal 54 - Visit the Dentist

Arrggghhh!! I buckled down and researched dentists today, and ended up with a dental appointment next week. One week from today!

I must explain: I have severe dentalphobia. One afternoon in the gym when I was eight I broke one of my front teeth on account of a girl I never liked very much barreling into me during a game of Flying Dutchman and knocking me down. What ensued during the following twelve hours was right out of your worst nightmare. And back then, dental science was not nearly as advanced as it is today. I know they knew about gas back then--they called it "laughing gas"--nobody thought about using it on me, probably because I was a very stoic youngster who had a mortal dread of making a scene. (I internalize everything.) I ended up (after what seemed like hours of drilling without benefit of anesthetic if I remember right) with an ugly metal cap on my front tooth, which some of my peers thought was way cool (though even "cool" was a word they didn't yet know in that definition). And then eventually with a more real-looking temporary crown that stayed on through my teens. Never will I forget that night at the dentist.

Anyway, I cannot now undergo even a routine cleaning without being gassed into oblivion.

It takes me a long time to "break in" a dentist. I had a really nice one in KY--I even got to the point where I could have a cleaning without gas, but then I moved to NYC. Then I almost had another one broken in, but he moved away, probably because of me. I had a habit of spouting copious tears while under treatment, and he found it a bit unnerving.

It's been way too long, so today I called around, and the first dentist I chose I made sure to ask about the gas, and they said "No way." What's up with that? I asked the receptionist if there was some reason for this, and she said I'd have to talk to the dentist, so I said, "Well, I'll get back to you." I found another dentist on the second call who had no problem with the nitrous, so I have an appointment in SEVEN DAYS! If it weren't for my Goals List I would never have called. And without the support of all you blog people I would probably chicken out. But I am going to be staunch about this. Don't want dentures! Vanity trumps dentalphobia.