4 filings in one go. Klonopin and numbing stuff only. This is a such a huge thing.

Ok filings done. It was mostly painless. I did not feel lie I was being choked woth all the implements in my mouth. I flinched and my tongue was nicked but the dentist never blamed me. He said my tongue jostled something but he was explaiming. Not "I told you not to move ehat did you think would happen? Type stuff.

Sounds like a good dentist. I always kind of hate my dentists/hygenists and feel bad about it, but come on. They're poking me with things.

They were really nice and stopped 3 or 4 times AND when they started back with one thing and it started to hurt they believed me and got me more novivace.

Instead if being put out that I had to stop and that thr medicine wore off.

Good dentists are worth their weight in gold fillings.

My old dentist - who got me over being terrified due to terrible experiences when I was young - would do things like when he had to inject novacaine, he'd put a warm cloth over my eyes. sigh ... he retired (after something like 60 years in practice, so he'd earned it) and his replacement is good and very nice, but not like the old one.

Calli, that's a great idea.

My current dentist is good, though I get a vaguely judgey vibe from him. It's nothing he's said, just sort of a demeanor. And in cases like that, I have to remember that (1) I might be projecting because of my own guilt for not flossing enough/whatever, and (2) I am not the best at reading body language/facial expressions,* so sometimes I think someone is being judgey and they're just being...neutral. Or friendly.

Of course, he's light years beyond the old dental practice, including the endodontist who left the infected root in. I still hope they all die in a fire.

*(We did an exercise in improv class last night where we had a partner, who was supposed to assume a neutral expression and then we were supposed to somehow look past the neutral expression and tell them "You look [angry/tired/wise/whatever]" and then they were supposed to respond with "I *am* [whatever], because [fill in the blank]." The exercise is meant to get you more in tune with your partner. And all I could think was, FUCK, I am on the spectrum and can't read facial expressions. AWESOME. I did fine, though.)

Gud, so good to hear she's out of the woods physically. I hope that you guys get some really great help from the psychiatric facility.

Ugh. I've been pretty much doing double work all week, to prepare for having some colleagues cover my classes next week for Rosh Hashanah, and now I'm exhausted. I got home from work and fell asleep, which I never do, and now it's midnight and I have to clean my kitchen and pack my suitcase for going to NJ, and I just don't want to move. I set my alarm clock for an hour and a half earlier than usual for tomorrow morning, so that, if I do fall asleep, I'll have time to clean and pack in the morning before work.

I had a tussle getting Java to use cat litter, after Gigi was killed by a coyote and the option of letting Java and Lily come/go as they pleased was withdrawn. Cat Attract worked and remains in favor. It doesn't smell like anything that I can tell - yay for that, since I hate nearly all scents.

My mother died four years ago today. My sister made up a little Day of the Dead kind of alter on my kitchen bar, and lit a tea candle. There's an apple and cup of tea there in one of her old teacups that was free from either the bank or the grocery store - it was our daily china when I was growing up in PA.