A Trip to the Dentist

I have a dental appointment this morning to have the prep work done for my very first crown.  I had a root canal done in late March and I'm finally getting around to getting this part of the work done. I blame the delay on my ADD. Most of the day, my teeth are out of sight, out of mind. It's only in the very early morning and at bedtime as I'm brushing (and flossing!) that I remember.

And I shouldn't use ADD as the full excuse because, just like maybe 99% of non-dentists, non-dental hygienists and non-orthodontists, going to the dentist is not something I really look forward to.javascript:void(0)

or maybe I should blame it on painful childhood memories.

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My childhood dentist was a gentleman named Dr. VonBerg. He was always old and I think his nurse was his wife. Up until the time I was about 12, I rarely had cavities (I credited it to the apple tree in our backyard - why? I have no idea). At age 13, I had to get braces put on and I had to have four teeth pulled prior to the installation. That was when my view of Dr VonBerg went from old, gentle guy to very scary guy with long needles. On the day of my first extraction and about 15 minutes after I got my first shot of novacaine, he realized that he had numbed the wrong side.

I was also the worst patient for my orthodontist. I got the braces on when I was 13 and didn't get them off until I was 18. I would always forget to wear my headgear! My monthly appointment was always the same - Dr. Sletten would ask me about the head gear and I would lie and say, "I wear it every night."

I think he tried reverse psychology on me the final year by telling me that I was so close and if I wore my headgear faithfully for the next month, he would take them off the next month.  Sorry, Dr. Sletten, reverse psychology doesn't work on ADD girl.

I finally got my braces off and was amazed at the feeling of my lips sliding down my teeth without get caught in the barb wire. My teeth were nice and straight (my parents were about $1200 poorer) and I've liked my smile ever since.

So, when I started having pain in one of my teeth, my current dentist said that there were two possible options - they could do a root canal and then I would get a crown OR they would have to pull the tooth and I would have to get a bridge.

Absolute mortification! The idea of losing a tooth and looking like a hillbilly with missing teeth was giving me nightmares. And it didn't help that my mom has bridges and when she's tired of having them in her mouth, she'll just pull them out and put them on the end table in her living room. (We always call in advance of bringing guests to visit her and tell her to make sure her teeth are in)

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So, off I go to the dentist and hope it will be somewhat pain-free. I'm thinking the most painful part is paying the bill "at the time of service." 

Decision Day for LeBron

Tonight, LeBron James will be announcing where he'll be playing basketball next year. While I'm not a person who cares much about pro-basketball, the story is more human interest than sports for me. If you're a sports person, it's about strategy and if you have a business focus, it's about the money. 

I heard that the New York Knicks have told LeBron that he could make billions (yes, BILLIONS!) if he plays for them because of all the endorsement deals he would get in a major market like NYC. President Obama suggested Chicago Heat since he's all about anything Chicago.  Rumors abound that he's going to the Heat.

I hope he stays in Cleveland. For me, if he stays in Cleveland, it tells me that he loves the game and if he goes anywhere else, it's about the money.

He needs to follow the example of our local boy, Joe Mauer of the Minnesota Twins. LeBron grew up in Cleveland and he is worshiped by the community. To his credit, he has given much back to the community, but Cleveland will be devastated if LeBron leaves.

Isn't it interesting that he made a deal to make his announcement on an ESPN broadcast where all the ad revenue is being given to the Boys & Girls Club? My inner cynic wonders if the philanthropic gesture is to soften the community outrage if he leaves Cleveland?  It will be saying, "I'm going for the money, but aren't I a wonderful and generous person?"  

I'm gonna hope that LeBron proves me wrong and stays in Cleveland. I hope he will be a great example to our youth that it is about the love and the joy of playing the game.

Passion or Obsession?

Melissa over at The Marketing Mama blog asked her blogger friends to write about what they are passionate about. (Of course, Melissa asked us to do this last week...oops!)

You'd be a pretty smart cookie if you assumed that someone with ADD would either have lots of things they are passionate about or have very fleeting passions - think "Passion of the Week."

It's the former and the latter for me. I have many areas in my life that I'm passionate about, but I would argue that my "Passion of the Week," is more like an "Obsession of the Moment." And Melissa asked us to write about our passions.

Individuals with ADD love anything new and out of the ordinary because it engages our senses and gives us something to learn. (I swear that I love to learn regardless of what my grade school teachers thought) My two big passions (quilting & social media), do both.

There are my shallow passions such as the importance of having Diet Coke for the judges at all skating competitions (wait, that's an obsession...), having a tan, or having cooler toys than the other kids, but I have two passions that keeps my ADD brain engaged for hours on end.

www.nataliedee.com

Quilting - Although I've been dabbling in quilting off and on for the last 20 or so years, it has really been in the last twelve months that I've added it to my list of borderline obsessions. My most relaxing times are spent working on quilts. I took vacation time last week and my prime focus of my staycation was quilting and getting this quilt finished before the end of July.

Ask any quilter about their stash and while they might deny having one, if you search their house, you will find fabric in places you would have never imagined. I got rid of the books in my home office and have now filled the shelves with fabric. Front hall closet? More fabric.

When you have ADD, there is a problem with starting projects and then losing interest in them and not finishing. That rarely happens with my quilts. I love the sense of accomplishment when it's finished. Not only do I have a Facebook photo album just for my quilts, but I also carry around photos of quilts to show off. 

You have your kids, I have my quilts.

Social Media - I love talking about social media and how it is changing our lives and our world. I was naturally attracted to social media because it was new and unknown (i.e. shiny object). In December 2008, I wrote a paper for a graduate class on the use of social media by nonprofits and that paper launched this passion. I've been fortunate enough to stealthily add social media responsibilities into my job description.

The other great thing about social media is that it is constantly changing and in order to keep up with the trends, you have to be constantly learning and searching out new information.

I love tweeting, blogging and friending. But I do get strange looks from friends and family members when I talk about social media. It is still a foreign concept for so many people. They may "get" Facebook, but that "whole Twitter thing" doesn't make sense to them. 

There are many awkward moments when in the course of conversation, you mention that you were just tweeting about that or that you just became Mayor of your neighborhood Starbucks. The unknowing will look at you as if you either have a third eye (not that there's anything wrong with that) or you're a stalker. And even though I know I'm not a stalker, I start to wonder...

ADD'ers get a bad rap for not staying with a project through to completion, but the fact that the two passions mentioned above have been a big part of my life for over 20 years and 2 years respectively, should help prove different. Give me a project that is creative and challenging and I'll see it through to the end.  

What are you passionate about? Is it a passion or an obsession?

Hope

Whenever I hear the name Wetterling in the news, my attention is immediately focused on what is being said. These last three days of local news covering the 20-year investigation of the kidnapping of Jacob Wetteting in October 1989 has gotten my hopes up for closure for Jacob's family and friends.

His mom, Patty say in interview yesterday that she didn't know what to think or what she wants. I think we can all understand that emotion.

Whenever I hear news about Jacob, I don't think back twenty years - I think back ten years. It was ten years ago that I was invited to serve on the Wetterling Foundation Board of Directors and I had the opportunity to meet the Wetterling family.

Whenever I hear news about Jacob, I re-experience the heart-stopping emotion I felt during my first conversation with Jacob's father, Jerry.

I met Jerry at the Wetterling Foundation offices in St. Joseph, Minnesota for an interview prior to joining the board. During our conversation, he said three words that impacted me as none ever had, "After Jacob's abduction..." As much as I had heard and read about the story, nothing prepared me for this.

I was talking to a man who had his child kidnapped and still didn't know where he was. I was having a one-on-one conversation with someone I had only seen in the news - on the news where the bad news is something that is happening to someone else, not you or someone you know.

Jacob became a real child to me (even though by this time, Jacob would have been about 22 years old). He stopped being a news story and became someone I cared about.

When I was serving on the board, I had clueless people say to me, "Are they still looking for him?"

As if that was the entire purpose of the foundation. The mission of the foundation was to prevent this from ever happening again.

As if a parent would ever stop. No parent would ever want to hear this from their child, "Why did you stop looking for me?"

I pray for the best outcome - whatever that may be.

I Really Did It!!

Yesterday was a huge day for me as I ran my first 5K race.  It was the Father's Day 5K run.

It was a day for achieving goals. I'm all about baby steps and breaking down your goals into small pieces.

Goal #1 - If you're going to train for a 5K, you're going to have run one. Register already! 

Goal #2 - Actually get out of bed and go to the race course.

Goal #3 - Finish the race.

Goal #4 - Try to run it in less than 50 minutes.

I didn't register for the race weeks in advance; I registered Friday night for the Sunday race. I needed something to get me to the race and it wasn't a car ride. I needed to feel accountable to someone. So, I asked my friend and co-worker, Kelly, if she would be available Sunday morning to come to the race - cheer me on and provide advice. (Kelly is a runner/marathoner.) She was very supportive and enthusiastic and asked if it would be okay if Nathan (her main guy and another friend and co-worker of mine) also came to the race. Absolutely!

So, when I woke up Sunday morning. instead of playing my usual mind games and talk myself out of something, I focused on the fact that Kelly & Nathan would be there. I had to be there - no excuses!

When I got to the registration table to pick up my bib, I saw my name on the sheet of runners. It suddenly felt very real and it seemed strange to see my age listed on there as 50. I just don't feel 50. And then I realized that at the age of 50, I was running my first race. HA!

Kelly & Nate showed up and kept me walking and distracted until the race started. It wasn't a big group of runners, being the day after Grandma's and at the same time as the Stillwater marathon. I was thankful for that. I think I would have felt overwhelmed with a large group! 

When the race started, I was trying to figure out my pace. I did most of my training on the treadmill, so I wasn't sure how to determine if I was at the pace I wanted, about 4 mph. I ran and I walked and I jogged and I walked and I speed walked and I walked. I was talking to myself the entire time - not out loud as I'm sure the rest of the runners would wonder about me. 

The race was around Como Lake in Saint Paul. Almost twice around the lake is the 3.1 miles and it is a wonderful place to run - spots with shade and mostly flat with only one area with a slight incline. Now that I know about it, I'm going to have to go there at least once a week to do more outdoor running. 

I was so nervous about the race, that I completely forgot about my fear of running in front of people who can see me!  (Harry Potter's invisibility cloak would be an ideal gift for me.)

I kept the pace pretty well through most of the race. There was this 82-year old racer there doing it as a speed walker. Got a bit stressed when he passed me. For about a 1/2 mile we were playing leap frog. I was like, "Oh, no, I am not going to get passed by an 82-year man!" He was a motivation for awhile and then I realized this guy does all these races and is most likely in better shape than me.  

When I was lapped by the real runners (and winners) and I was okay with that. When I got lapped by them the second time, it was a bit of blow. Then I realized they had already finished and this was just their cool-down lap. My cool down lap was walking to my car to drive home. 

Many people have told me that having people cheer you on during a race provides great motivation. Now I understand. Having people cheer for me as I was coming around the first time made me kick a bit harder - I was motivated to get out of my walking mode and back into the jogging mode.

At the end, again having people there cheering for me, I kicked up the pace and got ready to cross the finish line. As I was coming in at the finish, I could see the official clock. I broke into a huge smile when I saw 43 minutes on the clock. No way! I was going to finish in less than 50 minutes, less than 45 minutes. I crossed the finish line at 43:28. 

I had imagined that I would cross the finish line and drop over or go all jelly legs. I didn't. I wasn't even out of breath. I just wanted to know where the water was! Got a bit of water and then a banana sounded like the greatest treat that God ever created! Luckily, they had plenty. 

During the race, I kept looking behind me and I didn't see anyone. Was I the last one?? I thought there were some walkers that would be behind me, but I couldn't see anyone. About a minute after I crossed the finish line, more people started crossing the finish line. "I wasn't the last one." Kelly just laughed and said, "Of course not."

Several people who knew it was my first race (I suppose because I was telling everyone) came over to congratulate me and one woman wearing a half-marathon t-shirt said, "see you at more races."

Today was also my first hit of the dopamine that runners talk about - my 5K runner's high. Kind of liked it. 

Wait, I have to go backward in the story here, not just pre-race, but pre-leaving-my-house. I had laid out the clothes I would be wearing the night before. (I never do that for my regular days!) I wanted to be able to get dressed and be ready to go. 

I put on the outfit and then determined I didn't like how it fit. Seriously? It's 10 minutes before I need to leave and I'm trashing about my fitness clothing. I found a gray top to wear, but it was wrinkled. For one brief second, I thought about ironing it. I'm about get it sweaty and I was thinking it would look bad? 

So, of the four goals that I had set for myself, I got all of them! I would like to do a couple more 5Ks this summer and perhaps start thinking about a 10K later down the road. My friend Lisa left a message on my Facebook wall asking me I wanted to do the TC Marathon 10 mile this fall. Baby steps, Lisa, baby steps.

Marathon? I don't think I could keep my concentration that long. With my ADD, I'll lose interest and just go wandering off...

If someone would have told me when I was turned 40 (when I was at the highest weight and the most unhealthy I had ever been) that I would be running at age 50 (when I never had before), I would have laughed. If they would have said, I would do a 5K race, I would have insisted they do a drug screen. 

It was just so damn cool!

(my first race t-shirt!!)

A Saturday at Target

I've just returned home from a semi-unplanned trip to Target. It wasn't the original destination of the trip, but like the siren's song attracts sailors, the lure of Target just sucks me right in.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Target. It is an outstanding Minnesota-based company and when I lived in Houston in the mid-1980's, I would go into a Target when I was homesick. And I look rather fantastic in red.

Now Saturdays at Target are equal parts shopping, trying the samples and people watching (although if you want high-end Saturday samples, you go to Byerly's). I didn't try any samples because when you're journaling "if you bite, write it," samples will mess you up. In the true tradition of Target, I went in for the basics (milk, meat, veggies) and walked out having spent $75. (My check-out clerk, Adam, told me that every third person he rings up says the same thing to him.)

Nearly every time I go grocery shopping, a rant goes through my head, "Why doesn't anyone package things for single people?"  I'm making spaghetti tonight, so I wanted pasta sauce. I wanted to find a small jar since I don't make pasta that often and the remaining sauce usually becomes a biology project in my fridge.

Then there is the toilet paper issue. Not only am I single, but my home lacks storage space. What ever happened to the four packs of toilet paper? The smallest size I could find was a 12-pack of the double rolls (equal to 24 rolls of paper!).  This whole issue is why most single people do not have Sam's Club memberships. 

Target was a hopping place. There was a large group of people picking out Father's Day cards - guess they won't be mailing their cards. The highlight of today's expedition was a mom with her two young daughters. It truly put a smile on my face. The girls were about four and six and they were so excited to help their mom shop for the lasagna they were making that night. The kids weren't whiney or misbehaving, just enthusiastic. While working with the older one, the younger girl starts wandering down into the freezer row. Her mom is calling her name to come back, but she's looking at every thing around her and was in her own world, happy as can be. ( may have recognized myself in that child)

While Adam the clerk was ringing up my $75 worth of goods, the women at the checkout behind me commented how this Target is her favorite because she used to work here, only the Roseville Target she worked at was torn down and rebuilt, but it was special all the same.  I turned around and asked her if it is a requirement that everyone who lives in Minnesota must work at a Target at one time or other in their lives? 

But of course, I couldn't stop there. I had to add that when I worked at Target, they didn't have scanners and you had to punch in the numbers on the price tag (Adam looked confused at that point - 'what's a price tag?'). AND not only did we have to punch in the numbers, BUT back then Target keypads were set up like telephones, not like a traditional 10-key! My "10-key by touch" skills were pretty wasted by Target and I lasted only a couple of months.

I didn't have to pick up a Father's Day card at Target.

Remember my Couch to 5K Challenge? It is a nine-week program to get you ready for a 5K race. Although I started the challenge back in early April (more than nine weeks ago), I haven't gotten past Week Five. I've been running (even running outside!), but not very consistently. The original plan was to run a race on the 5th of June, but that got canceled when the race itself was canceled. Then I was looking to June 12th and the Lederhosenlauf 5K that was serving beer & brats at the end of the race. Unfortunately, I was telling myself that I wasn't ready and kept putting off running my first 5K. 

Tomorrow, I'm registered to run in the Father's Day 5K around Como Lake. I have my friends Kelly and Nathan coming to cheer me on and take pictures (as proof!). I don't have a time goal since it's my first - my goal is just to finish before they start dismantling the finish line.

The race is marketed as a chance for fathers and their kids to run together. I figured it was a good choice because my dad isn't here anymore. 

My dad died of congestive heart failure complicated by diabetes. My Grandma Harty died of congestive heart failure complicated by diabetes as did her mother. 

I have three generations of reasons why I'm running this 5K.