1) Passport anxiety
I’m a little worried that I won’t have my renewed passport in time for my Niagara Falls trip. It is currently listed as “in process” as of April 8th and it reportedly takes 8-11 weeks for a passport to go through the renewal process. Wellll, 8 weeks from April 8th is June 3rd—just five days before my trip. EEKS! Why did I wait so long to mail my passport? Why didn’t I use expedited mail? Ughhhhh. My mom thinks it will all be fine and I’ll receive it in time, but my brain doesn’t operate that way. I think what I’m going to do is try to switch my passport from regular processing to expedited processing—paying the extra money for expedited will be worth it for my peace of mind.
2) My “Is this what will cause me to stop eating popcorn?” debacle
I don’t expect anyone to remember the weird gum irritation I dealt with in October. Basically, I was eating popcorn, chomped down on a piece, and felt a popcorn hull slice into my gums weirdly. For the next few weeks, my gums were inflamed and eating was so painful that I finally went to the dentist, thinking I had somehow gotten the hull stuck deep into my gums. The hull was nowhere to be found, but my dentist recommended doing a periodontal cleaning to see if that would clear things up. And it did! I was pain-free for the first time in weeks, and it felt great.
Sometime last month, I ate a piece of popcorn and THE SAME THING HAPPENED. In the same spot! I’ve been living with inflamed gums on the upper right side of my mouth for weeks now and it’s been miserable. Last Friday, I had an emergency dental appointment with my dentist. They did X-rays and tested my teeth and gums, and couldn’t find any reason for the inflamed gums. So we decided a periodontal cleaning was the best thing to do again. Unfortunately, this office only has one hygienist and she only works Mondays and Fridays. (!!) So they weren’t able to schedule me for a cleaning until May 16th. Five whole weeks of misery? No, thanks! I decided to try to see if another local dentist could fit me in.
So I called another dentist near me, and they were not only able to fit me in for the new patient consultation the next day but also the cleaning. It wasn’t a periodontal cleaning, but they numbed the right side of my mouth so that the hygienist could clean that area really well. Hooray for that!
I loved this other dental office, too. (Much more than my previous dentist.) Everyone was so friendly and sweet, and they had some really cool technology like a camera that they used to show my teeth and gums on a TV. (It was cool to see the area that was inflamed; it looks so puffy and sore!) Plus, they played funny animal videos in their patient rooms, which was a delight to watch during my appointment. 🙂
My mouth still feels sore after the appointment but I was able to eat pizza last night without any pain so I think I might be on the mend! Here’s hoping, at least.
3) Mole removal
Let’s stay on the topic of health, because it seems like all of my free time and money these days is being spent there. Last week, I went to my dermatologist for a mole removal, which was a quick and mostly painless process. They did a punch biopsy to remove as much of the mole as possible that they then sent to a lab to make sure the margins were free of abnormal cells. I got a call on Tuesday that the biopsy came back clear, which means I won’t have to go back in for more removal, which is a relief. I had to get a few stitches in my lower back and my mom (she has to change the bandage for me since it’s in an awkward place) told me yesterday that it’s healing perfectly. Yay! The stitches come out on Tuesday.
4) A new planner
Last month, on a whim (and because I needed to hit that $25 threshold for free shipping on Amazon), I bought an undated planner that looked perfect for tracking daily habits and monthly goals. Each two-page spread covers an entire week. On the left side of the planner, I track my weekly goals, weekly to-dos, and daily habits that I’m working on. On the right side of the planner are six boxes for each day of the week (one box for Saturday and Sunday). At the end of every day, I fill in one of the boxes with the next day’s date and the daily tasks I want to do. I include my workout of the day and the chore I want to complete (I try to do one chore a day) and then I look at my weekly goals/to-do lists and add a few tasks from there. My weekly goals are usually driven by my monthly goals, and I try to break those bigger goals into smaller tasks that feel much more manageable to complete.
The only change I would make to this planner would be to split up the weekend box into separate Saturday and Sunday boxes. It’s hard to fit all of my to-dos for the weekend into one tiny box! I may just end up sticking a post-it in there for weekend to-dos.
5) Weekend plans
I have a fun weekend ahead of me! I don’t have anything on my agenda for tonight, so I’m planning on taking it easy and painting my nails while I watch Bridgerton. Tomorrow, I’m taking the dogs to a dog ice cream bar near me! I cannot wait for them to experience this magical place. And Sunday is Easter (and also Pops’ birthday—he would have been so delighted for his birthday to fall on Easter). My mom, stepdad, and I have lunch plans at a steakhouse, which should be a good time.
Ha, well I have a friend who calls popcorn “the snack with consequences.” I’ve had that happen many, many times, although not to the extent where I had to get a cleaning. Popcorn hulls always seem to get stuck and cause issues, and yet I keep eating it. Why?
I agree with your mom and that you passport situation will PROBABLY be fine, but I think it’s worth the money to pay for expedited, and be able to stop worrying about it. Any easy thing you can do to reduce anxiety is worth it.
I love your planner but agree I would need two boxes for the weekend. And, your weekend sounds fun! I want to see pictures from the dog ice cream bar!
“The snack with consequences” is the perfect way to describe popcorn. It truly is! At least I always seem to get these issues when I’m due for a cleaning, haha. It’s just so crazy that it happened twice! I need to be super-duper careful when I eat popcorn now.
That journal looks great for tracking things! I sort of create my own templates on blank pages, but looking at other people’s journals has given me hope that maybe there’s a journal out there that would work for me.
I have very bad gums and see a periodontist regularly, but I love popcorn too much to give it up! I hope it doesn’t become a recurring problem for you. Also, yay for a benign mole! That must feel quite relieving.
I’m really enjoying this planner so far! It’s been really fun to track my goals and habits this way. 🙂
I can’t give up popcorn either! I am a little hesitant to eat it again, but I also ate so many batches of popcorn between my gum irritation from last year to this most recent one, so I’m usually fine!
Oh wow – the gum thing is SO weird! Do you have some sort of allergy to popcorn? Glad you found a new dentist who was able to see you quickly and address the problem!
Love your planner as well – especially the habit tracker. I always wish I were a planner person, but I go in with big intentions and then forget about it a few days in. Whoops!
I don’t think I have an allergy to popcorn. I eat it regularly and I’m usually fine. I do have this little space between my last two top teeth on the right side of my mouth and my dentist thinks it’s just easy for things to get stuck there. I need to buy one of those WaterPik flossers to help!
I’ve never been much of a paper planner person either. I always go in with the best intentions and then falter a few weeks in. So we’ll see how long this one lasts with me! Ha.
Curious (as I know you track your spending) how the purchases you make to bump up to $25 vs. the prime fee comes out. On one hand – at least you are getting ‘something’ for the additional money. On the other – are you buying things you don’t really want or need for shipping.
I’m usually not spending money on things I don’t need when it comes to Amazon. I mean, yes, I bought the planner to hit that free shipping threshold, but I am actually using it the most out of everything I bought in that shipment. Usually, I just let things stack up in my Amazon cart until I have enough for free shipping (which usually isn’t that hard to hit!) I’m probably ordering from Amazon twice a month at most, and I know when I had Prime, I was ordering so much more often because there was no limit to worry about.
Fingers crossed you’ll get your passport in time! I had a similar issue years ago with my sons, and they were going to Alaska with their dad, and so it was urgent to get them renewed. I was pretty on the ball, I thought, since I was renewing three months in advance of their trip, but the fellow at the passport office thought one of my son’s would take a while for some reason, and I was SO WORRIED. But it ended up being fine. I hope yours will be fine too!
I hope it will, too! I think submitting an expedited order will calm my fears that all will be fine.
Don’t get me started on putting off passport applications. Shudder. These fill me with dread and I always feel like something is going to go awry. It never does, in the end, but I would 100% pay for expedited processing for peace of mind.
I so rarely eat popcorn but have had a similar issue with my gums. Weird. Maybe popcorn needs to come with a warning label?! Glad your new dentist was able to help you feel better and be pleasant doing so.
That planner looks great! I really like the layout, though agree one spot for the weekend wouldn’t likely be enough for me!
The whole passport renewal situation felt so strange to me. I’m just supposed to drop my entire passport into the mail?!!? And just cross my fingers the documents are right?!?! I wish I could just go to a passport office and get it all done in one day. I don’t even care if it means taking time off work! Anything to have that beautiful renewed passport in my hands before my trip.
I would be stressed about the passport too! I think it’s a good plan to pay for expedited processing.
Ouch, I cannot believe that happened AGAIN while eating popcorn! How painful. I am glad the new dentist was better and could help. Are you going to go back to them for another cleaning?
I am glad your mole removal is healing up nicely! And came back all clear 🙂
I am definitely going back to them for my next cleaning! They were so kind and made me feel really cared for, which is something I did not get from my previous dentist.
I think it’s a good plan to switch to expedited just to give yourself some peace of mind. Chances are you would get it in time but spending some money to lower the stress is worth it!
I eat so much popcorn so would be super bummed if it gave me teeth problems. I eat it almost daily!!
I eat popcorn so often, too! And now I’m a little afraid to eat it again because of what has happened twice. Ugh. I love popcorn!
I think there is a low-hull popcorn? Maybe that would help? Or, do you put something on it that might be irritating? Just glad the dentist could help.
And fingers crossed SO hard that the passport arrives in enough time. Expediting it should help!
Finally – YAy for benign mole! Glad that is done! 🙂
I honestly think it’s just that area of my mouth – there’s a small gap between two teeth and it’s easier for food to get stuck there or for a popcorn hull to slice it weirdly. I eat popcorn so frequently that the rate of this happening is so, so low. But it’s just weird that it’s happened twice in 6 months! Argh.
So glad this mole business is behind me now!
Ugh, I am sorry about the health issues, but I am glad both things turned out fine.
Fingers crossed that your passport arrives in time. I would be anxious about this too… although sometimes these things really are outside of our control.