Its Blast Off Time

Since I started writing Green Leaf Reviewer about two weeks ago I have been questioning a lot of the things I do and how focused I really am on the environment. Not to say that the planet as a whole is not a priority for me because it definitely is -- I recycle, upcycle, drive a fuel efficient car, barely drive anywhere, turn lights and electronics off, yada, yada, yada -- but when it comes to taking care of me, I question if I have lost complete focus. One of the things I said in the welcome message over there is that the environment is everything around us so truthfully, that means my own body as well.

I have been inspired lately with all these great healthy recipes I have been reading about and this past week Matt had to have a tooth pulled.

How do those things relate some of you may wonder? Well fear not for in my ability to weave seemingly random and unrelated topics into one roller coaster ride of a blog post I would love to share it with you.

A couple weeks ago Matt had such a bad toothache that he actually sat in his chair one Friday night and cried from the pain. He had already made an appointment for the following Tuesday but I suggested to just go there in the morning instead and explain the situation so perhaps they could squeeze him in as an emergency appointment. Luckily they did and he came home with a temporary filling. He was feeling much better and booked an appointment for this past Thursday to have the wisdom tooth extracted.

He went in for a three o’clock appointment on Thursday and while he was having an impacted tooth yanked out I was briskly walking the bike path with my friend S, the twins and her Mom. We have decided to try to walk together at least once a week and knowing that I will finally be doing even a little exercise is a great feeling. Matt called to say he was done and drooling so I picked him up and we headed home where he could nap off his pint of blood loss and I could get some sewing done.

For the following few days he was allowed to eat only soft foods and since he was feeling a bit more energy, and a need for a walk himself, he headed down to the supermarket to pick up something edible that would help fill him up. Just as a quick reference point here my Grampa used to tell me I must have a hollow leg with the amount of food I could pack away without gaining any weight. Well if I had one hollow leg Matt surely has two so eating broth for three days was not going to cut it. I gave him a small list and he came home with blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, apples, vanilla flavored Carnation Instant Breakfast, milk and Cream of Wheat.

After making the pesto last week I had some leftover cilantro and was no longer nervous that my (very underutilized) blender was going to explode so I pulled it back out and decided to try my hand at some smoothies that might fill up Matt. I am a lover of fruits and veggies but have frequently said it would be beneficial to own a juicer because I am never going to be the person who just grabs for fruit to snack on but if I were to blend them all together and have a yummy drink well that I could do all day!

I took a handful of blueberries, raspberries, four strawberries, a third of a Macintosh apple, a few chopped sprigs of the cilantro, two packets of the vanilla Carnation instant breakfast and eight ounces of milk and blended it until it was pancake batter consistency. I hesitantly handed it over to him waiting to hear “blech!” but to my surprise he loved it! I loved it too but what we both really loved most was the way we felt about an hour after drinking it.

Those of you who know me are fully aware that I am a proponent of marijuana, but I will tell you something, never in all the years I smoked did I ever feel a high like that. It was like my brain and body were on this complete cloud of clarity; like a sugar high without the jitters. I had energy I could not burn off no matter how I tried and instantly began looking for the permanent placement for the blender on the counter because this was definitely going to happen again.

Today we had another for breakfast but this time I also added a bit of carrot, more apple and reduced the cilantro and strawberry (too many seeds). I can not even express how great I feel and how much I am looking forward to experimenting with alternate fruits and veggies to make this even healthier. Although I made this with cow milk it could easily be exchanged with soy and I am sure there are vegetarian/vegan alternative protein powders to add instead of the vanilla Carnation Instant Breakfast so I will begin my search for those.

Even though some situations may seem bad at the time they are happening, they can certainly prove to be great in the end. If it were not for Matt’s toothache and subsequent extraction I do not think that either of us would have gone walking or started eating healthier just yet. Timing is a wondrous thing.

Mmph huh, hsk hai yit…Make Sure it’s Flat and Soft

Although most of my readers do not frequently talk through a mouth full of cotton balls, I think it should be pretty clear that the first half of the title of this blog is “Mmm hmm, just my lip.” After all, my dentist understood me perfectly fine when this garbled mess is what came out of my throat as he whizzed the drill into overdrive and dug away for my two fillings this morning. I flinched just a bit at one point and his assistant asked if I was alright. I responded with “Mmph huh, hsk hai yit”. My dentist promptly said “Oh I was leaning on her lip when I was drilling.” They send these guys to a translation class I am convinced. It is tough to iterate with a rubber mouth opener, latex dam, drill and scope in your mouth, not to mention the water gun and suction tube. Who knew I had such a big mouth?

OK, admittedly I did know about my big mouth but I always hoped it was just a metaphor and not a realistic prospect that six tools could be jammed in there all at once. Then he asks me to open wider for him. I have no idea if my mouth responded, due to the fat brilliant numbness of Novocain, but my eyes sure did. Was he joking?

Suddenly I feel my entire head being pulled toward his magnifying glasses that make him somewhat resemble Emmett “Doc” Brown from Back to the Future, without the hair of course. I can not help but pray that I regain feeling soon after this procedure is complete as I feel a warm bit of goo roll down my lower jaw line. I immediately know it is drool when he tells his assistant he needs suction under the dam. Oh brother. And people wonder why I did not take part in such joys for so many years.

I walk out with my brand new fillings, a self conscious feeling I slobbered all over the counter like a golden retriever and two new appointments in September. I realize on my way out the door that by the time this dental year is over Matt and I could have put another kid through almost a full year of college. I wonder if we will get an invitation to a ceremony as I head off to my car and call my very pregnant friend, S, who has asked me to pick up B’s birthday cake this afternoon.

I arrive and slur most of “I know just where it is, I can get money from your account to pay for it no problem, should be back in a half hour” and head out the door downing two ibuprofen before I go. Amazingly, none of the water I took them with went down the front of my shirt. That is talent. Or maybe just a really good lean over the sink.

The cake is an ice cream cake from their favorite place in Somerville, just two towns and no more than five miles away. I get there in record time, just under twenty minutes, and get my parking space right out front regardless that it is lunch time in one of the most restaurant rich places near the hospital (I have mentioned my gift of parking spaces before have I not?). The kid asks how far away my place is because it is a mousse cake and rather soft so I tell him only fifteen minutes and he says to get it in the freezer as soon as I get home.

Traffic to Boston is like soap to a shower -- it is difficult to get through one without the other and I hit all the suds on the way back. With the air conditioner blaring in my little Toyota and all the vents pointed at the cake box, I watched the minutes tick up to thirty five as I pulled up to their front door. It was only a little runny as I stuffed it in the freezer and headed home.

By the time I got home I was really hungry and the Novocain was beginning to wear off some so it seemed like the right time to scoff something down. The assistant warned me to only eat soft foods through the evening as I would likely be a bit tender. It was too hot for soup so I grabbed a whole wheat tortilla, hummus, homemade guacamole, cucumber slices, cilantro and baby spinach to make a yummy wrap. It was a really good looking one. I opened my mouth to take a bite and almost dropped the wrap on the floor. Apparently the foods I eat should be flat as well since my jaw felt wired shut. I thought of my own mantra "know your limits".

The wrap was promptly squished flat and I took a bite. Immediately I began laughing at myself as guacamole squeezed out the top all over the side of my face. If I had not seen it out of the corner of my eye it might have stayed there all night since I still could not feel my cheek. Not a drop of that sandwich hit my shirt either. Again, talent or what? Luckily the lack of sensation should not last through the night and I can fully enjoy the experience of that ice cream cake in my entire mouth. Hey, I already know about how much of it I can fit in there.