hillary in 2008???

ok, i just woke up from the strangest dream. new elections, hillary and bush running against each other for prez. i'm walking around a hospital with my friend anna and we're touring wings and scoping out parking places, and trying to catch the news to find out who's ahead in the polls. before i wake up, hillary's up by 10 electoral votes. wishful thinking? an omen? you decide...

map of canada for the geographically challenged

look at the US. see long island?
can you see toronto in the picture?
look how close!
and although it's not labeled, you get the jist of where california is.
see toronto and new york compared with california and new york?

oh, and see where saskatchewan is located in relation to the rest of the country. and see why everyone uses that in comparison to the middle of nowhere.

champagne birthday!

above is my FAVORITE cd EVER, depeche mode's violator. this is the third copy i've had in my possesion in 10 years. a brief history about this particular CD - the first copy i got in junior year of high school (for free when the HMV bag check thought they lost my backpack) got nail polish remover spilled on it when i was a sophomore in college, that was toast. second copy, received as a gift from my last boyfriend, got stolen from the gym when i was a third year in dental school. i just got this one from the canuck as a gift, but now i have the mp3 player so i have to rip this one and upload all the songs into it. every five years, something has happened to this cd, one way or another. and five years later, i get it replaced again. coincidence? i think not! wonder how long this one will be around...

yesterday was my birthday, and i have to say it was the best one yet! that's one of my presents up there! the canuck surprised me by making me breakfast and actually getting up at 6 a.m. when cookie puss woke up at her usual hour. i slept in, it was nice ;-) went out to lunch and shopping with nana, i got a GREAT pair of jeans and some cute tops for about $70. who needs to pay an arm and a leg for great clothes, they all go out of style in a minute anyway! then canuck picked me up at nana's with FLOWERS (!) and took me to dinner at the restaurant where we had our wedding - and there i found a bunch of my friends waiting, a surprise party! i've never had one in my life, it was so unreal! but we had a blast, a fabulous dinner, and it was just the best birthday ever. canuck really outdid himself!

on a side note - i'm moving to toronto, not saskatechewan. that's not too far away, i keep telling myself.

party's over, time to start packing...

okay, my tree officially looks like crap now. i think the ornament casualties total about 8 now, that's only counting the ones that i see. we've lost hundreds of little hooks, too, and i didn't even bother trying to grab more because i knew those would be toast eventually, too. sigh... it's impossible to have nice things with a toddler in the house. canuck says next year we'll get a gate so kiddies can't get to it. that'll look REAL nice! so, i think we're going to take the tree down. i really wanted to leave it up until new years day when my family comes over, but who wants to see a barren fake tree covered with busted ornaments?

the official move date is january 10. my father-in-law is coming down on the 8th to lend a hand with loading the van and stuff. we started just gutting everything excess, lots of old toys, clothes, random crap and stuff that other people might need and donated to st. vincent de paul society. canuck took down the treasured surround sound speakers and now we have to spackle up the holes in our cheesy-ass walls. so much to do!

the coming of messiah (according to cookie puss)

okay, this child rules my child's world. we are now officially in full dora worship. this probably explains why about 75% of the presents cookie puss recived this year had some form of the dora franchise stamped on it. don't get me wrong, i love dora, she's absolutely adorable and an excellent roll model for young girls. my little cookie is even learning spanish (even though daddy wants her to learn italian first, it's a barese thing). we now have a dora salsa-dancing doll, christmas dora DVD (complete with 3 regular-time episodes), several dora outfits, matching dora hat and gloves, a dora papasan chair (cookie-sized) and a dora collapsable fabric hide-away house. it's like the 10-10 WINS of dora - all dora, all the time! but if it makes cookie happy and keeps her sane and quiet (few and far between moments for mommy and daddy) it's all good. and just so you know that my child's interests are not so limited, she also loooooves diego!

on the eve of christmas

hmmm...all my shopping done, thank god, but no wrapping paper or bags. the canuck, ever so resourceful and thrifty, stuck my present in a victoria's secret bag that was given to me by my secret santa at work. i, of course, had no idea and went to reach inside to look for something and found my present! he doesn't know yet, but i'll act surprised when i open it :-)

i have a TON of baking to do. nana nana is getting sugar free donuts - i don't think she's had a donut in years, aunts and uncles are getting shortbread and brownies. so, if was planning on baking for everyone, how the hell did i wind up spending so much money??? so much for a frugal christmas...

Oh, Canada!

two interviews down, one more to go! two JOB OFFERS, one more to go???

really exciting time, i have another interview in about (aboot) 45 minutes in a practice located in a swanky mall. everyone here's been very cool, and each practice that i've visited has been quite nice - modern, clean, up-to-date, and well-paying! and they want to hire ME! isn't that crazy?

as exciting as it is, tho, i'm very nervous about the future. i've worked in enough scary places and toxic work environments that started out so great and ended so crummy, i don't know how to feel. i don't want to get too comfortable mentally just yet. i guess the new yorker in me is always going to be on gaurd, no?

i can't post without mentioning the NYC transit strike. i'm in toronto right now, so i haven't felt the wrath of the commute just yet, but i hear it's a doozy. i gotta be in at the office tomorrow at noon, still haven't figured out how i'm going to get there. friday's going to be even worse, since i have to brave the rush hour stampede i've heard rumors about. i NEED to be there, however possible, these are my last two days and i really need the m0ney, especially since the canuck isn't working a ton these days either. boy, they really picked a GREAT time of year for this! while i'm sympathetic to the plight of the working man, i just can't get behind an 8% pay raise per year for a job that doesn't even require college degree. is their work hard, yes, of course, but is it $60 K+ a year hard, no way! are they entitled to a pay raise each year, of course, but guys, come on... i'm in no way siding with the MTA, they are evil little bastards and they run the subways into the ground. i guess i'm just mad at everyone at the moment and i don't know how i feel except that it's going to suck and i'm dreading it, but for the time being, i have to focus my energy on getting to work and enjoying my last days in NYC. no cool dental facts today, have to run!!!

Party time!

tonight's the office christmas party at this awesome brazilian restaurant in tribeca, the one where they walk around and slice up all the different kinds of meats at your table - including ostrich and kangaroo (no, thanks). i'm very excited because i just love getting dressed up! i got a slinky little tube top, silver stilettos, and black pants. i'm going to look HOT!
tonite cookie puss is at nana's house, like last nite. i think my mom's enjoying the time with her. i relieved nana of her duties and took cookie to target BIG mistake! man, she's a handful, and absolutely HATES sitting in the cart, but i get nothing done unless she's restrained, however unsuccessfully. but even after a temper tantrum and a lost shoes scare, i still accomplished what i needed to accomplish today, and in the end it all worked out.
the canuck and i are off into the city! i miss those days sometimes, when we could go downtown and walk around, stay up late, bar hop, etc. last night we went on a date to play pool and had an awesome time but got tired left at 10:30!!! but we stayed up late enough, if you know what i mean...

a surreal chain of events...

ugh, what a crappy, ugly day. miserable weather, looming transit strike, and seems like everyone's just getting screwed over. the canuck made the mistake of telling his boss early on that he was leaving, just to give him enough notice and time to find someone new; sure enough, they find someone new, like, last week, and told him that hey, so more patients for you, thanks for the memories. my poor sister-in-law got shafted by her now-ex-fiance with whom she was supposed to by her dream house. even the ending of tonight's apprentice! poor rebecca. i mean, i really liked randall, they were both excellent candidates. but when trump asks randall, hey, rebecca's really good, should i hire her? and randall's like, "no, there is only one apprentice!" i was like, give me a break! the poor girl worked thru a broken ankle and STILL made it thru to the end. he wouldn't have lost out by telling trump to hire her, too. and don't even get me started on that alla chick... what a bitch! man, people are just out to gut you...

on a positive note, did some really great dentistry today - surgical extraction, some posts, and i started a root canal on a phobic patient and she didn't feel a thing. and what IS a root canal, pray tell? check it out! http://www.ada.org/public/topics/root_canal_faq.asp and no, they really aren't as bad as folks make it out to be, the whole point of a root canal is to take you OUT of pain!

The tree is up...and other stuff, too!

so, me and the canuck have a deal each christmas. i think fake trees are the antichrist, while he thinks real trees are messy and a fire hazzard, but marriage is all about compromise, so here's the plan...we will alternate real and fake (evil) trees each year. last year was an evil year, so this one is supposed to be a real tree year. however, since we're moving in less than a month, i just put up the fake one this year so i can save the real one for our new house (yay!). i have to admit, tho, it does look pretty nice. now we just have to keep cookiepuss away - i saw her hiding something in the couch under a blanket last night - turns out it was three of my grandmothers hand-blown glass ornaments! out of all the toys scattered around the house, she always manages to seek out the most dangerous or precious obejcts to destroy! i guess it's my fault, i really should've known better. but now it feels like christmas! tonight is santa picture round 2, this time with zelda (nana's dog) maybe cookiepuss will sit still...

in canadian news, i have a job interview! me and cookiepuss are flying to toronto bright and early tuesday morning and staying with nonna and nonno. i really hope i find a job, in an office that's clean, well-paying, and WEALTHY! i need to make $$$ so we can move out of the house and get one of our own! That on the left is a cake the canuck made for me when we officially "landed" last month (he's so cute). it was really yummy. fingers crossd!!!

Cookie Puss does NOT like Santa!

okay, so my child is not normal, but that's to be expected, given her parents. nana and grandpa met up with us at the mall yesterday morning to have breakfast with santa. the breakfast part was great (i.e. FREE) and there was a little padded playground for toddlers that cookie ran around and bopped about. i have to say, the santa there was pretty good, real beard and belly and everything, very nice man. but cookie FREAKED when she saw him, ran away hysterical crying yelling "no, no, no!". nana tried to get even a crying picture, but she just wouldn't stay still long enough even for that. so, that was a no-go. then we headed on over to papa's house for pizza and movies. we saw War of the Worlds and Saw - what a fucked up movie, pardon my language! and, our christmas shopping is almost all done, yay! all in all, it was a great day.

today we did our grocery shop, what a nightmare! nothing is more gritty and realistic than the parking lot of target/BJs wholesale club during the holiday season. people are horrible, greedy, and selfish at a time when peace, love, and sacrifice should dominate. inconsiderate, lazy, stupid people in queens, ny! some chick actually left a shopping cart right in front of my car, even after she saw us approaching with all our stuff, and when the Canuck mentioned something to her, she babbled, gave us a dirty look and drove off, almost hitting the SUV that was patiently waiting for our parking spot. man, nothing like the holidays to bring out the best in people...

starting to feel a little anxious about the move. as much as i may complain about my job, my apartment, this city, etc., this is and always was my home and i'm not sure how it's going to be once we leave. i'll miss my kitchen, my privacy, at least for those few months, and having my mom come over so much. i'll cry, get it out of my system, feel great and then the cycle starts again. i know i'll feel better soon, i'm just at the nadir of the cycle. more tomorrow.

as promised, here's some dental info (hope it doesn't fall on deaf ears):
The ADA recommends the following for good oral hygiene:
Brush your teeth twice a day with an ADA-accepted fluoride toothpaste.
Clean between teeth daily with floss or an interdental cleaner. Decay–causing bacteria still linger between teeth where toothbrush bristles can’t reach. Flossing removes plaque and food particles from between the teeth and under the gum line.
Eat a balanced diet and limit between-meal snacks.
Visit your dentist regularly for professional cleanings and oral exams.
http://www.ada.org/public/topics/cleaning.asp

I'm new to the blogging world!

I think I got this thing to work... It'll be some time before I tweek and upload pictures and stuff, try to create links so that this is a semi-useful site, but for a doctor, I'm about as techno-savvy as a caveman. Please, bear with me!

Quick rundown for all new people who venutre my way. I'm a NYC dentist married to a Canadian (also a dentist) and we have one beautiful (GORGEOUS) daughter (also refered to as CookiePuss) who will be two in January. That's me, on the left, btw. Right now I practice in Harlem 3 days a week, but my last day of work will be on December 23 because I am packing up and moving to Canada! Yup, neo-cons and lack of health insurance have officially driven us out of the place I call home. Nah, not entirely, my husband, the Canuck, really wants to move back there. So, off we go, and the moving date keeps getting pushed up, and up, and up... Plus, we have the added bonus of shacking up with my in-laws until we both find jobs and get approved for a mortgage, because no matter how much dentists make in the States, Canadian banks want to see Canadian income in order to dole out dinero. Yeah, it's a drag, but it's temporary and we both can't wait to get our house. sigh...

Gotta run, we're off to breakfast with Santa, hope we don't get trampled at the mall! More later, I promise...

I'd like to add one cool dental fact per post, maybe add some links to some dental websites for some cool info. It would be nice for people to at least learn something more than about my lame-ass life ;-)

Hokay, first fact: I am a D.D.S. Some docs are a DMD. What's the difference, people ask me all the time. Click on this link to find out!
http://www.ada.org/public/topics/dds_dmd.asp