Aging Up

Oh my gosh, it's almost October! Months usually creep up on me, I have to admit. But October?! Living in Arizona is really throwing me for a loop - it's still averaging about 104 out. I hear tell that in a couple of days, we get to drop down to "fall" temps...and average around 93. So...Colorado summer. I don't remember it being that toasty when we moved here the first time...but maybe that's my memory. I wasn't exactly building good memories back then. Anyway, the fact that it's October tomorrow is very confusing (which I just typed as fusconing...) because it *looks* like autumn - the sun slanting through the window, the hour at which it sets, all that good stuff - but it sure as heck feels like we're stuck in the July that will never end.

Also, "monsoon season" was a serious let-down. We had like...4. 4 storms for a total of 4 days of rain, and 2 or 3 haboobs. Seriously lackluster. :P But everyone here is like, "Oh my gosh, the pollen count is so awful! We've had SO MUCH RAIN!" Yeah. It's ragweed season, and their "awful" topped out around a 7.8 on a 12-point scale. I suppose I should complain about that, though, huh...? :/

This has been a big week for us. I started studying for the GRE (verbal half, done in thirty minutes; math half? Math half is going to take me at least two weeks just to get through the review. Makes me miss my friend Apricot, who was in College Algebra with me and would undoubtedly help me breeze through these silly questions about factoring and complex fractions, no problem. (I LOATHE complex fractions; conceptually I completely understand what's going on, and yet I was only able to achieve the right answer about half the time. Boo!)). Scary for me, but also exciting. If grad school doesn't pan out, I'm about 85% decided that I'll go for my LPN license, instead. Nurses make good money and they're needed everywhere in great numbers. And it's been in my mind for at least 5 years, sooo...

Jeremelon turned 37. 37! How in the world are we this bleeping old?! My dad retired (unhappily, but very well-off) at 39. I was in high school. So insane! It's made Jeremelon pretty depressed, though, and he's freaking out about having to start a new career. Less the prospect of starting over (it's not like he climbed very high up any initial ladder), and more figuring out what to do, I think. I feel bad for him, because I get that. But at the same time, I'm also kind of glad. I've been trying to get him to consider new paths and figure out where his interests lie for...well, five years. (Longer, probably, but I got rather pushy about it after having a baby...)

But the really exciting (and wrenching news) is that young Mr. Gooseberry just cut his first adult tooth! Big ole lower incisor that takes up as much room as two of his baby teeth. Completely took me by surprise - I didn't think kids started losing teeth until 6 or 7, so I guess I imagined he'd lose his first one around his sixth birthday, because his first teeth started coming in at 3.5 months. I was brushing his teeth last night (we need to get MUCH better about making sure that happens every day now) and almost missed it. I freaked a little, had to make sure this wasn't crazy early (thank you, internet), and then got immensely sad. Losing baby teeth and growing permanents is such a big thing. The last of the "baby" anything. I now have a big kid, and I barely remember our baby years. :(

But, it's still really exciting for him! I'm a little worried that his baby tooth isn't very loose, but it does wiggle a little. Ordinarily I don't think it would concern me, but I had to have two of my baby teeth knocked out by the dentist because they were still solid and unmoving by the time my permanents were most of the way in. Gooseberry has yet to be able to sit for a cleaning (the noise freaks him out tremendously), or for x-rays. The idea of having to hold him down so they can extract his teeth is...well, it's unthinkable. So at least it's wiggly. We can help a wiggly tooth work its way out. :)

Augh! My baby!!

Guess it's officially time to find a new dentist...
Or three, actually. I need to get a mouth guard (not to mention a way-overdue checkup), which the wonderful, aforementioned Apricot suggested I seek at the local dental school. And Jeremelon...poor, poor Jeremelon. He hasn't been to the dentist the ENTIRE time I've known him. For the first time in 14 YEARS, I heard him say, "I know I need to go...I can feel a hole in my tooth." Ugh. He has a massive dentist phobia, but I will make him go now that I know that (and his mother can nag him here, too). A root canal has to be so much worse than a filling. Then again, he'll have to be at least partially sedated either way, soooo...

Good thing we have dental insurance!