"Death penalty sought for man in Kirkland family slayings"

You always read articles like this, and see reports on the news and think how awful it is, but it is always somehow abstract and removed from you - because you don't know these people or have a connection with them. They never touched your life, or brought you any joy. As human beings, we feel compassion and sorrow for the families of victims of crimes such as these, but then move on to feel thankful that it wasn't our loved ones.

Growing up in the UK, I've never been in a culture where the death penalty has been a part of life, or even accepted as a method of criminal justice or sentencing. Its one of those things that I don't quite think I'll ever get my head around understanding, I never grew up in a society that uses death as a form of punishment and I think I'll always find the concept somewhat creepy.

However, I now find myself on the other side of the fence - Olga. Olga was one of the Orthodontic assistants at the dental office I worked at, and very close to Dr O. They'd worked together for many years, he'd trained her up to be her assistant from no dental background at all - and being an ortho assistant was something that Olga really took to, and was very proud of. Being an ortho assistant isn't what I'll remember most about Olga though, her proudest accomplishment was always her family. She loved her husband and boys so much. I've never met a young woman with such conviction, she had such strong beliefs and was so sure of herself for someone in her twenties.

Today it was announced that the death penalty will be sought for the bleeping a-hole (excuse my language, but it I believe it justified) who did these awful things. I find myself in somewhat of a conundrum, I am, on most accounts, someone who doesn't really agree with the death penalty - although I'm not sure I am explaining that quite as articulately as I possibly could. I guess the best way of describing my feelings would be to say that the thought of it just creeps me out. But here I find myself personally affected by the situation, the loss of someone I cared about and a heinous crime against her and her family.

Here I find myself not upset at this verdict, and not creeped out by the fact that the man who did this will most likely be sentenced to death - in fact, I truly hope he is, and I hope it comes quickly - after all, bleeping a-hole killed my friend. Have my feelings towards the death penalty concept changed? I can't answer that. My husband pointed out, that for everyone convicted and sentenced to the death penalty, there is a family and people like me linked to a victim, who are grieving for the loss of someone they cared about.

I don't think the closure and peace will come from his death, but from the knowledge that he'll not harm anyone else. Unfortunately for Olga, its too late - the only thing we can do now is remember her and for the sake of other families, make sure that no one else is ever harmed by his hands.

This Time Next Week...

I get my braces!! My appointment is 2pm, next Saturday afternoon. So this time next week I'll be preparing to spend the next two to three years of my life with a whole load of junk in my mouth! I'm kind of excited to see how my smile will turn out after my braces, and I'm hoping that this will all be worth it. I think I'm prepared, I still need to get one of those mirrors that have the extra magnification, and the toothbrush heads for braces for my Oral B Triumph.

Yesterday was mine & Ryans two year anniversary, we went over to a very nice little Italian place at Crossroads and had dinner. I've been eyeing up that place ever since we moved to Crossroads, but we've never gone in until last night. I definitely think my cousin Claire would approve, they have a lot of different wines available! After dinner, we went to the Cinema at Crossroads, and saw Ben Stiller's new flick, "Night at the Museum", which actually turned out to be a really funny film. I was sat there at the start thinking it was really silly, when all this stuff in the museum just starts coming to life, but then it really took a comedic turn and I haven't laughed so hard at a film in a long long time, two thumbs way up!

The whole anniversary was rather low key this year, due to the impending $$$ that we need to pay out on my braces. I figure my braces are going to cost us a total of $3000, and thats not counting the $20 a month for my insurance premiums, or the $15 a month for office visit fees. But still, I think its around 50% coverage, so I can't complain too loudly. Its definitely a lot cheaper than the £££ I'd be paying out if I were still in the UK.

Last night was a rather late night, as we didn't even get out of the cinema un til midnight. Today has just been about relaxing, spending time together and eating good food! I really don't anticipate my braces stopping me eating anything, I know the RPE didn't. It may have slowed me a down a little to start with, but within a week or two, I was eating everything and anything I wanted! I'm hoping it'll be the same with the braces. Roll on next week!

9 Days & Counting!

My teeth are still somewhat painful from the spacers, the lowers much more so than the uppers - but still, I'm coping. Its been a pretty quiet week, with all the money we're spending next weekend on my braces - we're trying to stick to a budget! It is our second anniversary tomorrow, the time has really flown by. We're not doing anything too extravagant over the weekend, there is a nice italian place and cinema just across the road, which is looking pretty good and not too expensive! Tonight is going to be a quiet evening in, Spaghetti and Meatless Meatballs for dinner, watching Kate & Leopold on DVD and then Greys Anatomy before bed.

Feeling Better!

I'm definitely feeling a lot better today, a lot of the pain and pressure has subsided. My molars are still somewhat annoyed by the instrusive invaders, but I've managed to get through the day with no pain medication. Eating is somewhat uncomfortable still, and is taking much longer than normal



I did manage to go shopping this afternoon, and have discovered some rather divine new lipgloss, and treated myself to some delighful Lancôme Juicy Gelée - a little on the expensive side, but definitely worth it. I picked up Pink Lollipop and Chrystal Jelly, both smell heavenly!




I've also been reading lots of advice about having plenty of lip balm on hand for the dreaded lip-spreaders for the bonding/banding appointment. I have a 75 minute appointment, so I figured getting some new lip balm would be a good idea too! I'm really into Sonia Kashuk makeup at the moment, so I picked up the lip balm from her collection at Target.

I hate Spacers!

So I had another appointment today, a final meeting with Dr O and then the lovely Michelle popped in eight delightful spacers! Apparently I have lost a little bit of correction from not being great at wearing my schwartz appliance - but I swear, if you have ever seen one of those things, let alone tried to wear one, you would be on my side! I can't wear it all that much during the day, as it sets off my gag reflex constantly, and affects my speech too much for work. I try wearing it at night, and it does still fit just perfectly, and I wake up to find it on the floor by my bed, on my pillow and not forgetting my personal favourite, lodged in the small of my back with me laying on top of it. Its not loose enough to fall out, so I'm thinking that I'm pulling it out in my sleep.

Apparently I will have some rather funky configurations of elasics to wear, hopefully getting up to two that criss-cross on each side. I think we'll get into these after a month or two of braces. But in two weeks, full braces go on - upper ceramics and lower metals. As for the spacers, these are delightful little things. Spacers are far worse than braces, molar bands or any other orthodontic appliance that one could possibly imagine. They are for all intents and purpose harmless looking little rubber bands, tiny little things, but one applied carefully between two teeth, they can cause a severe amount of pain. Its more pressure than anything, just intense pressure and having them on both sides of my mouth, means the pressure is going all around every single tooth! Not fun, but tonight, being the first night is by far the worst. I am stocked with Tylenol, and will hopefully be more comfortable for work on Monday morning.

The Cat & The Foot

Not really to do with orthodontics, but still, rather cute. This is my cat Jack, who was looking for some attention...sound effects provided by our Siamese, Bucky.

Getting Started!

Well, here we go! Its a Saturday night and the Seahawks are playing, so I'm cuddled up with Ryan watching the game and thought I'd use this opportunity to start documenting my upcoming journey to getting straighter teeth. So I'm just about to turn 27, and just about to get my braces - crazy huh? I wish this had all been sorted out when I was younger, but my teeth were never bad enough to cause any concern back in the UK, it was only my moving to the US and working for a rather large dental group that got me thinking about fixing my teeth and gave me access to a wonderful orthodontist.

I guess my biggest problems are the narrowness of my upper arch, and the fact that there is no biting or chewing surface on my back molars, they're all kind of at weird angles to each other on my "bad" side. This actually makes sense, as I became a vegetarian at around aged 10 (much to the amusement of my dear Mum!). I ate meat as a small child, but as I grew older, I grew "lazy" and it was put down to my not wanting to chew. Of course, no one saw at the time that I was just simply unable to chew as my permanent molars came in - so I chose the life of a vegetarian. Now I was taken to an orthodontist as a child, who had two upper premolars removed (must to the disgust of my current ortho Dr O). But the more I think about it, I believe this guy was just a dentist who dabbled in ortho and really had no clue what he was doing - he certainly didn't help me much.

Fast forward to my being an adult and responsible for my own dental health, and arriving in a country where everyone seems to either have braces, or have had them...Americans just seem to value straight teeth a lot more than us Brits, and so I'm joining in! Now I first met Dr O back in 2005, and couldn't ask to have a more wonderful ortho - so I haven't had any other consultations nor do I think I would consider doing so. I really have a great relationship and bond with Dr O, so I'm very happy to go through my treatment with him.

I'm finally ready, I have three appointments set up so far. I'm celebrating my 27th birthday on the 11th January with a 7am visit to get my records appointment taken care of. I will then have a final meeting with Dr O on the 20th January to discuss my treatment and get my spacers put in, and then bonding/banding on the 3rd February. I'm having ceramic uppers, and regular metal lowers. I'm in a job where I meet with a lot of people and represent my company, so I am conscious of how I look and I don't want to feel self conscious of these things in my mouth. I don't mind the ceramic brackets so much, I think they look quite subtle with pink or clear ligs. I rarely show my bottom teeth, so I'm not worried about having metals on the lowers.

I am excited to get this journey started, and finished. I'm very conscious of smiling on my "bad side", to the extent where I have been in tears at Target watching pictures printing out where I'm smiling and I see I'm showing off the "bad" side with a wide smile. I also really hate how narrow my arch looks, although that has been somewhat alleviated now with a Rapid Palatal Expander from Dr O, that I had for around six months. One thing that has always bothered me was my wedding photos, Ryan and I have been married for nearly two years now, but we have not yet had a wedding. I want to be able to smile in my wedding photos, and not look back on the day and cringe at my teeth. I guess my problem is more the cosmetic issue, but Dr O is more concerned with fixing my bite for the long-term health of my teeth.

I'm also a little anxious and sometimes left thinking "what the hell am I getting myself into?" I sometimes feel too old to be going through this approaching 30, but inspired by meeting lots of people in their 40's, 50's and 60's who are getting braces. At the end of the day, the next two to three years of my life are going to pass regardless of whether or not I fix my teeth, so I might as well get on and fix them!

So here we go, as a final note - this is the damage we're looking at...
A very narrow smile, plus that little premolar that is just hiding. Not to mention whats going on with the molars back there! There is a little crowding and rotation on the lowers, but nothing too terrible. My arch has a somewhat concave shape to it, which really isn't all that attractive!