Yesterday, I went to the dentist’s office to have my teeth cleaned, and while I was there, I had X-rays. Clif will be retiring from his job the end of September, which means no more dental insurance. I figured that if any work needed to be done, then September was the month to do it. Well, good thing I had those X-rays. As it turns out, I need to have a tooth extracted, and I need a new crown. All will be done around my birthday. Happy birthday to me!
My teeth are naturally straight, and even though they are a little yellow from all the tea I drink, they look pretty good. However, sometimes looks can be deceiving. Every two years, I have X-rays, and they inevitably show that something must be done to Laurie’s teeth. In the past, it was fillings. Now, it is crowns, and with this new one, I will have had five crowns. As for the extracted tooth…it is going from the bottom and cannot be fixed.
Our out-of-pocket cost for the five crowns has been about $2,500. What a nice Canon camera I could get for $2,500. I know. Teeth are important, but I can’t help feeling a little wistful about the money spent.
When I came home, I told Clif about my teeth, and while he agreed with my assessment about the money, he was philosophical about the matter. “You need your teeth,” he said.
Indeed, I do.
After discussing teeth, Clif mowed the front lawn, and I tidied the patio and back garden. I cut back the phlox so that it wasn’t leaning over the dwarf snapdragons and touching the patio. Afterwards, I propped them up with green wire fencing. I swept the patio and cut some of the spent stalks from the daylilies. The garden still looked ragged, but it was a decided improvement. At least things were tidy. More or less.
The sky was clear, the sun was setting, and Clif and I decided it would be an ideal time to have drinks on the patio. We both know we only have a month, at best, where we will be able to do this. We talked about my teeth, his retirement, and our sidelines—selling photo cards, computer consulting, and the strong possibility of a book being published in 2016. Our card business has begun to pick up, and we are excited about all our ventures.
As Katherine White would put it, onward and upward. Even the prospect of dental work couldn’t dim our enjoyment of the evening.
Notes From the Hinterland 
Sorry about the additional crown (I’ve had three!). Beautiful flowers at least give you something more fun to concentrate upon!
Thanks, Eliza. Beautiful flowers are always a consolation.
Happy September
This made me laugh out loud. Thanks, Derrick!
Ha – Derrick often makes me laugh out loud, as well.
My husband and I are both self employed, so I am listening to your retirement thoughts very closely. No one will pay us NOT to work, so we will be looking for ways to keep the money moving more and more as we grow to move less and less.
Jodie, sometimes a laugh is all you got. (To quote Roger Rabbit.) In retirement, Clif and I will need to have sidelines for quite a while. Good luck to you and your husband whenever you two decide to retire.
Thanks, Laurie. I appreciate seeing how other like-minded people make these transitions. We always figured we had to work until we die. Lol.
Jodie, Clif’s social security and pension will give us a nice base, but not much more. We will need to work for quite a while, perhaps until we die. The trick, as we see it, is to find work we enjoy doing and that will bring in extra money as well. Not an easy task, let me tell you.
I hear that, Laurie. I love most things until I am forced to do them when I’d rather do something else. Once there are deadlines and demands, even photography and sewing are less fun.
Jodie, I hear you. But when the budget is tiny, it is necessary to have sidelines, and Clif and I feel that it is better to be doing something you like. If you can manage it, of course. I know from experience that this isn’t always the case.
Well, indeed you need teeth;0) And it is clinically proven that good dental health leads to longer, healthier life! Ha, think about the money you will safe by that and when you are 105 and still snapping away on your even better Nikon! you are worth it! xo Johanna
I agree, Johanna. Good dental health is vital to a person’s health. Just wish it didn’t cost so darned much!