Thursday, June 28, 2007
Dentist Nightmare
So. Yesterday I [Chauntay] was traumatized at the dentist office. It started out innocently enough. I arrive there, not nervous at all, and am chatting to good friend on the phone. I take a seat. Little did I know what was ahead of me. I should preface this by saying never, EVER eat Red Hots (spicy hard candy). They will be the death of you. Okay not really (me being dramatic again). So the Friday before Memorial Day I popped a few red hots in my mouth and managed to break lots of IMPORTANT things in my mouth. It was pretty awful, right before the holiday weekend.
Reality Again
Okay, back to yesterday. So I am there to “fix” everything I broke. They are preparing to numb me. Everything seems good enough. I close my eyes so as not to see the larger than life machines that are closing in on my mouth. I get about three shots in my jaw. Yuck. Next the nurse went, oh say about 80 seconds and begins to “work” on me. Are you kidding me? What human being becomes numb in 80 seconds? Maybe I am abnormal but it’s not me! Anyway, she takes a wand w/ a hook (much like Captain Hook’s) on the end of it and starts scraping away. Needless to say she strikes a nerve that was NOT numb. Yeah I about came out of the chair. Then I proceed to apologize to her. I’m realizing that things are definitely not looking good. It’s time to call on the good Lord. She then says she’ll wait for the doc. They then decide that I need to be numbed again. Here come the second round of shots. We’re on six shots now. Hurray. I think the doc thought I was losing it. He couldn’t believe I wasn’t numb. Needless to say he wasn’t as gentle as he could have been. Homegirl nurse starts operating again. Still not numb. At this point I’m shaking from pain. I now have to sit on my hands because they are shaking so bad and so that I don’t come out of my chair and hit someone J.
Still Not Numb
We are now on round three of shots. Yes ten shots in my jaw, same places. The first of the last four shots shot right through my body. I instantly felt it everywhere. My heart started beating so fast I felt as if I had just finished a marathon. No for real. I couldn’t breathe. I thought to myself I’m going to die in this chair and no one will ever know. I start praying even harder that I had been. I believed that I was allergic to the meds but I had two options. Tell them that I thought that I was and was going to die if they shot me up one more time, and therefore I would have to have temporary work done and come back another time, starting ALL over again. OR I could suck it up, pray through, and make it happen. Of course I chose the latter. I would much rather endure than start all over again. I clenched my fists and started praying. The pain was not easing though. I refused to cry because I didn’t want to seem like a sissy. I close my eyes and what happens? Two tears stream down my face. How humiliating. I realize then that I need to really focus, pray, and God would bring me through it some way. So I thought about a happy place..LOTS of them. Needless to say about an hour's worth of “work” later I was finally through. Thanks to God for helping me through.
I really feel like I’m the statistic some times. Really. Am I the only person who goes through horrific adventures at the dentist/doctor? Share some stories!!
Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!
Reality Again
Okay, back to yesterday. So I am there to “fix” everything I broke. They are preparing to numb me. Everything seems good enough. I close my eyes so as not to see the larger than life machines that are closing in on my mouth. I get about three shots in my jaw. Yuck. Next the nurse went, oh say about 80 seconds and begins to “work” on me. Are you kidding me? What human being becomes numb in 80 seconds? Maybe I am abnormal but it’s not me! Anyway, she takes a wand w/ a hook (much like Captain Hook’s) on the end of it and starts scraping away. Needless to say she strikes a nerve that was NOT numb. Yeah I about came out of the chair. Then I proceed to apologize to her. I’m realizing that things are definitely not looking good. It’s time to call on the good Lord. She then says she’ll wait for the doc. They then decide that I need to be numbed again. Here come the second round of shots. We’re on six shots now. Hurray. I think the doc thought I was losing it. He couldn’t believe I wasn’t numb. Needless to say he wasn’t as gentle as he could have been. Homegirl nurse starts operating again. Still not numb. At this point I’m shaking from pain. I now have to sit on my hands because they are shaking so bad and so that I don’t come out of my chair and hit someone J.
Still Not Numb
We are now on round three of shots. Yes ten shots in my jaw, same places. The first of the last four shots shot right through my body. I instantly felt it everywhere. My heart started beating so fast I felt as if I had just finished a marathon. No for real. I couldn’t breathe. I thought to myself I’m going to die in this chair and no one will ever know. I start praying even harder that I had been. I believed that I was allergic to the meds but I had two options. Tell them that I thought that I was and was going to die if they shot me up one more time, and therefore I would have to have temporary work done and come back another time, starting ALL over again. OR I could suck it up, pray through, and make it happen. Of course I chose the latter. I would much rather endure than start all over again. I clenched my fists and started praying. The pain was not easing though. I refused to cry because I didn’t want to seem like a sissy. I close my eyes and what happens? Two tears stream down my face. How humiliating. I realize then that I need to really focus, pray, and God would bring me through it some way. So I thought about a happy place..LOTS of them. Needless to say about an hour's worth of “work” later I was finally through. Thanks to God for helping me through.
I really feel like I’m the statistic some times. Really. Am I the only person who goes through horrific adventures at the dentist/doctor? Share some stories!!
Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
State Finals
I [Alicia] purposely did not talk about the upcoming state finals last week that were this past Saturday, June 23. I had quiz practice Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights and felt that any more would burn the kids out more than be beneficial – and I never feel prepared enough for state. I’ve been coaching in Nashville for 10 years now and I try to remain calm at state and trust that as coach I’ve done my part and now the quizzers have to do their part – all of us trusting that the Lord will help us.
That being said my experienced team (Lause, Charlene, Catherine, Dadie and Kap Sum) placed 2nd losing on the last question to Humboldt, TN (congrats Humboldt).
My intermediate team (Ernso and Sang) did not place but the team captain had an individual award for his average (congrats Ernso).
If you are a quiz junkie as I am you would enjoy hearing the play by play of the final questions and how close it ended up, but suffice it to say it was close with both teams (Humboldt and Nashville) possessing different strengths that made them evenly matched.
Big Picture
I’m a competitor and hate to lose. I can’t play games just for fun without wanting to win and avoid mini-golf altogether. I recognize this as a problem. So the test for me as coach when we lose is to maintain the Christ-like attitude regardless of the cause for loss. My quizzers know I’m competitive and while they like to win I don’t really feel that it is the same level for them as for me. We lost Saturday in a close quiz that could have gone either way. I have a big picture that gets easier to see the more years I coach. My kids did great. They made it to state finals and they’ve memorized hundreds of verses in the Old Testament (very difficult material, but that’s another issue) on the heroes of faith that can only help them live overcoming lives for God. We will go to Charlotte, NC August 4 to compete at nationals and it is Lause’s last year to quiz. Regardless of the outcome my kids are champions – all seven of them. I coach because I’m competitive, but I coach because I truly LOVE the Word of God, the kids, and the Bible Quiz program. I may not directly change the world but I am confident that these kids will. Yes, they are that special (and that goes for Blake, Sarah, Magalie, and Johnny that are too old to quiz anymore but quizzed for me in Nashville in years past).
Different Somewhat Big Picture
Chauntay speaking. Quizzing has also changed my life. I quizzed both Junior and Senior quizzing with an array of both coaches and quizzers. I can definitely say that my life has directly been affected by quizzing. So many of the friends and friends of friends that I have made have been through quizzing. Each year the material is different and complex in its own way, not excluding this year. I honestly believe that this year’s material is the hardest that I’ve seen so far. Anyway after many, many hours dedicated to practice, camaraderie, and teamwork we had State Finals this past Saturday. Nerves were on edge. After a very sticky, nerve racking quiz we took second to Humboldt (I know Alicia already said that). It was a tearful day for almost all involved! Ha (You know who you are). The great thing about quizzing that before anything else, we are a team, a family. Quizzing has given me a new family. We may make mistakes, poor decisions, or even great decisions, but we do it as a family. A team. Even you would have been proud to see the team unite together Saturday. Anyway, we have now extended the quiz year through August, for Nationals. Stay tuned for future results.
Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!
That being said my experienced team (Lause, Charlene, Catherine, Dadie and Kap Sum) placed 2nd losing on the last question to Humboldt, TN (congrats Humboldt).
L-R: Catherine, Lause, Alicia, Charlene, Dadie, Kap, and Chauntay BEFORE we lost :)
My intermediate team (Ernso and Sang) did not place but the team captain had an individual award for his average (congrats Ernso).
L-R: Ernso, Arlen, Sang, and Kimberly
If you are a quiz junkie as I am you would enjoy hearing the play by play of the final questions and how close it ended up, but suffice it to say it was close with both teams (Humboldt and Nashville) possessing different strengths that made them evenly matched.Big Picture
I’m a competitor and hate to lose. I can’t play games just for fun without wanting to win and avoid mini-golf altogether. I recognize this as a problem. So the test for me as coach when we lose is to maintain the Christ-like attitude regardless of the cause for loss. My quizzers know I’m competitive and while they like to win I don’t really feel that it is the same level for them as for me. We lost Saturday in a close quiz that could have gone either way. I have a big picture that gets easier to see the more years I coach. My kids did great. They made it to state finals and they’ve memorized hundreds of verses in the Old Testament (very difficult material, but that’s another issue) on the heroes of faith that can only help them live overcoming lives for God. We will go to Charlotte, NC August 4 to compete at nationals and it is Lause’s last year to quiz. Regardless of the outcome my kids are champions – all seven of them. I coach because I’m competitive, but I coach because I truly LOVE the Word of God, the kids, and the Bible Quiz program. I may not directly change the world but I am confident that these kids will. Yes, they are that special (and that goes for Blake, Sarah, Magalie, and Johnny that are too old to quiz anymore but quizzed for me in Nashville in years past).
Different Somewhat Big Picture
Chauntay speaking. Quizzing has also changed my life. I quizzed both Junior and Senior quizzing with an array of both coaches and quizzers. I can definitely say that my life has directly been affected by quizzing. So many of the friends and friends of friends that I have made have been through quizzing. Each year the material is different and complex in its own way, not excluding this year. I honestly believe that this year’s material is the hardest that I’ve seen so far. Anyway after many, many hours dedicated to practice, camaraderie, and teamwork we had State Finals this past Saturday. Nerves were on edge. After a very sticky, nerve racking quiz we took second to Humboldt (I know Alicia already said that). It was a tearful day for almost all involved! Ha (You know who you are). The great thing about quizzing that before anything else, we are a team, a family. Quizzing has given me a new family. We may make mistakes, poor decisions, or even great decisions, but we do it as a family. A team. Even you would have been proud to see the team unite together Saturday. Anyway, we have now extended the quiz year through August, for Nationals. Stay tuned for future results.
Experienced Quiz Team with Quiz Master Jared Wilkerson
Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!Monday, June 25, 2007
Pie is NOT the Solution
Apostolic's eat out often for fellowship – maybe too often. Being single, I [Alicia] enjoy meeting various friends for lunch or dinner. One Sunday after church a group of us went to eat and all of us had our food and were almost done eating before the one girl ever had her baked potato and when they did bring it out they brought the wrong potato topping. This prompted a complaint from our table and the big solution from our waiter was to bring a free piece of pie. I like pie. But for a table of eight of us, my response was ‘pie is not the solution’. To the restaurant’s credit, they saw my point and offered to comp our meals that day (I really thought the solution was to just comp the girl’s meal that was late/wrong). The inside catch phrase among this group of friends continues to be ‘pie is not the solution’. How true that is for most every circumstance.
You know you have someone in mind
Okay. Being Pentecostal we know that we have that innate ability to eat..a lot! Ha It’s okay, I [Chauntay] know it, admit, and have accepted it. Life goes on. Moving on- do you know what drives me BATTY? Those friends that can’t just order off the menu. I mean seriously. Is it that hard to order the same thing that the rest of the free country eats? Why do we have to sub this, hold that, double this? Just order it REGULAR!! I was recently out with some friends, and one of the people was ordering, the server moved on and she said “OH WAIT! Can you make sure that my okra isn’t that fried? I don’t like it burned. Can you just, ya know, make sure its cooked right? Thanks.” I was flabbergasted. Are you kidding me? Do you want her to baby-sit the cook because we are the only table she has on the floor on a Wednesday night in the Bible belt? Right. Anyway, all I ask if the next time you want to sub something, change your order, or make “special” requests, please be considerate of your friends. They don’t want their food to be spit in. Thank you. Oh yeah, and don’t forget the tip! ha
Pentecostal Subculture
It is Friday, which for both Chauntay and me means ‘casual day’. At my [Alicia] office this can get tricky because some of my coworkers interpret casual to mean ‘day to show off as many tattoos as possible’ or ‘day to wear extra ratty t-shirts and jeans’. For me Friday is the staple for all Pentecostal girls: ‘jean skirt day’. I have a few and recommend buying these at consignment stores rather than pay the exorbitant amounts for new jean skirts. Today [Friday], however, the receptionist also opted for jean skirt day and it occurred to me that I am not used to seeing the non-Apostolic in this fashion (unless it is worn M-Thurs as a ‘dressy’ item since it is a skirt).
Chauntay again. So I always dress up for work, but covet my Fridays when I can dress slightly more casual. Of course this means that occasionally I wear a jean skirt. Shocking I know. Funny story is I never really owned a jean skirt (maybe one or two in my teenage years) until I went to college. My parents did not really allow me to wear them. Funny huh? Anyway, I decided this past Friday to wear one to work; I had a lot of filing to do. I just recently hired a girl, one of the quizzers, to come and work for the summer. She decided to wear one too. Anyway, everyone in the office just couldn’t believe that we both had jean skirts on and would wear them on the same day. Funny what is a staple to us is a novelty in the workplace.
Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!
You know you have someone in mind
Okay. Being Pentecostal we know that we have that innate ability to eat..a lot! Ha It’s okay, I [Chauntay] know it, admit, and have accepted it. Life goes on. Moving on- do you know what drives me BATTY? Those friends that can’t just order off the menu. I mean seriously. Is it that hard to order the same thing that the rest of the free country eats? Why do we have to sub this, hold that, double this? Just order it REGULAR!! I was recently out with some friends, and one of the people was ordering, the server moved on and she said “OH WAIT! Can you make sure that my okra isn’t that fried? I don’t like it burned. Can you just, ya know, make sure its cooked right? Thanks.” I was flabbergasted. Are you kidding me? Do you want her to baby-sit the cook because we are the only table she has on the floor on a Wednesday night in the Bible belt? Right. Anyway, all I ask if the next time you want to sub something, change your order, or make “special” requests, please be considerate of your friends. They don’t want their food to be spit in. Thank you. Oh yeah, and don’t forget the tip! ha
Pentecostal Subculture
It is Friday, which for both Chauntay and me means ‘casual day’. At my [Alicia] office this can get tricky because some of my coworkers interpret casual to mean ‘day to show off as many tattoos as possible’ or ‘day to wear extra ratty t-shirts and jeans’. For me Friday is the staple for all Pentecostal girls: ‘jean skirt day’. I have a few and recommend buying these at consignment stores rather than pay the exorbitant amounts for new jean skirts. Today [Friday], however, the receptionist also opted for jean skirt day and it occurred to me that I am not used to seeing the non-Apostolic in this fashion (unless it is worn M-Thurs as a ‘dressy’ item since it is a skirt).
Chauntay again. So I always dress up for work, but covet my Fridays when I can dress slightly more casual. Of course this means that occasionally I wear a jean skirt. Shocking I know. Funny story is I never really owned a jean skirt (maybe one or two in my teenage years) until I went to college. My parents did not really allow me to wear them. Funny huh? Anyway, I decided this past Friday to wear one to work; I had a lot of filing to do. I just recently hired a girl, one of the quizzers, to come and work for the summer. She decided to wear one too. Anyway, everyone in the office just couldn’t believe that we both had jean skirts on and would wear them on the same day. Funny what is a staple to us is a novelty in the workplace.
Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!
