Saturday, February 16, 2008

14 No More!

I got a sweet surprise call from my wife Valentine's morning. . . they had an opening for me to come in and get my braces off! I was so pumped I can't even explain. It was only like 2 weeks earlier than when I would've gotten them off anyways but that is of course irrelevant when I could get them off in the next 30 minutes.

So here I am now with spectacularly straight teeth! All thanks to Dr. Spurrier and the Rache-Train.

I pretty much agreed to get braces just so I could say to our kids that I had them too when they complain about getting them. It was a long, sometimes grueling experience but now that it's over I'm glad I did it (now does that sound like somebody describing their mission or what?)

When I was 15 and had my first (and second) shoulder surgeries, I LOATHED wearing my sling around for the 6 weeks or so after surgery. I felt like everyone was staring and/or laughing at me all the time, which is stupid to think because I know when I see somebody in a sling or cast or whatever, I notice it but I don't care and I don't dwell on it. I felt that same way this entire year of wearing braces. Obviously I noticed when other people wore braces, including teens since that was basically what I was reduced to, but I never dwelled on it. And why would anybody dwell on it? Who cares? I'm making my point to myself because what I'm basically saying to myself is that I'm a moron for being self-concious about wearing braces, even as an adult. Funny thing is, these past few days I still find myself not smiling a full smile because I think I still have my braces on. Funnier still, nobody noticed that I got my braces off. So why am I a loser that thought everybody noticed when I did have braces? (Answer: Because you were a loser that had braces on as an adult so people did notice but now that they're off and you look normal nobody notices you anymore.) :) I can say that because 1) I was an adult with braces so I can make fun of my own. 2) 1 guy at work did notice that my braces were off, only after he made a joke about being a geeky adult wearing braces and then looked over at me for my reaction only to have me smile back with the pearly whites.

Now if I could just get my place back at the cool kids lunch table. . .

1 comment:

Britney said...

Dude, consider yourself lucky...I wore mine for FOUR YEARS!!! High school was just a mess of metal and wax for me...so even though you were older, your one year in them makes me feel no sympathy for ya. ;) Awesome that you got them off though - I remember that was the best day EVER!