Riley and Avery

I've been really bad about posting lately. And it's not like I have nothing to post about, I'm just being lazy.

I had my consult with the dentist on Thursday. Turns out, three implants will set us back $6200. Not too shabby. That is the absolute maximum charge, including $530 per tooth for bone grafts (yuck) when hopefully I'll only need about $250 worth for each tooth. So this is worst-case scenario. And my insurance doesn't cover implants or implant crowns, but they'll cover some of the extraction charges. The dentist said that it was fairly obvious that my dental problems are genetic since my gums are in excellent shape. He said that when people don't care for their teeth, it is evident in their gums as well. He said that I'm doing a good job there. I'm like a child, I want to get praise for brushing my teeth and flossing like a maniac. So I have my pre-op on Feb. 8th where they'll give me a whole bunch of prescriptions, including and oral sedative for my dentist-induced panic attacks and my negative experiences in the past. Then surgery on Feb. 14th. What a great Valentine's Day! Then I'll just have to live with metal posts in my mouth for six months or more until I get the crowns (and the $3000 needed to pay for them). Whoopee!

Rudi finally dragged us to Cripple Creek on Friday. He had heard so much about the place, but he must have heard it from people without children, because there were only casinos there. We stopped at a diner for lunch and Riley had her first exposure to an arcade and wanted to earn some prizes. Luckily she has a mama who is pretty good at getting arcade tickets. It was a nice spring-like day in the Springs (in the 60s), but Cripple Creek is at 9500 ft altitude, so it was pretty darn cold. I told Rudi that if he ever took me somewhere cold on a spring day again, he was going to die. Riley is her father's daughter, though. Freezing out and the kid just had to have an ice cream cone. Riley had fun just walking up and down the streets. I confess, we gambled $5 and walked away with $5, so we broke even.

Arg, just waiting for my photos to upload to Flickr...

So it looks like I've convinced Rudi to drastically change our diet. Rudi needs to lose at least 50 pounds to be at a healthy weight. I think we'll eat mainly vegetable dishes with some fish thrown in. Luckily, Riley and Avery both love vegetables, but it's always the same-old same-old. I have a hankerin' for some mushrooms, so I'm trying to find a portobello and pasta dish for tonight. We looked at vegetarian cookbooks at Barnes and Noble, but couldn't really find one that we liked. I find it really suspicious that most vegetarian cookbooks don't have pictures. Hmmm... They usually called for some really weird ingredients (like sweet smoked paprika-what the?). I'll figure it all out in time. The cookbooks gave me good ideas on what to look for online.

This isn't the greatest picture of Riley's artwork, but anyway...I'm alway so impressed by how she develops her drawings and how they evolve and get better and more realistic without any proding from me. She now draws the pupils on her people, complete with arms, legs, fingers, and toes. I'm still waiting for them to have a body.