It looks like I’m going to keep having a #8 missing front tooth for only about another two weeks, if all goes according to plan.

 

When I went to the dentist yesterday for my periodic tooth cleaning, I took the missing tooth in a baggy to see if it could be reattached. Nope, it can’t.

 

So, I was given several options, from the least expensive (a “flipper” appliance that is easy to take out and put back in) to the most expensive (implant). I’m leaning toward the flipper. It’s around $500 for a single tooth.

 

They say it’s good I saved the tooth because it may be easier to create a lookalike flipper tooth using that as a template.

 

My dental office gave me two referral options. One of them is slammed through January, but the other can see me tomorrow morning bright and early and, if all is well, they can get me a flipper in about ten days.

 

They also do dental implants, but that’s out of my price range by a bunch.

 

I don’t know if they will have to go in after the root of my tooth before they do the measuring for the flipper or not.  I reckon they will if they do an x-ray and find it still in there. If that has to happen, I’ll have my regular dentist do that because I can pay on a sliding scale there. It will be just$105 to have it taken out. But if the price is comparable both places, it won’t matter where I have it done.

 

If I don’t have to have the root taken out beforehand, I can get the flipper fast.  If I do need to have it taken out, I will need to make an appointment for that before I get fitted for the flipper.  I will know more tomorrow.  I’m just glad I’m nearing the finish line for the saga of the missing tooth.  I’ve been super grateful for masks since losing the tooth, that’s for sure. And I will look forward to being less lisp-y afterward, too.

 

In Other News…

 

I mucked around in the goat pen yesterday and today for a while to make sure they’re high and dry during this wet weather.  I moved their big calf-sized igloos closer to the goat shed so they abut it, so they don’t have to go far to spread out and get out of the rain. (Goats hate rain.) I also spread a bag of pine chips and a bale of straw in the shed, igloos and outer covered area so they can get around without slopping through mid-hoof-high mud in some spots

 

The tarp I bought for them three years ago is beginning to leak (it’s an old vinyl banner repurposed as a tarp, because they last so much longer) so I wanted to make sure they have dry places to bed down other than the goat shed as wintery wet weather arrives. I’ve ordered another translucent tarp to go over the damaged one; it will be here in a couple weeks. That will really expand the area in which they can move and not get bothered by water drops. If it’s thick enough, I may even take down the old one, but it’s still in pretty decent shape (except that it leaks in spots) so I may just leave it there. The heavier the tarps, the less likely they will blow off in windstorms.

 

I don’t know where the day has gone.  I got two bales of hay and a goat block earlier this morning, and I’ve written two blog posts now, but surely those didn’t consume the entire day.

 

Oh! I also consulted with my Medicare and drug plan specialist to be sure I have the right plans for next year. I do. The ones I had this year worked fine, so I’m keeping them for next year again. (Regular Medicare, Plan N, and SilverScript with Aetna, I believe they are.)  But that only took about five minutes, because my specialist (Katheryn Evans, Strategic Sound Solutions in Puyallup) did all the heavy lifting before she even called me. She’s amazing. I recommend her to everyone I can who lives in this neck of the South Sound.

 

What else? Hmmm.  Not much! I’m still waiting for my Imperfect Foods order to arrive.

 

I guess I’ll go see if I can finish off Cronkite, the book I’m reading right now. It’s a long book, but utterly fascinating to those of us who grew up watching Walter Cronkite as history unfolded during my generation (and before and after). I must have watched and listened to him through literally thousands of hours of space flights, assassinations, environmental issues, and scores of other times. He remains a part of the soundtrack of my life. I can still hear his voice in my head all these years later.  The book was written by Douglas Brinkley (no relation to  David Brinkley, which surprised me).

 

I have three others books waiting in the wings to read as soon as a finish this one.