Hey, everyone! :D It’s Madison here! I usually don’t do posts like this, but something unexpectedly sprang up and so my posts will definitely be delayed, as my scheduled posts can’t be moved for reasons explained in this post. You totally amazing readers deserve to know and not be left hanging, wondering, “Where’s Madi?” So let me give you a very long quick explanation. :)

First, I’m getting something called Invisalign!

It straightens your teeth like braces, but it’s like a retainer and it’s invisible.

(Me in 2014 – see how HORRIBLE my teeth are? Mainly that crooked one in the front. :P)

I’m SO excited to get my teeth straightened. Imagine having five year olds come up to you and ask what on earth is wrong with your crooked tooth or why I haven’t pulled my “loose tooth” yet! LOL!

But to do that, I had to get two teeth (two bicuspids on the top on each side) pulled.

What?

I have a very long history with dentists. And it isn’t pleasant. :P I wasn’t looking forward to getting my teeth pulled. I mean, who wants to have their teeth pulled out?! Especially me, because I tend to overreact about everything under the sun.

We had to go to an oral surgeon to get it done, so I expected it to be a couple of weeks away and right before the day I get the Invisalign put on (the 26th).

I was wrong. :P

Friday, driving to the consult. (My hair was super frizzy… :P)

We had a consult on Friday, which I was unhappy about because I had this big post planned and needed all the daylight I could get to take my photos. (I’m still not done with the post, and it’s taken more than four hours! O.o)

But it’s alright, I concluded to myself. The consult will be quick and easy, and I’ll be back home just in time to work on the post with the lighting I need.

“We can do it today,” the nice oral surgeon lady told us at the consult. “But it will be a long wait.”

Behind-the-scenes! This was super fun (and super hard :P) to set up! I can’t wait until it’s finished. :D

I rapidly shook my head at my mom, thinking of everything I had to do that day. Nuh-uh. No way. Serious time crunch here. I’m crazy busy. Long waits and pulled teeth were not on my to-do list today.

“Okay, then,” the lady smiled. “We can do it tomorrow at 9AM. Does that sound good?”

WHAAAT?!

Noooooooooooooo! Saturday is a busy day, too, I groaned inwardly. I have to finish up the first part of the big post, then begin and finish the other big one, and get it all typed up and schedule it to post on Monday since I can’t do anything on Sunday (crazy Church service schedules). Getting teeth pulled will totally demolish my plans and will set me massively behind!

Wednesday – Very deep in thought and feeling the beautiful winds of the oncoming Hurricane Matthew.

:? But my mom knew it was now or never. Saturday was the only other time they had, and if we didn’t get it then, it would be massively pushed back – meaning the Invisalign appointment would be pushed back, too.

Laughing gas (which is what dentists usually put me on because I get so nervous) costed $277, and my dad was willing to pay it, but the dentists said it wasn’t necessary.

Unnecessary? For me? UH, YEAH, IT’S NECESSARY. :P

Deal? What deal? I’m listening. ?
But my dad made a deal with me. >:) I can’t tell you my end of the deal, because it involves something big for Delightful World of Dolls coming up. ;) If I didn’t get the laughing gas, he would pay for… I can’t tell you. ;) If I did get the laughing gas, no problem – but I’d have to pay for (can’t tell you! ;) ) for DWOD instead. Which is what I was going to originally do anyway.

Usually I would never do something like that without being under laughing gas, but I would also never pass up a deal like that. That’s another $100 I could use for other things for DWOD!

(This morning at 8:30AM)
So this morning, jamming out to This Is Our Time on loop and riding shotgun, I was feeling pretty great.

Try it – this song lifts your spirits every single time. I think I’ve listened to it about fifty or more times since Friday, when my brother bought it. ?

This Is Our Time (Live) by Planetshakers

In fact, I was feeling on top of the world when I took the picture of me above. I texted some of my friends, giving them updates and prayer requests, and was practically on cloud nine. Not nervous, a free thing for DWOD, I could be brave without the laughing gas, and God had me in the palm of His hand.

In the waiting room, I plugged my headphones in and kept listening to This Is Our Time, feeling a little more nervous, but everything was okay.

Right up until the time they called my name in the waiting room, that is.

2015 – right before my knee treatment.

See that face? That’s the face of someone who is very skeptical about doctors and what they are about to do to you, and that’s pretty close to the expression I wore as I walked through the doors back into the office. Except it was more freaked-out.

Immediately I went into The Crazy, Hyperventilating, Breathing Hard-and-Fast, Heart Sledge-hammering, Eyes Widening, Insane, Freak-out State ahem Nervous Mode. Because I overreact about everything. ?

I was breathing so hard and fast that they put me on laughing gas anyway, despite my protests!

“Why don’t you want it?!” They would ask, and I would have no idea what to say. I breathed in that expensive air, and with a sinking feeling realized, There goes my free thing for DWOD…

Lyrics by Chris Tomlin

And I was growing more and more nervous by the second, which is no way to live. I made a few quick freaking-out prayers in my mind.

Lord, you’re right here with me. Jesus, help me. God, you’ve got this. OH GOD HELP ME!!

The nice oral surgeon wasn’t there, but even with her there I would still be freaking out nervous.

And it didn’t help that my oral surgeon was SO mean!

The first words he said to me were, “Open up, kid.” -__- He made fun of me being so nervous, and they all thought I was fifteen and acting that way! *rolls eyes* When he gave me the second shot in my mouth, it hurt so terribly that I clasped my hands together so I could squeeze something. The oral surgeon thought I was praying (I was, in my head, LOL) and he made fun of me then, too, while giving me the third and fourth shots! >:(

When he showed me my first tooth after he pulled it out (it felt weird, but didn’t hurt, thank God and numbing medicine. ;) ), I tried to say, “Oh my gosh!” (it looked interesting! :P) but my mouth was all numb and I couldn’t say words right at all. He thought I said a cuss word (??? NEVER!!) and told me he would tell my mom, and then he laughed in a fake way, “Just kidding.” *rolls eyes again*

-__- UGH! I never want to go back to that guy again. I miss my old dentist in Texas – he was SO nice, and a Christian, too! He would NEVER have made fun of me for praying. Not that I even care at all – it’s just really uncool to make fun of a patient while they’re undergoing a surgical procedure! Especially when they’re really, really nervous. Not cool.

But it’s over! I walked out of that office with my brother asking me how it went (to which I replied numbly, “Mmm hmm mmm muh.” XD), glad it was done yet very disappointed they had given me laughing gas.

But guess what? They didn’t charge us!

And in the waiting room, there was a Bible on top of this wooden bookshelf thingy with books for little kids. Both, we think, are little signs God gave me to show that He had me in the palm of His hand. :)

My dad just paid for the thing for DWOD as I wrote this post, and I can’t wait for its debut along with the other even bigger thing (that I am paying for :P).

I just finished the most delicious chocolate milkshake from Chick-fil-A, and for the rest of the weekend I get to do research for my novel (AKA watch movies relating to its subject ?) and just rest. ? The second day after the procedure is the worst, one dentist said, so I’ll be laying on the couch watching movies most of my Sunday. :'( Hey, maybe I’ll get ahead in my Bible reading plan…

Now, why did I tell you all this?

Well, because it was just plain fun to write. :P

But really, to let you know what’s going on in the life of me. Because I need to rest (doctor’s orders :P), I can’t finish the big post I was preparing in this photo:

Which is lame, because I wanted to have both of them finished by Monday. They’re smash posts – err, more about what that is when I post it. ;)

Couldn’t I have just posted a quick, “Monday’s post will be delayed because I’m under doctor’s orders to rest and recover”?

Totally! But this was way more fun to do. ? It makes me want my own personal blog even more now, just for things like this. I take so many pictures, I could post every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, while keeping up with DWOD every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday! ;D

On second thought, things would get even more hectic. And I’d probably not be allowed to get a personal blog anyway, just because of how busy I am. :P

That’s what’s going on in the life of Madi.

I hope this was a valid, adequate excuse for no post on Monday. :( I have a few drafts completely ready to be posted, but they are scheduled for later this month. Now, I could have moved them up, but I need them to be where they are so I can stock up on scheduled posts for Campmeeting. (There is zero chance of having time to prepare blog posts when you have crazy long services every night and day for eight days and three hours of sleep each night. 0.o)

The big post I was working on will be hopefully posted on Wednesday instead, which is really not what I wanted to do, but sometimes you have to be flexible. :) In the meantime, I’ll be working on one the upcoming big surprises for DWOD – it doesn’t require a bunch of activity, so I think I’ll be fine. ;)

And sitting at the computer is pretty restful, so don’t worry, I will still be replying to your comments and be commenting on all your posts (If you are one of my followers whom I follow)! ?

Well, stay tuned for Wednesday, which is when I will hopefully have the big post finished! :)

Love,