Daily Update, December 26, 2023

    When I woke up Tuesday morning, one of my teeth was hurting. It seems to be on the right side, which is the side the tooth that got its root canal redone is on, but it might be on the top when that was on the bottom. Then again, the bottom is giving trouble too, and teeth are notorious for having referred pain, meaning the pain feels like its somewhere other than the bad tooth. It calmed down over breakfast, but I still called my dentist after breakfast. I learned he's on vacation until sometime next week, early in the new year. He has two doctors covering his patients for some emergencies during the holidays. So, I got their numbers written down, which took more calls. Then I called both numbers, and learned they're both out Tuesday, but should be back Wednesday. {sigh}

   I thought about it and called Auntie Barbara. We chatted about her holidays, and I told her about my latest tooth trouble. She thought it could wait one day if it wasn't unbearable. I agreed, especially since if I did get them, and they said they couldn't see me until the next day, I felt I could wait that long. {smile}

   I ate dinner with Mom and read to her before that. She was awake and responded a couple of times. First, I started with scripture and thoughts about it. Next, I continued her niece's long family Christmas letter from 2019. After that, I continued _Classic Christmas: Vintage Fine Art Picture Book_. I think she likes the old pictures. I hope so. Next, I read a story from _Disney 3-Minute Bedtime Stories_. It's a really nice length of story to read to Mom, and she does seem to like the pictures, too. I finished with the 26th of December's story from _366 Stories for Bedtime_, "Suzy's New Doll." Santa had put a darling golden-haired doll in Suzy's stocking. She even looked somewhat like Suzy, and she called her Suzanna. In the toybox, Teddy and Soldier Boy both looked at her admiringly, and introduced themselves. Teddy smoothed his worn fur and tried to hide the patch on his waistcoat. Soldier boy was wooden and looked smart in his painted uniform with its red jacket, black hat and boots, and gold braid and buttons. He stood up straight and offered his arm to Suzanna. They took a stiff stroll. When they came back, Suzanna sat down next to Teddy. She thought he must be very friendly to get so worn.  {Smile}

   I did my head exercises as Dr. Faustus and I finished teaming for the night. Then I started my arm weight training as we were saying goodnight. I didn't get far before I switched to my walking exercises, followed by my leg exercises and arm resistance exercises. I meant to get back to my arm weight training, but by then I was tired enough, and it was late enough, i just stopped. I wonder if the tooth trouble is reducing my stamina, or if I just don't realize how much stamina it takes to do them back-to-back like that. {rueful smile}

   I read comics and a few articles after the phone calls and over lunch. Then I hopped into City of Heroes: Homecoming briefly and chatted with Pierogies. I told him about my tooth, and we planned to get together after I cleaned myself up. Our plan worked. We got together, and ran a couple of individual high-level missions, followed by a mission in a high-level story arc that turned out to be harder than I realized it would be at the settings I had. He said he needed a break after that. I pointed out we'd get a short break if we joined the later short, large-group event, which was recruiting. He thought that should be okay, so we joined it.  When it was over, we talked until I left to read to Mom. {Smile}

   After dinner, I got back in good time to join the late-night short, large-group event. Then I got a character started that I've been thinking about for a holiday story. I will share it with you sooner or later and acknowledge it's already late. Next, I began writing this up, and looked at a few articles and comics. Then Owl Girl said they'd like to get together in the game, so I got back on my new character. It took a little while, but we teamed up, and started doing missions together. I also chatted with Nox on the chat server. Dr. Faustus joined Owl Girl and me. We finished the contact and started a proper story arc. Owl Girl left after we finished that story arc. Dr. Faustus and I did a second story arc, then parted so I could do a few exercises before bed. After the exercises, I wrote this up, mainly doing notes. I also did some paperwork and talked with owl girl. I am getting to bed too late too often these days. I really need to figure out better time management. {rueful Smile}