AUGUST

August's goal check-up time!

My goals in August were to brush my teeth at night (I know, I know, you're all disgusted that that wasn't a habit before) and to floss once a day.

Here's my question:

Do you know how hard it is to reach a goal about improving your oral hygiene when you spent the first day of the month at the dentist and he told you not to change a thing about your oral hygiene because your teeth and gums are AWESOME?!

It's really really really hard.

Soooooo.....

Flossing - Yeah, I was horrible at that.

Brushing at night - Probably 50/50.  

And yet, the dentist's (and hygienist's) words are still echoing in my head, so I don't feel bad about it...

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…[T]he goblin rarely left Harry, Ron, and Hermione alone together for more than five minutes at a time: "He could give my mother lessons," growled Ron, as the goblin’s long fingers kept appearing around the edges of doors.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

If I could talk to my younger self,

these are the appearance-related things I would tell me:

1. If you stop brushing your hair back into a ponytail (the key word here being brushing, not ponytail), you won't get those flyaways by your ears.

2. Your teeth after braces rock as much you think they will!

3. Your weight is appropriate.

4. Yes, there is a way to have a higher success rate with wearing your hair curly.  Once you figure out the trick, it's faster, less stressful, more consistent, looks better on the second day, and looks more flattering on you - all of those things compared to both how you're doing it now and straight hair.  Maybe that's why you were born with it. :)

5. What Alyssa Priest told you about blush is true.

6. I'm glad it didn't bother you when that person told you to get those above-your-eye bumps removed.  You were right - people don't really notice them, and they don't bother you when you do your makeup or start dating like that person warned they might.

7. Slip shorts are not just a dream!  They're real! and pretty inexpensive!!  Buy some.  They will make skirt-wearing much more comfortable (especially with heels), just like you imagined they could.

8. People you don't even know will tell you you can pull off red lipstick.  Use that information however you want.

9. Hair stylists will tell you that bangs flatter your face.  That's true, but also be aware that you usually hate having them in your face.  Don't cut them so short you can't pin them back.

10. It sounds cheesy, but you will learn a lot from watching "What Not to Wear."

11. Don't waste time on cheap eyeliner pencils.  Go straight to Maybelline Define-A-Line (which is also pretty cheap).

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"Are you planning to follow a career in Magical Law, Miss Granger?" asked Scrimgeour.

"No, I'm not," retorted Hermione.  "I'm hoping to do some good in the world!"

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

running shorter on wisdom

That's right!  These are my two wisdom teeth.  I got them out on Friday morning and I don't think it could've possibly gone better.  They weren't running into nerves or other teeth, they weren't buried... They came in just like regular teeth, so it was a really straightforward tooth-pulling.  A little bit of numbing gel, a numbing shot on each side of my mouth, a little pulling, and they were out!  I only bled for a few hours and was good to sing at the stake Easter performance that night!  I ate baby food and meal replacement drinks on Friday, baby food "graduates" and baked beans on Saturday, and a ham and baked potatoes dinner on Sunday.  Not too shabby!  

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"But above all he [Hook] retained the passion for good form.  Good form!  However much he may have degenerated, he still knew that this is all that really matters."  - J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan