McFest 2013: Part 1

In August Adam and I went to New Jersey for his family reunion.  Adam's family (haha Adam's family...anyone? anyone?) is from Philadelphia, PA and every two or three years they all head to Sea Isle City, NJ for McFest! Don't worry it's not like the "Jersey Shore" on TV, but we had our fists ready just in case.  It was actually like being in Philadelphia, most of the shops sold "Philly" gear and most of the license plates on cars were from Pennslyvania. (More to come about this).


Our trip started on Tuesday August 6, 2013 when we left Vancouver, WA at 6pm to head to San Francisco for our first layover. We decided to take the Red-Eye to get an extra day in on our trip.  We arrived Wednesday and my Aunt Joy and Uncle Gary (who also live in NJ) picked us up and we planned to spend a few days with them before heading to the shore. We headed straight to breakfast at a hotel on the Jersey side of the Hudson river, and man was it good.  I had a plant strong breakfast wrap with freshly squeezed juice and Adam had corned beef and hash scramble. 



 

The next day, after some much needed rest, we headed into NYC for some fun. My Aunt and I got pedicure's while Adam and Uncle Gary dinked around and had some life-changing sushi :) Adam rarely get's to eat sushi at home so it was a treat for him to have some. Later on we went to have dinner at Blossom Cafe, it was a vegan restaurant (since I'm allergic to dairy it's easier for me to eat at a vegan restaurant).  Oh man, this place was amazing!  I got raw nachos and a lentil burger and Adam, Aunt Joy, and Uncle Gary all got things they could share.  I can't remember everything they got, but everything tasted delicious.

 

On Friday the 9th my Aunt had shoulder surgery so we stayed home and took a day off.  Her surgery went well, she came home all loopy which made us laugh. Then on Saturday my Uncle took Adam and I for a day in the city.  We took the Staten Island Ferry and headed to Manhatten.

 



 

We had a wonderful time together, we walked and walked and walked and walked.  Did I mention we walked? We got to see the new Freedom Tower to replace the World Trade Center (it's the tall building on the left in the photo).  We went to the Crate & Barrell in SoHo to visit our family friend Richard, it was his first Saturday at the his new store.  Then we went to Chipotle for lunch, yum! We ended our day by visiting Rockefeller Center and Times Square, we had to be tourists a little bit!

  

 

Before we knew it we were on the subway headed back to the ferry. We had to get ready to head to Sea Isle City, NJ on Sunday morning. 

 

 

More to follow about our time in Sea Isle City...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Will The Real Hygienist Please Stand Up?

This is a blog from Dr. Lolabees - it probably will only be funny to people who are in the dental field, but it gave me a good laugh so I had to share it.  I added in a couple too just to relieve some stress from the week :)

 

10 Reasons Your Dentist Probably Hates You Too

1. The first thing you say when you sit down in my chair is, “I hate the dentist.” Really?!? Did your parents teach you any manners? Did they ever teach you that it is impolite to tell someone you hate them the moment you greet them? What I really want to say back is, “aww, I hate you too.”

2. You come to your appointment, and it’s obvious you haven’t brushed your teeth in days. I’ve had some people with great hygiene come in and apologize because they’ve just eaten lunch and couldn’t brush. This is not what I’m talking about. I mean food and thick plaque everywhere. After 10 years of seeing blood and rotten teeth and some really nasty things, this is still the 1 thing that makes me dry heave. You know when you come to us that we have to be in your mouth. Would you clean your home before having company? Additionally, I have spent hours literally bending over backwards repairing your teeth. Could you at least pretend that you are caring for the work that I have struggled to complete for you?

3. After we have spent hours of meticulously repairing your teeth, you complain about the bill. Would you walk out of the grocery store with a bag full of groceries and expect not to pay? I’ve just helped you to continue to smile and eat comfortably, two pretty valuable things that help your quality of life.

4. I tell you that you have a cavity and you need a filling, and you wait months or even years to get the necessary work done. Eventually the tooth starts hurting. Two weeks of pain go by, and you call me on a Saturday night while I am at dinner with friends because your tooth that needed a filling a year ago and that started hurting 2 weeks ago is suddenly an emergency.

5. You come to me so I can help you, but you make it hard for me to do a good job. You wince and make faces when it’s not hurting. The idea that I’m hurting you makes me just as uncomfortable and stressed as you are. If it hurts, please tell me, and I can help you with that. But if it’s because you don’t like the whole experience, you are only causing me to work in undesirable conditions, making it harder to do my best. And when you push your tongue in the way, or you don’t open wide enough, it makes it physically impossible to get my work done. Don’t you want it to be easy for me to do the best job for you?

6. You call and say, “my tooth didn’t hurt before you worked on it.” You came to me with a cavity. I did not put it there. You did. I am simply fixing a rotten hole that was in your tooth. To do so, I must use a tiny drill to cut the rot out of your tooth. If I took a drill, cut a hole in your femur bone, and then filled it in with a foreign material, don’t you think it might be sore for a while? Same concept.

7. When we try to take an x-ray, you won’t bite down on it. We have to do this to see what is going on with your tooth. Without knowing the problem, we can’t properly treat you. I know, in some cases some people really can’t do it; but some people could and won’t just suck it up for 15 seconds. I’ve had x-rays too, and they hurt and dig into my gums, but I just do it.

8. You tell me that you bought my car for me after having a crown done. Contrary to how it seems, you actually didn’t buy me a car. You bought yourself a crown. I have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on an education, and have spent hours making this crown fit precisely in your mouth, so maybe you helped me make a portion of a student loan payment. But you certainly didn’t buy my car.

9. You no-show an appointment or cancel last-minute. Some things are unavoidable, but when it’s because your hairdresser got a last-minute cancellation and you had to take that appointment instead, this is just rude. Not only am I unable to fill the 2 hours of my schedule that I reserved specifically for you, but someone else who wanted to get in had to wait 2 weeks for his/her appointment. And on that note, when you have the first appointment of the day, and you show up late for your appointment, I am late for every other patient the rest of the day.

10. When I tell you that you grind your teeth, you deny it, as if I am accusing you of having a horrible disease or being a baby murderer. It’s not that bad to be a tooth grinder. I’m just pointing something out and maybe offering a way to prevent more problems in the future. This observation is concluded from signs or symptoms that are based on real science, not myth.
 
11. Why is it when I'm running late and you've been in the waiting room and then once I get you seated with your bib on you decide to tell me you need to use the restroom?  It never fails.
 
12. Why do you think you can tell me what your treatment needs are?  Sure, go ahead and tell me you don't need a deep-cleaning or that you don't need x-rays this time... I forgot that you went to college for dentistry.  Oh and while you're at it write a negative review about how terrible I am because I'm the one who made you neglect your teeth for the past several years, and it's my fault you need more than the routine cleaning.