#11’s new home in Vancouver.

My latest minor craft project was a jagged metal Krusty O magnet. I stuck toothpick ends in a donut of Sculpey and painted it silver. It’s not exactly a cutting-edge idea–just a jagged-edge one.

I’m currently working on another Simpson-themed project. It’s a new medium for me, and I’m excited about it! It was meant to be a Christmas gift for Jordi, but it’ll be a ‘membrance Day gift at this rate.

My Halloween began with a trip to the eye doctor in the morning for a follow-up appointment to see whether those enormous fish oil pills I’ve been taking since my last visit have been doing the trick. The answer was yes, which was a treat.

As I was already downtown, I checked out two of my favourite stores: Russell Books and The Papery. I use an e-reader for stories, so I was at the bookstore to check out their selection of quilting books. I went with the pedantic-sounding “New Basics for the Modern Quiltmaker: The Practical Guide to Patchwork.”

The Papery sells… paper, mainly paper folded in half with pre-written messages inside. Zoée also underwent surgery recently, and I wanted to send them a piece of myself—literally.

When I saw Zoée at the beginning of the month, we discussed what I could do with my tooth. Make it into a pendant? Incorporate it with some modelling clay to make a sculpture.

“You could give it to me!”

This was when I only had tooth #21. Now that I had a tooth to spare, I made Zoée’s unusual dream come true and mailed it to Vancouver. Well, I handcrafted a felt pouch for it, printed out a certificate of authenticity, and then sandwiched it between a proper “hope your recovery goes well!” type of card.

I sent this photo to Jordi before slipping the envelope into the mailbox. I said I was sending it to Zoée, and Jordi responded, “Haha, this is pretty funny.”

However, when I showed Jordi the photo Zoée sent me of my tooth in a vial on their treasure shelf…

“I thought you were joking!”

I have weird friends. Although, I can only think of one other friend who would appreciate finding my tooth in their mailbox. Can you guess which friend?

Tragically, I may end up with another spare tooth. I went to the dentist yesterday morning to get the stitches removed. The dentist remarked on how everything looked good, except for the swelling at the back of my gums. I don’t think the dentist understands what “everything” and “good” means. The swollen area isn’t where tooth #11 came out, but around long-gone tooth #21 and another tooth of questionable status: #22. I’ve been prescribed another round of antibiotics. If the tenderness in this tooth is still around in two weeks from now, it’ll, too, be replaced by a titanium post.

I’ve been trying to give the impression that I’ve been practicing gratitude and self-compassion since my accident. I’ve been able to poke fun at my appearance, taking solace in its temporariness.

The truth is, this ordeal has not been temporary enough for my liking. It’s been chipping away at my resiliency. As far as I know, nobody has said anything mean about my teeth. Everyone at work knows what I went through, which makes me feel less ashamed about my appearance. Aside from that, I either wear a mask or stay tight-lipped when I’m out and about. And the pain and discomfort have been constant. I’ve broken down crying because of it several times.

On Halloween night, I rode to the cannabis shop for some THC beverages for myself and Jordi. The budtender gave me a few fun-sized treats, including Skittles. I definitely can’t handle Skittles (tbh, I couldn’t before the mouth situation: I find Skittles gross). I thought, “I guess he doesn’t need to know I can’t eat this stuff. I’ll just say thanks and leave.” I signed “thanks” without mouthing the word as I usually do, so he might’ve thought I was blowing him a kiss.

I had a pint of Ben & Jerry’s Lactose-Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream in my backpack. Jordi could have the Skittles and the other chewy crap: I had ice cream.

Except, I couldn’t even handle ice cream this time. This stuff had little shards of chocolate that jabbed my raw tooth sockets. It was like eating a jagged metal Krusty O.

Yup. “Everything” is “good”.