L*O*V*E

Last night we looked through some of Mick's childhood pictures. Aubrey thought he was so cute. She kept hugging him and saying, "I didn't think I could love you any more than I already do. Is that possible, Daddy? that I love you even more now?"*



*For the life of me, I can't find a photo in my computer album to post of cute little Mick.

Oh, lordy, we're goin' sporty

 

Picture this truck, except not so shiny and with primer at the tailgate. It's a 1993 Nissan King Cab 4x4 SE. That's what we bought last night.

Now, picture Mick loading it up with this little baby so he doesn't have to ride around in peoples' yards anymore.*

 

Yes, congratulations, Mick. Now you have everything you've ever dreamed of and you'll never want anything again. Right? Right?

Your ever-lovin' love,
Anj

*He doesn't really ride around in peoples' yards, but he did once, above, at his friend Dave's -- in Dave's nice little neighborhood in Sammamish. 

Post #701: Home Sweet Sharkles

After an amazing two-week trip (post and pictures to come shortly) we made it home at 3 AM Wednesday. We were supposed to be in at midnight, but considering all the east coast craziness with blizzards and flight cancellations, we felt fortunate to have had no bumps and only a few delays out of Philadelphia and San Francisco.

Still, 3 AM is tough when you have to roust yourself out of bed three hours later -- TO GO TO WORK! Yes, Mick was my hero that day, because not only did he manage to function in spite of time changes and travel, but he got to work that morning and had 13 emergency cases to handle. (Apparently everyone had been waiting for that dentist office to open up!) I think 6-8 emergency cases from 8 AM to 9 is his usual bigger load. Then, after 13 of those cases, his regular appointments ALL started showing up at 9 (also a rarity.)

So, he wins the big toughie travel and work award.

I, on the other hand, slept a few hours later than that and then emptied suitcase after suitcase and did laundry load after laundry load. There are still huge piles of trinkets and papers and randomness on our bar counter. Putting that stuff away turns out to be the real pain.

The kids and Colleen of DogGoneFun  with Sharly when we first got her.

In addition to unpacking and doing laundry, I picked up a few groceries and... SHARKLES!

Sharly got to come home from R&R Pet Resort where she'd spent the past 14 days. We were all so excited, wagging our tails, fetching squeaky bones, scratching our ears. :) It's been great.

What was your favorite (or most exhausting!) part of the holidays this year?

Of Motor Bikes and Van Rides

A couple weekends ago, Mick needed to drive to Washington to pick up the motorcycle of his dreams. It was Dane's dream to drive up with him. When I figured out it would work to send Dane along, I called Dane's school and sent a message to him in class that we'd pick him up early.

When I picked him up, I asked him how he felt when he got the message in class. He pumped his arms and yelled, "Awesome!" When I asked him why it felt so great, he answered as if it should be obvious: "Because I get to go on a trip with Dad!"

As I drove him to meet Mick at the dental office, I told Dane I'd packed him some books and some books on CD in case he needed some entertainment. It was my turn to think "Awesome!" though, when he turned to me and said, "We might not need those. Me and Dad might just chat the whole time."

Yes, he said chat.

And they did. He didn't crack a book or pop in a cd the whole drive.

Washington and Wakey-Wakey

We'll see you in a week, Pops!

Tomorrow the kids and I head up to Washington for a week of family and friends: Great Wolf Lodge with my friend Michelle and two of her kids, overnights with my parents, overnights with Mick's parents, and a Mariners game with Karen. (Somewhere in there I get an overnight hike with my pal Maureen into the alpine.)

Mick'll fly up to meet us in Seattle on the 31st, where he'll spend his birthday week with us and various good friends. Dinner with some amigos in Bellingham, and, weather-permitting, some wakey-wakey with the Lanes on Lake Sammamish.

Can't wait!

A Year In Books

For the past fifteen years I've kept a journal of books I've read. Today I just picked it up to see what I've read in the past twelve months. Here's the list:

9/09 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Steig Larsson - a gripping, page-turning, brutal but well-written murder mystery suspense novel published posthumously. Two more in the series have been released by this smart Scandinavian novelist. Note: this book is not for everyone, nor is the movie. However, I'll say that the movie is one of those rareties, in the sense that it follows the book amazingly well.

10/09 Three Cups of Tea, Greg Mortenson. This is excellent, inspiring nonfiction. Read it.

10/09 Cannery Row, John Steinbeck. Such good writing, such a good story. Steinbeck was a master.

11/09 The Pilot's Wife, Anita Shreve. Oprah's Book Club stuff. I read it in a day. A page-turner, but not necessarily satiating.

11/09 The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula LeGuin. Science Fiction. A book club selection. Ursula LeGuin's so prolific and smart. I'm glad I read this, even if I didn't just love it.

11/09 Gods Behaving Badly. Can't even drum up the writer's name. Awful. Couldn't stand it. A book club selection. A story of modern gods living in London. Blah, blah, blah.

12/09 Ada Blackjack: A True Story of Surival in the Arctic, Jennifer Niven. I think I wrote about this on an earlier post. Fascinating story, decent nonfiction writing, brought about plenty of discussion at book club.

1/10 The Yiddish Policemen's Union, Michael Chabon. I love Michael Chabon. Not everyone will agree with me, but: He can do no wrong. He's the master of descriptive writing.

1/10 The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Brian Selznick. Graphic novel for YA or middle grade. This was a wonder-filled book. Loved it.

2/10 Shiloh, Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. Dane's class read this, so I did, too. Lovely story about a boy who saves a dog from an abusive owner. Set in 50's/60's south.

4/10 The Daykeeper's Grimoire, Christy Raedeke. I wrote about this in an earlier post; my friend Christy's debut YA novel. Read it!

5/10 Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen. I can't recall a thing about this. Not even a main character. Wait... Oh. The 16-year-old girl traveling to Bath with chaperones. Meets good boy, pursued by bad boy. Etc. Still not in love with Jane Austen. I'd like to be. Will keep reading her works.

5/10 The Lightning Thief, Rick Riordan. The first in the series of five. Excellent middle grade reading.

5/10 Cheaper By The Dozen, Frank B. Gilbreth. Wrote about this on an earlier post. Didn't do much for me, in the long run, but it's a decent read. Besides, I had to read it for book club AND I was waiting for book 2 in Rick Riordan's series, since Dane and Aubrey and Mick were reading the only copy we own!

6/10 The Sea of Monsters, Rick Riordan. Book 2. Fabulous.

6/10 The Titan's Curse, Rick Riordan. Book 3. Fabulous.

6/10 The Battle of the Labyrinth, Rick Riordan. Book 4. Fabulous.

6/10 The Last Olympian, Rick Riordan. Book 5. Fabulous.

7/10 The Reader, Bernard Schlenk. I've wanted to read this since I saw a poster for the movie, starring Kate Winslet and Ralph Fiennes. Set post-Holocaust, and taking on difficult themes, this book was excellent. I read it in a day. I'd see the movie.

7/10 The Girl Who Played with Fire, Steig Larsson. Book 2 of 3. Brutal, but good writing. And I'll read the third.

7/10 Thirteen Reasons Why, Jay Asher. Young Adult literature. The premise caught my attention. A boy gets a box of cassette tapes after a girl's suicide, and listens to the 13 reasons she killed herself. Great premise, and the teens that read it probably love it. I just thought the girl felt objectified a few too many times. Possible - and even probable - in real life, but the way it was written made me not want to believe she had to see things the way she did. Which, of course, is part of the brilliant premise of it, right? We're supposed to believe suicidal cases -- the signs are there, and the reasons are real to the victim. (Anybody else read this and had thoughts about it???)

So that's all for my year. Twenty-one books. Looks like I read a lot of YA and Middle Grade novels this year. Some book club selections, too (which didn't always move me). Oh, and I read these three books all year long, whenever I felt like it: The Fourth Genre, Writing Life Stories, and The Eleventh Draft, among other essay and short story collections.

Upon reflection, I didn't really seek out good literature in the past twelve months the way I usually do. I think that'll be my goal in the next twelve: Keep something on hand at all times that I really want to sink my teeth into. (Help me out with that? Suggestions welcome.)

MICK
He's not here to put this together, but I'll throw in that Mick read the Lightning Thief series, too, some Michael Chabon, the Girl with the... series, and lots of David Foster Wallace (his new hero -- Mick loved the 3-inch thick novel, Infinite Jest).

DANE AND AUBREY
These two cats LOVE the Lightning Thief series (wait, they call it the Percy Jackson series). Dane's read it four times this summer -- yup, that's about 1500 pages each time, so 6000 pages total. Aubrey's on book 4 of her second reading. These guys can't get enough of Percy Jackson and Greek mythology.

They've also listened to books 1-5 on CD of The Ranger's Apprentice series. We're waiting for the audio CD of book 6, reserved at the library. I think we're hold 2 of 6...

**
Got a good book suggestion for me? Leave me a comment!

Yo Gabba Gabba! Aquabats!

Why, yes, kids. I can see why you'd think the lead singer is your father. He's certainly got the same moves...

MONTH TWO WRITING GOAL ACCOMPLISHED:
PUBLISHED IN FEBRUARY!

My essay, "The Making Of A Dentist: A Story Of Love And Teeth," was published yesterday at WorkLifeGroup.com. It's a finalist in their Career Stories contest.

Feel free to give it a Thumbs Up on their site if you like it. (The Thumbs Up sign shows up faintly, as a number next to my title on the essay page.) I don't know if it'll help me win, but it can't hurt.

What's the win? Well, because I keep it real here on my blog, it's 500 smacks. And a chance to be paid to write for their website in the future. Two things I'd love, natch.

While you're there, read some of the other stories, too. They're fun and inspiring. I already gave a Thumbs Up to "How An Elephant Taught Me To Write" and "Creating True Beauty In The World."

If you use any of the links above, once you get there, you can click on the "Career Stories" link in the right-hand margin and get access to all the stories.

Leave a comment here and let me know who you turned your thumb up at!

BAKIN' BACON

Monday's Rockin' Recipe Share

He can bring home the bacon,
fry it up...

...in some chocolate chip dough.*

That's right. Bacon with anything is all the rage these days, so Mick threw together some Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies yesterday.

They were delicious.

It's a little bit weird to understand it, but imagine sweet/salty with chocolate chips and alternately the chewiness and crispiness of bacon pieces.

Mmmm...

And so I bring you Monday's Rockin' Recipe Share, courtesy of Pete Bakes:

bacon chocolate chip cookies and candied bacon

candied bacon
1 pckg thick cut bacon (about 10 strips)
brown sugar for sprinkling

chocolate chip cookies
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
12 oz toll house semi-sweet chocolate morsels

1. make the candied bacon: preheat the oven to 350 F. lay bacon on a parchment covered baking sheet so they are not overlapping. sprinkle about 2 tsp brown sugar evenly on each strip of bacon. bake for 12 minutes, remove from oven, flip bacon and drag it through the syrupy liquid that’s collected on the baking sheet. put the bacon back in the oven for another 12-15 minutes, until it is fully cooked and very dark (mahogany). remove the strips from the sheet and cool on a wire rack. after they have cooked, chop them or quickly food process into tiny pieces.

2. make the cookies: combine flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. beat butter, both sugars and vanilla in a large bowl. add eggs, one at a time, beating well. gradually beat in flour mixture. stir in morsels and bacon pieces.

3. spoon dough (about a Tbsp per cookie) onto an ungreased baking sheet and bake at 375 F for 9-11 minutes. i tend to go a little under 9 minutes so they come out just underdone. remove to cooling racks or eat immediately with a tall glass of cold milk.

*Re: photo - Again, ladies, I married for love.

TWELVE GREAT YEARS
Happy Anniversary, Hot Stuff

20th Reunion Pre-Funk

Held at The Ram (so fitting - Go Rams!) in Puyallup, Friday night

This isn't a very clear picture above, but it needs to be in here because it shows exactly how Mick spent the evening at my Unofficial Pre-Funk. He's there with Tanya and Brian Hope. Tanya graduated with my class and married her older brother Ty's best friend (class of '87), Brian Hope. (Brian was also my first boyfriend in high school, and we like to laugh about that.)

Tanya didn't plan to go to the reunion, so when Mick found that out he sent Brian a note: "Brian, why aren't you going to our 20-year reunion???" Of course, the reason that's funny is because it was neither Mick's nor Brian's reunion, but they're two guys who would act like it was. Brian wrote back that he was bummed they'd be missing it, and that maybe he could talk Tanya into going to the unofficial one on Friday night.

So, there they are above, sitting and being silly for the evening. Mick introduced himself a couple times as "Jo-Jo" from Rogers, feigning surprise when no one recognized him. And then generally had fun joking around with Brian and Tanya and Karen at that table. (I didn't sit with them -- I had too many people to run around and catch up with! Karen did too, actually, so she wasn't always there. Tanya, on the other hand, was very comfortable sitting like a queen at her throne waiting for people to come to her!) The other guy in the picture above is Steve Oberhofer; I sang with him in Choir. He now lives in Hawaii and loves it.

Tonsil check.

My two best friends ever.


Yeah, I brought the creepy guy.

Tracy Wolmacher, Brandi Bilby and Christine German. Brandi used to be the totally hot stuff babe on campus; Chris and Tracy were these tiny little cute girls that were always together on campus, walking super close with their heads together, giggling with their hands over their mouths.


Gary Sarlund. The only thing that's different about Gare-Bear is that he's got a goatee and his shoulders are a little broader. Even the tuck of snuff in his lower lip is the same. And that's what we all love about Gary -- he's the totally loyal, totally sweet, huggy happy fella we can all count on. Now Gary's an electrician like his dad, married, and has a little boy he says is already smarter than him. See? What's there not to love about a fella like that?


With Mike Peters. It was so much fun to see Mike. I swear he was about 5 inches shorter in school. He says he was always 6 foot, but I think he must've slouched or something back then. Mike reminded me that he came to my house once after a Key Club meeting and knocked at the front door. When Don opened it, Mike said, "Hey, is Anjie home?" and Don looked at his watch and said, "Do you know what time it is?" Mike looked at his watch and said, "Uh, yeah, 9 o'clock?" And Don said, "Yeah, 9 o'clock on a school night," and turned poor Mike away! This was a sweetie-pie good boy Key Clubber Cross Country Runner -- and he never came back!

I told Don that story and he says he feels awful now. I took that to mean Mike was welcome to swing by their house any time he wanted to now, and I told him so the next night. Ha ha.



This is Jay Hansen. Not a close friend at all in high school, but a nice enough guy. The end.

Christina Mendoza arranged the Pre-Funk at The Ram.

Larry Aegerter and his awesome wife, Tammy. Between the two of them they have six (maybe seven?) kids and seem to have a really strong marriage. Larry's still totally tough and adorable, a marial arts master and contractor with the military; Tammy stays home and homeschools their kids. She's currently waiting for her second kidney transplant.


We love Cheese! Jason "Cheese" Bisig here with Karen and me. We used to have all kinds of fun with Jason and Buddy (he didn't show) in Jazz Choir. They were totally obnoxious but loveable and we used to ride around in Jay's little Manza. In junior high, Jason used to come over and we'd stand on my grandparents' motorhome in the driveway and shoot baskets. He was a super fun pal to have.

Jason, Gary and Karen.

Here I am flanked by two amazing sopranos, Karen (left) and Carrie Chappel.

Karen, me and Carrie again. It was funny, I got to briefly meet Carrie's 10-year-old daughter Elena earlier that night. She stood next to her mom, saying, "Heh heh, they have Buttface Beer here. Heh heh. Buttface beer." Now, of course, that's a little gross and all, etc., etc., but the funny thing is that she acted exactly like Carrie would've acted as a kid! I met Carrie in 8th grade and she was always doing some sort of "Heh heh" kind of thing. Meeting Elena totally cracked me up.

Aw, here we are with our buddy Colin, a.k.a. C-Train.

C-Train and Cheese.

With Dori Johnson. Dori and I played junior high sports together - and then she got pregnant and we lived two very different lives. (Hi Dori!) I've come into recent contact with her again, though, and am really enjoying her. She's been a mother more than half her life, which is totally trippy, and parts of her life have been very complicated. Through it, I'm amazed at how her perspective has developed so fully. She has A LOT of brilliant things to say. She's educated herself on political issues, and takes some really amazing stands -- on health care especially. She writes them on a blog, and I admire her thoughtfulness and her articulate writing.

Maybe that's what's so much fun about a 20-year reunion: we can rehash the ways we used to be, and revel in the ways those 20 years have shaped us in unexpected and exciting ways.

I still have to post pics from the official reunion - but I'll do that tomorrow. Or the next day. Or the next...

Oh, and I'll totally try to use the word totally as much as possible. It is, after all, flashback to 1989 time.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DADDY. I HOPE YOU'RE
HAVING A GOOD TIME AT WORK.
Love, Dane

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DADDY. I LOVE YOU. (sings birthday song)
Love, Aubrey

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HONEY. I HOPE YOU'RE HAVING

A GOOD TIME AT WORK, TOO! (thankyouthankyouthankyou)
AND I LOVE YOU. xo, Anj

For everyone curious to know

how the kitchen

is coming along.

MT. BIKE OREGON
AND SOME
HOWARD PRAIRIE CAMPING

While Mick spent a three-day weekend with his brother at Mt. Bike Oregon, which they planned five months ago, the kids and I spent a three-day weekend at Howard Prairie, which we planned five days ago.

I can vaguely report that Mick came home exhausted and happy (maybe he'll post his own blog?), and I can specifically report that the kids and I came home exhausted and happy as well.

Howard Prairie on Lake Hyatt is just a half hour out of Ashland - 17 miles out Dead Indian Memorial Road. (The kids and I think this is a sad and lonely name - and when we learn why it's called that, we'll report back.)

We arrived at noon on Friday and scoped out a coveted LAKESIDE spot and spent the afternoon kayaking and swimming on the lake and doing a little bike riding through the campground. The kids also got to do a little jet skiing.

Dane admired the jetskis of the family on the beach next to us and the dad came over and whispered to me later that if my boy wanted a ride on the jet ski, he'd be happy to take him. He wanted to see if I was comfortable with that. He and his wife and baby and in-laws were totally wholesome and warm and I told him my kid would think it was awesome.

So, both Dane and Aubrey took rides with Chad on his sit-down jet ski and squealed and steered and smiled the whole 10 minutes of each of their rides. I just stood on the beach smiling and thrilled for them.

Other than the jet skiing highlight, we woke up around 8 on Friday and took a ride in the kayak together on a calm morning lake. I paddled the sit-on-top and the kids each sat on an end, dragging their feet through the water.

Later that morning, we took a six mile bike ride on a trail part-way round the lake and had a blast. Dane just zipped ahead - but always made sure to stop at decent intervals so we didn't get separated for long - and Aubrey used those little knobby tires like a pro, saying things like, "I think we should go the whole way round the lake!" (it's 15 miles) and "Mom, I'm mountain bike riding!"

We stopped at one point at a place like this:


I didn't have a camera with me and I didn't have a piece of paper or pencil, but I memorized the moment -- the scene, the scent, and especially what my boy said -- because it about melted me into the ground.

He stood there really still, squinting at the landscape, and said - speaking with this sort of cadence where he lingers on his key words (I'll emphasize them for you):

This place is a beauty.
You've got your tall trees growin' over there...
You've got this great big lake here...
You've got all this green grass growin'...

Then a slow, audible sigh.

Yeah, that about sums it up, I think.

Later, after a return ride, where Aubrey handled herself like a champ (her chain came off at least 8 times, and she only broke down to cry on about the eighth time), some friends joined us.

Here's some Chix in the Stix with our Pips:

Girl pips.

Grubby Mom feet.

Chix on the beach.

Boyz In the Hatch.

WE'RE ON MICK TIME

We're moving into the new house on Mick time -- that means sleeping in 'til 10, two trips to Noble Coffee, and buying a BB gun at a garage sale before shuffling a few boxes into the garage.

Good thing we have until June 15, but I'm guessing that'll come fast enough...

HoMe AlOnE

Mick's headed to Portland tonight for three days at the Oregon Dental Association (ODA) convention. He gets plenty of Extended Learning credits, so that's great. He also gets to hang out and drink lots of Stumptown coffee, so more power to him! In the meantime, the kids and I will stay here: they'll go to school, I'll write, they'll have ball practice, I'll take 'em, we'll bike, we'll walk, we'll read, etc., etc. We'll miss Mick, but somewhere in there we might just do this Spring art project and desperately hope the weather warms up:

I randomly found this blogger and I like her ideas.

Sunday Summary

Two things to report:

1 - Hired a babysitter this afternoon and went with Mick to the OSF production of Death and the King's Horseman. Excellent play. The playwright, Wole Soyinka, is an African who won the Nobel Prize. This particular play is rarely performed outside of Africa, but this year it's being performed in two places: London and Ashland. That makes me happy.

The play takes place in the 1940s and "is based on a real incident that took place in Nigeria during British colonial rule when the ritual suicide of the Horseman of an important chief was prevented by the intervention of the colonial authorities.^[1] In addition to the British intervention, Soyinka calls the horseman's own conviction toward suicide into question, posing another problem that throws off the community's balance."

There were many poignant moments, highlighting the conflicts of colonialism and change, but one line stands out for me, affirming what I understand of colonialism. A young African man who has studied medicine in England returns to Africa and reflects on the current crisis in light of his experience abroad, saying, "Your people disrespect what you don't understand."

I love that. What a brilliant way to point out the presumptuousness of dominant nations and their citizens.

Anyway, Mick and I liked the play, liked getting out, and liked our prawn nachos at Tabu afterwards. We also liked coming home to two jumproping kids in the living room, who now call for my attention - so I have to cut this short.

But one more thing...

2 - Went skiing with our family and Kai and his two girls yesterday. Sweet powder. Evidently there was some sweet chubby-chick-snowboarder-butt-crack, too. But it gets better. Kai pointed to said crack as Mick was skiing down the hill. Evidently, the chick sitting was on the hill adjusting her boots, and had a pretty deep crevice atop her drawers. Mick flew down and stopped right before her, spraying her backside with a perfect whoosh of powder that filled the top of her pants and her crack. Then he had the nerve to look uphill when she turned around, miffed -- and act as if he was looking for me. Kai took off skiing and laughing to himself. Later he told me Mick made a perfect little cone in her crevice. I thought maybe we should coin the term "snow coning."



Watch out!

MARRIED TO A DENTIST

A Story of Love and Teeth

When asked what it's like to be married to a dentist, my first response is glib: I get razzed for being the only parent who sends their kid to a sleepover without a toothbrush; I have a school debt load as big as a house mortgage; and, I'm expected to have perfect teeth and even better breath, which, in my experience, is not necessarily always simultaneously possible.

But then there's the response that's not glib, but heartfelt -- as true as anything I've ever believed -- and the only way it can be expressed is to put it like this: I can't separate out my particular dentist guy from his dentist job. Together, they make him the dentist I'm married to.

Let me explain.

My particular dentist guy was once an unfulfilled manufacturing and plastics engineer who drew computerized pictures of a 737 airplane's wing rivets for The Boeing Company, and, later, designed waterski and wakeboard bindings for the likes of world class skier Andy Mapple for O'Brien Watersports. Cool enough stuff, to be sure, but that same engineer guy would come home disappointed that he'd sat at a machine all day and/or had only spoken to one or two other human beings -- about nothing that meant anything to him -- throughout the course of a day.

Then my particular engineer guy got laid off and couldn't find more engineering work and fixed houses as a contractor for six months -- and somewhere in there he observed his younger brother at work as a new dentist. There, he saw immediately how he, too, could use his hands, his head, and his heart all in one fell swoop: by being a dentist guy.

After watching his brother treat the whole person -- seeing how the mouth was the gateway to health for the rest of the body (doctor), watching his brother's hands move in intricate and detailed ways in a small space (engineer), and listening to the care, banter, and concern shared between patient and dentist (human being) -- he decided to make a career change.

He returned to college at 33, taking three years of pre-requisite classes from the school where he'd graduated seven years earlier. During his final quarter of pre-requisites, he filled out dental school applications, wrote a killer statement of intent (thank me very much), and earned himself a seat in the University of Pacific's three-year program, the only one of its kind in the nation.

After a mighty garage sale where we sold everything we could think to sell (mostly the quiver of free wakeboards he'd aquired) we packed up our 3-year-old and 4-year-old kids and moved ourselves to San Francisco for a life of school, loans, and part-time work.

We've never looked back.

School was challenging and scary -- after all, we'd put everything on the line to pursue this -- and sometimes the requirements felt elusive. But, in the end, it was fulfilling and thrilling.

My dentist guy, who's just bizarre enough to think it's funny that the time to go to the dentist is "Tooth Hurty," and who thinks Eugene Levy's nerdy dentist character in that Christopher Guest mockumentary, Waiting for Guffman, is highly quotable -- "People ask me if I was the class clown [smug nod]; I tell them, 'No, but I sat next to him, and I studied him' [smug nod followed by pathetic Johnny Carson impersonation]" -- comes home from work happy every day, deeply moved by the lives he's encountered.

Staying true to HIPAA's confidentiality code, he tells me no names or places, but his eyes water nearly each and every night as he tells me about hardship, victory, silliness, or gratitude he's seen or experienced in the mouths or lives of his patients. He never got that as an engineer. Granted, some engineers don't need it, and, admittedly, some engineers manage to get it somehow, but my guy needed something extra and dentistry is how he gets it.

So when he leans against the kitchen counter at age 41 and talks to me about his work with tears in his eyes, I'm very clear about this particular guy who loves his particular job, and I hone in on that soft smile. I hone in on his lovely, if slightly imperfect teeth and his occasionally bad breath, because, well, sometimes you just can't have it all -- but I know you can come close.

I MUST CONFESS, I STILL BELIEVE... (still believe!)