The aching thrill of first holding hands
Believing it is only love that understands
But merging doesn’t make you as one
Still alone when the other has gone

Today I’m feeling:

Pretty positive despite a disrupted sleep due to coughing. That’s improved a little throughout the morning and I just hope I can control it when I’m sitting in the dentist’s chair. 

Today I’m grateful for:

Some of my grade 8 students stopped by to help with my grade 7’s and helped them with some reading. I think it showed both groups some healthy things.

For my grade 7’s they saw that we are all in it together, helping each other. They also saw how in interact with the grade 8’s and how they interact comfortably with me.

For the grade 8’s they can realise how much they have progressed since they were doing similar work last year.

7.30pm – just got out from the dentist after a successful removal of my dirty old gnarly broken tooth. I’m grateful to the dentist who did a great job explaining everything and quickly and easily removing the tooth.

I can always remember the Hong Kong dentist back in Chatswood who was so short that he had to brace his foot against the chair to pull out one of my wisdom teeth. It took him a good few minutes.

The best thing about today was:

Getting home around midday feeling quite happy and satisfied with things and then hopping into bed for a little Thai study and some comic book reading before weird disrupted light sleep that I enjoyed because of crazy thoughts and dreams.

What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?

At the dentist I was given three options for my broken tooth.

One was for root canal and crown but they said it would involve removing some bone along the whole side of the jaw to keep everything level. I didn’t like the sound of that much.

Another option is to pull the tooth and replace it with an implant but that is 45000 baht! Two months wages!

The final option is to pull the tooth and recap the surrounding teeth with a bridge. That will be about 21000 baht! Still expensive.

I asked about pulling the tooth and just leaving it empty but it was clear from the X-ray that the tooth alongside will fall over into the gap and be a bigger problem in the future. So, the bridge option it will have to be.

I have to wait a month after extraction and I’ll push it to two months as it will give me time to get paid again.

Now is the time to curse my junior self for poor teeth maintenance but well, my teeth have made it further than most of my mum’s so I’ll take it as a win.

Something I learned today?

“It takes an average of 23 minutes and 15 seconds to refocus on a task after a distraction.”

I berate my students for lack of focus but if this statement is true I can berate myself a lot of the time too!

Review your acts, and then for vile deeds chide yourself, for good be glad. — Discourses 3.10

I encouraged Ten, who is a poor student that acts up to compensate. When he was able to read something slowly without giving up and getting frustrated I congratulated him, as did his classmate. Slowly, slowly I will chip away at his barriers and behaviours and pull him into the class as an active participant.

I complimented the dentist on her English this morning. She was worried that she didn’t know how to explain things but actually she did it very well. I’m still trying to improve my Thai but trying to listen to people talking in the dentist waiting room I can feel it is going to take a lot more time. Well, let’s hope I have a lot more time.

What am I grateful for in this moment?

I’m sitting in the dentist waiting room and grateful for the renovations they have done as everything looks new shiny and sparkling and at least gives the impression of professionalism. Hopefully I am still grateful in an hours time when they might have fixed my broken tooth or at least tide me over until next month with a temporary solution.