KK: Thanks for letting me know about class III. I learn something new every day! The elastics certainly are making a difference, I can feel it! Hopefully those gaps won't be too stubborn.
Miss Smiley: I agree, St. Paul in the springtime is quite nice. I enjoy living here. Frisbee golf.... that's something I haven't heard anyone mention for years! I played frisbee golf once when I was a kid, and I loved it! I'll have to check out some venues - that would be a fun thing for my 6 year old stepdaughter to enjoy when the weather is warm again. And yes, I will be pleased when I'm through with these elastics, but at the same time, I'm happy to have them if they help things along!
ThatsWhatSheSaid: Thanks a bunch, I was really thrilled about getting my teeth filed, even though it's only a little. Once my teeth are pretty much completely aligned, I'll definitely have my ortho do a bit more of that. As for the tattoo - it doesn't really take guts. The first minute of your first tattoo is nerve racking, but after that you're sitting there thinking, 'wow, this is really annoying. I have to sit through this for how long?' Really, for me, neither of my tattoos were painful. The best way I can describe the sensation is like a really obnoxious pounding on your skin. If you're dealing with sharper lines, that can sometimes get a little more touchy, but doesn't feel any worse than a paper cut. In fact, it just about feels like paper cuts. The bigger the needle in the machine, the better! At least, I've found that the larger needles are more comfortable. Weird, though, I certainly would have expected the opposite. Anyone else out there with tattoos agree?
hannahwebbo: Hey there -- good to hear from you again! It's been a while. I really need to make some time to get on other people's blogs and make some comments. In any case, I think you're absolutely right about my son having the cutest face, but of course I'm biased....
I'm really happy with my tattoo, and now it's finally finished healing, so no more itchy dry skin! I just love that my tattoo was done by a guy who calls himself 'Poohki'. As for the Egyptian ankh, I'm definitely familiar with those. I used to own a pair of earrings shaped as such. In fact, my maiden (hyphenated) last name was Aten, which although my heritage is Heinz 57 and doesn't include any Egyptian, I have always associated with Aken Aten, a prevalent character in ancient Egyptian history. (AKA akhenaten or Amenhotep IV) Random blabber, I know! But you just made me think of that.
iBorg: Another stranger! Good to hear from you again as well. I like your comment about piercings, just because I used to have all kinds of funky piercings. Some are rather unmentionable, but some of the more creative stuff include sub-dermal eyebrow piercings that were horizontal, and some custom ear work on my left side. I'll post pics of that stuff just for you! Of course I had to grow up sometime, so most of my crazy stuff no longer exists, but I do still have the ear jewelry. Anyway, to answer your question about Felix's holiday attire, I'm afraid he'll hate me for this, but he's going to be wearing some nice houndstooth patterned trousers, a white button down collared shirt with dark grey pinstripes, a velvet sport jacket, and chuck taylors on his little feet. There's also a red clip on tie, but I don't know how far he'll really let me go with this. I suppose that if i don't want him to completely loathe the pictures of him from this Christmas, I ought to gel his hair straight back and hand him a cigar and a glass of warm brandy... bet he'd like to show his friends that when he's in high school.
Anywho, I had my 8th adjustment on Monday afternoon, and have all kinds of new stuff happening. First off, I've got new powerchains again, but this time it's different! Because of the extraction gaps where all four of my first bicuspids were taken out, my P/C's would only extend from canine to canine on both upper and lower arches. Now that the gaps are starting to make more progress (save for the one on the upper right) the P/C on the upper arch goes from left molar to right canine, and the P/C on the lower arch goes from molar to molar! I'm pretty stoked about that. Also, now I've upped the ante on the elastics as well, I had been wearing 'rams', and have no bumped up to 'impalas'. I think the rams are 1/4" in diameter, whereas the impalas are 5/16"... but don't quote me, because I haven't got the little baggies in front of me. So anyway, with the same configuration- four in the class I position as well as class II on both right and left, I'm feeling a little sore! I've got a purple P/C on top; black on bottom. No pictures of the teeth for you today, I'm afraid. I've decided that since I'm SO CLOSE to my six month mark (and because I've had the stomach flu for the last two days), I'll just take photos on Friday and post them at that time. I can't believe it's been six months already! The treatment time really is flying by. I certainly thought this process would be far more agonizing than it actually is! (mentally, not physically!)
So, for iBorg's entertainment (hehe) I'm only posting pictures of piercings today. You'll have to check back this weekend to see my latest! Hope you're all having a great week so far. Cheers!!
notice I can no longer wear earrings in the first piercing in my lobes; due to the fact that I'd stretched the holes to about 7/16" back in high school. I've been thinking of having them sutured and re-pierced......
just under where you see the diamond stud here, there is another piercing, it goes through the lower conch and exits through the back. That one hurt.
and a completely AWFUL photo of me, but this is the best one I have of my eyebrow piercings. You can see that the barbells are about an inch long, and they go just under the surface of the skin in a horizontal fashion.
Nothing more exciting. I'll get those photos up at the six month mark! Woo-Hoo for me!!!
Glad to see things are moving forward so well and here's hoping for a shorter treatment time for you! 
I'm also trying to be the epitome of a perfect patient hoping that it will shorten my projected treatment time. The ortho originally told me 20-24 months, but I sure am hoping that my teeth will cooperate quicker than that and it ends up being less!! 
↓↓ below for my story.
! Congrats 
