I actually had them removed ages ago, but I didn’t think to write a blogpost about it despite the amusing events that occurred that day.
It finally began to snow recently and the cold weather has made me lethargic and lazy….. That said, after another bout of laying in bed and looking at nothing in particular I had a sudden revelation about the whole reason why I started up this blog; I want to look back and recount the memories that have begun to fade in my head! I tried to recall the things I’ve done in the previous years and I was disappointed to draw a blank, save for a few incidents that would be impossible to forget.

….Yeah I’m struggling to piece this together, but I don’t want to scrap the concept entirely so I will just. Write what happened in bullet point and hopefully flesh it out another date. (BIG DOUBT, I gave up on continuing the room tour post ages ago!!)
For now I just want the thoughts out there. Plain and simple.
Here’s how my day went:

• Was unable to sleep the night before; got some shut-eye for a good hour or two before we had to go. My appointment was scheduled first thing in the morning at 7AM, however the drive to the city was about an hour drive away, not accounting for traffic.
• I had two appointments that day, one was for the braces removal, the second was for the retainer fitting. There was a 5-6 hour gap between the appointments.
• We were running a little late and my dad started to speed up past the speed limit. Funnily enough, the traffic light intersection that was MIA for a good 4 years now were finally set back up and working….. right when we were on a hurry and had to rush.
• It was pitch black when we left and by the time we arrived to the city the sky had just began to brighten to a dull grey.
• We arrived with 10 minutes to spare! It began to snow a little and I was quite under-dressed; only wearing a sweater and sandals with no socks on.
• Clinic opened and I was able to take a seat in the waiting room. It was ages since I’ve last sat in this building, my name was finally written on the “Goodbye Braces” whiteboard!
• Got my braces removed, it hurt a little getting them off but the worst part was having the glue?? cement???? sanded off. It didn’t hurt, it was just very uncomfortable and loud. Didn’t help that I had my hearing aids on which amplified the noise.
• Had to sign a wager to accept accountability for not following through with jaw surgery; my overbite couldn’t be fixed through braces alone. I chose not to do it mostly because my mom said not to. I’m also afraid about the cost, the recovery, and the potential of it going wrong. I already [redacted] as it is.
• Got my teeth scanned with this fancy machine; it replaced the god awful silicone impressions that they would cram in your mouth for a minute straight. Three cheers to modern technology.
• Got a candy cup after the removal. It was filled with sugary gummy candies, they were really good.
• Dad and I decided to get some lunch while we waited for the next appointment. We drove around aimlessly, taking the scenic route straight through downtown and chatted while we went through familiar sights. We crossed to the other side of the city, almost reaching the perimeter, still undecided on where to eat. We passed by a Chinese restaurant that we ate at ages ago because I wanted to try out the soup dumplings. The restaurant was closed so we decided to just eat at the mall and browse the options there, we were using my brother’s car after all and we were using up gas driving around.
• Quickly refilled on gas before we parked at the mall. We tried using my dad’s co-op number but some random guy appeared instead. The cashier didn’t look sure about it either and I just said “Yeah thats the number.” I think the guy’s name had “Smart” somewhere in it. Smart guy got 30$ worth of points in his account, lucky him.
• Went to the mall and decided to stop by the Japanese dollar store. I was looking to buy a complimentary item for my sister’s christmas gift but it seemed like they were in the process of moving products and a lot of their food items were missing. I was only looking to buy charumera ramen or its closest equivalent so we left the store empty handed.
• Me and my dad walked past the pretzel store and he asked if they sold pretzels. I exclaimed something along the lines of “Of course the pretzel store with the giant pretzel in its logo sells pretzels! No actually, they sell hotdogs.” and a woman working at the Lush product display next door over laughed out loud as we walked past.
• There was a long line at customer service and we were curious as to what was going on. I asked a lady at the end of the line what the line was for and she said the mall was giving away free gift cards to buyers who bought ~$100+ worth of products. It was black friday so I guess they were doing a promotion.
• I ordered salmon rolls and tempura, my dad bought beef stir fry and noodles after getting suckered into ordering food from a stall that was giving out free samples. the free samples were chicken and he didn’t order it. weird!
• The Japanese gift store was open and we decided to drive there to get my sister’s christmas gift.
• They didnt have charumera brand ramen but I was able to buy some fancy instant ramen and strawberry melty kiss which is my sister’s favourite sweet.
• We still had some extra time to spare so we decided to get bubble tea, unfortunately the usual spot that we go to was closed and we didn’t want to wait an hour for it to open.
• We opted for a fancy boba shop in the heart of the city. It was difficult to find parking since the shop was positioned on a one-way street with no parking so we either had to park in a nearby parkade attached to the nearby library, or finding a spot on the side of the road a couple blocks away. We decided to park a couple of blocks away.
• It was really chilly and windy, I had to jog in order to warm up. Accidentally crossed the wrong street and walked straight into construction so I had to walk back and go the other way.
• Got my bubble tea, I couldn’t order my usual which is a “plain matcha slush with cream foam” since the only matcha slush they had came with coconut and they said they couldn’t alter the recipe. I decided to try out their seasonal special which was a “Matcha milk tea and strawberry foam with strawberry boba” the bubbles are all made in house so they were soft and chewy!
• Looked around the cafe while I waited for my drink to be made. There was a large post of sticky notes hung up by customers. I didn’t see any chiikawas but I did see some lovely drawings of miscellaneous anime characters.
• In the back of the store was a fortune-telling section: a bucket of sticks you would shake, pull one from, and then open a compartment on the wall according to the number written on it. My number was 88 and I had a fortune along the lines of “Let go of your past.” I already placed the fortune in my coin bank where I place all my fortune slips so I’m not sure for certain what it exactly said.
• As I was walking out of the store, a bundled up woman holding a timhortons cup walked past me. It was a funny contrast to my under-dressed attire and iced boba drink.
• Drove back to the clinic— we saw a trash can lit on fire and burning on the way there. The perpetrator escaped the scene.
• We arrived and still had some time to spare so we just chatted and shared the boba tea drink.
• An old man parked beside us accidentally hit the passenger door and he noticed there was people in the car and I looked at him like:
• The passenger he was with noticed and started laughing when she saw my shook expression and so I started to laugh, trying my best not to make it obvious that I saw everything.
• Went back inside and finally got to try on my new retainers. The bottom retainer was poking into my cheek so the orthodontist had to shave it down multiple times until the pressure went away. Bless her patience for ensuring the retainer was comfortable.
• Appointment finished up and we finally got to go home. We decided to drive through the perimeter this time. I got to keep the 3d impression of my teeth that the lab used to mold my retainer!

I’m still getting used to the sensation of no braces— I’ve been with those suckers for a good 5 years now and they stuck with me all throughout highschool! And I’ll also have to get used to the appearance of my new teeth which has…. sustained a lot of damage from periods of neglect to put it lightly. At least its gone now and thats one obligation from the past I can leave behind.

Lori ✦

Currently Listening to:
GLACIER – Toby Fox

Feeling:
Sleepy as always