Happy Holidays!

So the holidays have come and nearly gone for good 'Ole Jaw Bone. I continue really having a pretty pain free recovery. I get, every once in awhile, just general soreness but nothing unbearable. On a scale of 1-10, pain wise inside my mouth, I would give it about a 3/4 when it is at it's worse.

However, that doesn't mean everything is easy still! Sleeping has turned into a bit of an...adventure. I usually wake up about once a night thinking that my wires have come unattached and usually have a mini heart attack. If these things break now, God knows how long I will have to have them on for. I would guess 2018, most likely. But I generally tend to wake up because every so often I will have a jaw spasm, or as I call them, jasms. My jaw will quake a little bit and it will freak me me out and send me into the bathroom to investigate and make sure everything is still there. Not that I would even know if everything was still there, because I have only seen about 3 teeth in my mouth.

Another interesting subject is that of yawning. Generally, when one yawns, one feels tired. However, when I yawn, I feel nothing but pure fear and terror in the depths of my soul. I am wired shut basically via my braces. When I yawn, I really can't move my jaws apart at all, but I do end up putting pressure on them. Now, I for some odd reason always think that I am wired shut from the medical incisions and that if I yawn too much, my titanium plates will rip up right out of my face and I will be in agony for who knows how long. But that's not the case. I just like to give myself mini-heart attacks I guess.

I'm going to be adopting a new policy, however, that whenever I yawn I immediately go and lay down, no matter where I am. So if you ever see me laying down on the ground in odd locations, just know I must've yawned. "What is Tug doing laying down in the back of the classroom right now!?" "Oh don't worry about him, he must've yawned. It's cool."

Christmas Eve came and we continued our family tradition of eating Chinese food on Christmas Eve. Say what you may, but I much prefer the food from Christmas time than Thanksgiving time. I prefer Ham to Turkey...there, I said it. It was tough not being able to fully participate in the Christmas Eve Chinese Festival of Foods....but I managed. I even learned that I love Egg Drop Soup! That was my inclusion to the festivities - I drank some Egg Drop Soup.

Christmas morning came and I was ready to venture out into public for the first time - Church. That may seem like a simple, innocent enough place to begin my foray back into the public eye but let me tell you - you could not be further from the truth. I knew it was going to be dangerous as I was going to have to deal with the elderly population.

Don't get me wrong, I love the elderly and especially the members of my church. However, my best defense was taken away from me - the fake laugh, nod, and smile. I knew going in that it was going to have to be a praise-and-dash situation. Everything was going well, my mom mentioned me, I did my little wave thing, a few corny jokes were said and we carried on. Afterwords, my plan was to jet out of there ASAP. I'm not sure the pastor had even finished speaking his last words when one lady bee-lined right for me. I had not time to react. She talked at me for a couple seconds, I politely nodded...and then the inevitable happened. It almost happened in slow-mo...I saw her hands slowly raise up as if she were going to pinch my cheeks. I panicked. I didn't know what to do. My eyes widened, my heart sped up and mercifully, she placed her hands on my shoulders. Crisis averted. However, I was still pinned into the pew, and knew others were going to be searching for me. "LETS GO MOM" I wanted to yell, but turned to my left and decided hopping over the pew divider was the better option. From there, I jetted out a side door and averted any other possibly painful crisis.

The rest of the day went well. Classic Christmas type stuff. And I had your classic Christmas Meal...leftover Egg Drop Soup. Delicious. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and continues enjoying this time of the year.

Until then, stay classy.