adventurous day off

Our internet was connected, but not actually working, so I took a little walk to Panera. They have all their fall seasonal treats going on right now and I treated myself to a pumpkin spice latte (the girl that made it asked me if i wanted whipped cream on it! blasphemy! haha). I sit down, submit all my grades, but that's not all. No, no--I was treated to a very "The Hills"/"Laguna Beach"/whatever other reality show involving uptight parents and rich kids you can think of episode next to my table. A mother and daughter sit down, daughter cries, there's a lot of "shshshhhh Mom, mom, mom, listen!" and the mother saying several things through tight lips. Wow. Take it somewhere else, really. This kind of conversation is not appropriate for Panera. I seriously almost looked around for the cameras, it was so ridiculously over-dramatic and inappropriate for a public place. Who goes somewhere to have a fight with your mother/daughter? There wasn't even any talking pre-bickering, they pretty much dived right into this whole... whatever they were doing.
But they finally left and I ended up chatting with a guy sitting at the next booth. I mean, we talked about a lot of different topics ranging from politics to education to kid's TV to feminism to Norfolk to the MPAA and other "gatekeepers" to...who knows, I can't even remember. Either way, he ended up giving me him & his wife's e-mail address (not in a creepy way) and told me he was interested in having me look at some of his writing. He also was interested to talk to David and had some blogs to recommend.
Aaaanyway, I got my grades in, walked home, heard a "Hey Pretty! Need a ride?" as I crossed the street into our complex and seriously resisted the urge to flip the jackass off. I planned, printed and dropped off the rent and dance tuition checks. David came home, we talked about his day and then we headed to.... the dentist.
One thing I really hate about going to the dentist is that I have had many different hygenists, none of which know me (there was a time where my hygenists knew me). I swear that their thought process goes something like this: Never seen this girl before = She's never been to the dentist before and knows nothing about her own teeth. The hygenist today and I got off on the wrong foot when the first thing she asked me after "How are you today?" was "Are you interesting in whitening your teeth?" Actually, it went something more like, "Are you interested in whitenin--" "No." "Oookay, I was just asking because we're having a special." "Nope, not interested." My teeth have never been white, since I can remember, and they probably never will be. And guess what? I'm okay with it. The hygenist then gives me the most painful cleaning I have ever had. I mean, I almost had a few tears spill out. She was stabbing and prodding my gums with those sharp little tools, complained about how I don't floss every second and that my teeth are so close together, and made parts of my gums bleed that have never bled before! It was simply amazing. And she even went, "Wow, your gums bleed a lot." What?! Of course! Look at my facial expression! My face must have been in a constant look of terror. My back was tense the whole time. Oh! Oh! And then! She used a toothpaste that was some sort of pink, fruity, sickly-sweet smelling crap. I usually just go for the mint. No cinnamon, no pina colada, no cherry--no. Mint and mint only. Uggggh. Honestly. I really dislike when hygenists act as if I've never been to a dentist before and assume I know nothing about my teeth or how to care for them. Yes, they're no longer straight and I have fillings and they're not white--that does not mean I don't know what's wrong with them, why they're like that, and what to do to take care of them. At the end of the appointment, when I thought I was finally done, she asked me how much sugary stuff I drink in a day. I was so irritated with the whole thing that I almost said, "Listen. My teeth aren't like this because of soda. I barely drink the stuff." Instead, I was polite and told her that I drink mostly water and rarely drink soda. If I do, it's a can-sized portion. I can't take much more than that, to be honest, it's way too sugary and sweet. Then she told me to be sure to floss every night and make sure to buy some mouthwash and toothpaste that had teeth whitening properties. Wow. Thanks.