Surviving Wayne: December 2006

Merry Christmas!!

Paula and I wish you a joyous Holiday Season! The sights, smells, and sounds of this time of year make it our favorite. It is a time of family and friends. It is a time of togetherness and love. As a celebration of the Incarnation of the Word of God, enjoy the season and embrace it as Christ embraced us.

We love you all so very dearly!

Please click this link to find a greeting from us to you!

Merry Christmas!!

(p.s. click all the deer)

Wayne @ 11:55 AM v Comments (0) v

I'll Raise You Three

My last post was about my needing a new wisdom tooth for Christmas. Well, today the number rose to 4. After I got home from work on Tuesday, the pain was unbearable. So much so, I was crying, wailing actually.

Paula called the emergeny line for my dentist. He called me in two prescriptions and said I needed to get into a surgeon today to have the tooth removed. He told Paula that we need to let them know that this is an emergency case.

So that is what I did and I went in at 9:45 this morning. Paula went with me. The surgeon did a complete panoramic xray of my mouth. He recommened I remove all four wisdonm teeth. So I did.

So now, here I am in another kind of pain with gauze in my mouth. I know it was the right thing to do, but right at this moment, I am miserable.

I survived.

Wayne @ 10:29 PM v Comments (2) v

All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth!
(Actually I only need one... a top right wisdom tooth)

The weekend started out phenomenal! Tilden and Stephanie had a Christmas gathering at their house. It was nice. We had a great time. It was great to spend time with friends. Of course, the Engle-Costas pad is very comfortable and warm and a great place to be. I tried reindeer poop for the first time. It is delicious!

We stayed until a little after midnight. As soon as we got home, we went straight to bed. I was in bed for like 20 minutes and then suddenly my tooth started hurting. It was my top right wisdom tooth.

Let me set this up by saying that the tooth is broken. It broke a little over a year and a half ago. It broke some more about early spring this year. There was never any pain until now. I haven't been to the dentist is like 3 years. Actually is was the January before we moved to Charlotte.

There is a reason why I haven't been to the dentist.... it is because I am deathly afraid of them. I had a bad experience in Florence with our dentist. This same tooth that was broken was the issue. I had a cavity on another wisdom tooth. The regular numbing stuff would not work so the dentist had to use a much more powerful anesthetic.

Well about 6 months later, I went back and it was discovered that I had another cavity on the top right wisdom tooth. I reminded the dentist that he had to give me a stronger anesthetic and he should do that this time. He decided against it and and gave me the regular stuff. He started drilling and I stopped him. He gave me more of the regular stuff then started drilling again. Again, I could feel it and had to stop him. He has given me the most he could have given me so we had to reschedule. I came back about a week later and he still would not give me the strong stuff. We went through the same thing again. He again got to the point that he had given me the most he could give me and we still were not able to fix the cavity.

I left never to go into that dentist office again. I have not been to the dentist since. I have always been nervous about going to the dentist, but this has made it tons worse.

Fast forward to now. The cavity has taken its toll on the tooth and broken it in half above the gum. The pain Friday night/Saturday morning was terrible. I took some Motrin and it eased it up after about 45 minutes. It was fine all day Saturday.

Sunday night, after I had been in bed for 30 minutes, the pain came back. I went to the bathroom and took some hydrocodone. The pain kept intensifying. I woke Paula up. This was the worst pain I had ever felt. It seemed that I lost my grip on rationale and kinda went mad with pain. I paced the entire house, running up and down the stairs. Crying and rubbing my head, I walked throughout the place like a mad man. Paula said she we freaked out. I even began banging my head against my dresser and the door facing in the guest bedroom. I finally took some Motrin also.

Paula and I went to the store to get some Orajel. By the time we got home, I was feeling pretty good. Keep in mind, I had a hydrocodone and three 200mg Motrin. I put on the orajel and went to bed. It was kinda achy all Sunday.

I went to the dentist today. As soon as the dentist saw the tooth, he recommended that I have it pulled. I have now been referred to an oral surgeon.

I am very scared!!! You are probably thinking, "Wayne, you might as well put on a dress because you are a sissy!" I may be a man, but I am a man petrified of pain.

Anyway... I will survive... maybe... :/

Wayne @ 8:48 PM v Comments (2) v

Christmas Pictures

I have married someone with whom I am unequally yoked. Paula is a UNC fan and I am a UK fan. Paula's parents had gotten her a UNC stocking a few years back. This year, I told Paula that if she was going to put that up yet again this year, I would have to get a UK stocking to put up.

You see, we had made this agreement when we got married that we would keep our home "team neutral." Paula has tried to sneak things in by the help of her dad.

Here is our mantle with the stockings hanging there

Here is Phileo in his Elf Costume

Here he is with his "Santa's Little Helper" t-shirt.

Who would have thought that Paula and I would dress our dog. Phileo is like our child and we like to dote on him.

Wayne @ 8:36 PM v Comments (2) v

Hip Hop Mass

Those who know me pretty much know that there is nothing "Hip-Hop" about me. In fact, before Friday night, I didn't give much credibility to Hip-Hop as a legitimate genre of music.

My boss's twin sister is an Episcopal minister. She had this outreach event at her church Friday night called "Hip-Hop Mass." They have these events quarterly I think. The group that performs comes from The Bronx in New York City. They are led by a Episcopal priest, who is in his 50's and white.

Three of their musicians could not make it. They lacked a keyboard player, guitar player, and a drummer. Kerry, my boss, emailed me to see if I knew anyone who would be willing to volunteer. I called and emailed a few people, but couldn't find anyone, especially that could perform anything Hip-Hop. I mean, come on, all my friends are band geeks.

I talked to Kelly, Kerry's sister, and told her that I would be willing to play, but she must understand that uhh... well... I am white and haven't a Hip-Hop bone in my body. She was like, "We will take what we can get."

So there I was, in an Episcopal church with Christian rappers from New York, being the only live musical accompanist. I played this little thing from Kenya West's Jesus Walking or something like that. I played this rhythmic loop in the bass. One of the rappers showed me this right before we started. This was for the opening. He told me I could just make something up with my right hand that would fit it. "No, I am fine just doing this" I said.

I played throughout the service when people were talking as ambiance music. I also played during an actual vocal number. One of the rappers did a soulful arrangement of "Power In The Blood" and I just followed him.

Different rappers kept asking me if I could do this or that. Something about doing beats or something. "I am not sure if you have noticed, but... I AM WHITE!" They laughed at me quite a bit. They really seemed to appreciate my help and the fact that I was willing to help even though I was not anywhere near my comfort zone.

The priest would say things like "My peeps" and "Jesus' homies" when referring to the disciples. He also had the congregation say "Word" when he said "Amen." Priest Master G did this throughout the service.

The rappers were actually very good. They were all really nice and you could tell they were all doing this in hopes someone would find Jesus. We bought some CD's.

I have to say, since being in the midst of this, that I now give Hip-Hop its props. It is indeed a legitimate genre of music. I still don't have any Hip-Hop in me.

I survived... WORD!

Wayne @ 12:24 PM v Comments (3) v