A “Trifecta” Weekend…and the Dentist

Body. Mind. Soul. When I am doing something to take care of each, I am hitting the trifecta. And, when I am hitting the trifecta, I am generally much more centered and easy to live with than when I am not. This past weekend was great. I hit the trifecta.

Body. My wonderful partner Barb and I tend to do a little more talking about exercising than actually exercising, but the stars aligned on Saturday morning and we both donned workout clothes and hit the basement. Generally, Barb jumps on the treadmill, and I climb on the elliptical. We decided to mix it up, and I put a Jillian Michaels DVD into the player. Have you heard of Jillian Michaels? The self-proclaimed “World’s Toughest Trainer”…she who kicks booty with Biggest Loser contestants and just wrapped up her first season of Losing It? Well, I am here to tell you that her 45-minute workout was brutal! Two days later, I can barely get out of my chair and am still discovering muscles I didn’t know I had. But, hey! I may try it again today. Taking care of the body.


Mind. I spend a lot of time in my mind. It can be a bit of a scary place. Thus, I try to cultivate it with healthy things when I can. If it were up to me, I would be a full-time student…of just about anything. Since this is a “pyrography” blog, and I’m writing about my trifecta weekend, I am happy to report that I spent some time learning about the craft. I read a good portion of Jim Widess’ book on gourd pyrography and found it quite fascinating. When it came to burning on wood, I pretty much figured out on my own that the wood needed to be sanded smooth with a transferred pattern to be ready to go. Not so with gourds. Prepping and burning this medium is a little more entailed. Thus, I read about how to prepare the gourds, options for transferring patterns, and how to add color. I’m not quite ready to start on this medium, but will continue to prepare the mind about the craft. Next up, Carrie Dear’s “Woodburning on Gourds” DVD!

Soul. There are so many ways to care for the soul! In addition to prayer and meditation, I find there are a few things that tend to feed my soul like nothing else. One of those things is a child’s laughter. Barb and I spent several hours on Saturday with two little ones who never fail to make everything else in the world go away and connect me to the moment. Our friends, Brian and Wendy (aka “Brendy”), have a 7-month old son named Nicky Noo-Noo and a 2-year old daughter named Maya Moo-Moo. (Okay, this may be Auntie Val and Barb’s version of their given names…) Poor Nicky was feeling a bit under the weather, but spent most of the evening laughing and giggling in spite of it. Maya and I spent an hour with the new “Itsy Bitsy Spider” game we downloaded onto my iPad. The miracle of watching a caterpillar transition from a cocoon into a butterfly had us entertained for some time. And, the laughter and giggles and snuggles warmed my soul.

Another thing that is good for my soul is burning. That’s what I spent a few hours on Saturday and most of Sunday doing. I almost finished my sister’s wedding vows plaque, which I’ll be blogging about later. Which brings me to the dentist. There IS a connection here…so, please bear with me…

I hate going to the dentist. I mean, I really hate it! Alas, I broke a tooth last week and my insurance runs out in a few days, so I broke down and saw a new dentist on Tuesday. My problem with going to the dentist is that I have really weak teeth. Thus, they break easily and require lots of work, no matter how much I brush, floss and gargle. Each time I go, I know I am in store for some painful procedures. This trip was no exception. After a complete check-up several days ago, I have an appointment this afternoon for an extraction, bridge and two crowns. (All in one fell swoop. Did I mention that my insurance runs out in a few days???) While I was going over the treatment plan and costs with the office manager, my dentist popped into the office with a box of Kleenex for him…at which time he explained that the first thing Dr. Yu asked for when she started at the office was a box of tissues. Apparently, she likes to have one on her desk at all times.

Aha! A light bulb went off in my head, and I had a vision of a dentist-themed, woodburned Kleenex box. I came home, scoured the Internet for some royalty-free clip-art, and came up with a design. I pushed myself to finish this yesterday, and I plan on giving it to Dr. Yu before she begins extracting and drilling later to today. Kind, generous and altruistic? Not a chance! As soon as I hand it to her, I will be hinting that an extra shot or two of Novocain would be welcome! In all seriousness, instead of dreading the appointment, I now have something about it to look forward to.

On the front of the box, I burned a dentistry symbol with my dentist’s name. I’m a little curious as to what, exactly, the snake is wrapped around.

On the back side, I burned a cross-section of a tooth…just in case Dr. Yu needs to point out what she’ll be doing to what part of a tooth as a patient reaches for a tissue…

On one of the sides, I painted a silhouette of a patient in a dental chair. On the original clipart image, the dentist was male. In deference to Dr. Yu’s femininity, I took some artistic license.

On the other side, I burned a reminder of what many of us make the dreaded trip to the dentist for: a winning smile. This was fun, as I had to apply a technique I am not very good at: stippling. Also called pointillism, it’s the method of shading using dots…or points. I think this turned out okay, but think I need to work on my stippling skills more in the future.

This was a fun little pyrography project, and has the added soul-booster of allowing me to give someone who’s not expecting it a little surprise gift!

Have a trifecta kind of day!