Month 3 (which would be week 13): Back to Work...

(August 31st, 2016)

Working is less fun than not working.

Don't get me wrong - I like my job! But, man, working is way more tiring and way less fun than NOT working. Haha. And it totally puffed my cheeks and jowls back up. I don't think anyone else can tell (including my husband) but I know it to be true. I feel like I went back to week 7. And then just stayed there for 4 weeks. It's fine, though, it's fine...

Most days, my job involves a LOT of talking and walking and being semi-animated for 5 hours straight. I see those blogs of 19-year-olds who go back to school AND work at 3 weeks and it's CRAZY to me! I didn't even feel like myself until 4 weeks - just being able to stay out all day and not feel exhausted was an achievement. You young people and your super-healing abilities. Damn.

Okay, I don't have much to write, but here are a few pictures and videos of my progress. I've been taking pictures and making videos, but I've been too lazy to post them. I'm sorry. :(

1st day of work =
1st time icing in weeks.

And being too tired to chew all day.

Fun at the Long Beach Aquarium.

A kissy face picture, requested by a mom friend.

Okay, so let's discuss that last picture. We spent the day with some of my friends (+ kids, cuz they basically all have kids now) and somehow left without kissing one of the little twin sisters goodbye. Being a 3-year-old, she wasn't really having that. Therefore, we were asked to send a picture of us making a kissy face. Crisis averted.

But I also included that picture because it shows that I can't really suck in my cheeks anymore. I mean, I'm sure I'll be able to in a few more months (3? 6?) but for now my cheeks are still too swollen. That's partly how I know that they're swollen, by the way. I guess I should be happy that my face wrinkles are a little bit puffed out, huh? Meh, whatever. I'm not too concerned either way I guess. I either look puffy and un-me or wrinkly and like-the-new-me (which I wouldn't even be able to identify, yet, since I've never seen it before).

When people ask, "are you happy with the results?" My response is still, "um, yeah - I think so. My teeth fit together, so hopefully they won't fall out anymore. And my face is fine. I don't know."

~Regarding Jaw Surgery and Beauty~
When I look at before and after pictures of other people online, I almost always think that the after picture is better. Like, objectively better. And, yes, I know that looks and beauty are subjective. But, for real, when a face is more aligned it almost always looks more aesthetically pleasing. There was only one instance of the before picture looking better to me, but that was of a woman who had an "open bite" - the open bite made her face longer and, once it was fixed, her face looked like it got a little smooshed vertically. Therefore, she had this old-lady kind of mouth situation where she looked like she was missing teeth. In reality, she just had small teeth. It made me sad cuz she was in her late twenties and went from looking "cute" to looking like a mom. (Sorry, moms - as a group, you don't look old. I promise.)

In every other comparison, though, whether the person used to have an under bite or an over bite, that person looked obviously better to me after the surgery. So it was always weird that people would write about how they couldn't tell if they liked their new face. I'd be thinking, "That's ridiculous. You look better. You're just writing this so you don't seem vain or don't seem like you just did it for your looks. Come on, you can be honest. Admit that you look obviously better." And, the thing is, these people would readily admit that other people TOLD THEM they look better and/or look "so different."

Okay, so that's the difference - most people really can't tell that I had surgery. Some can, but some supposedly really cannot. A close coworker friend of mine (who I see and talk to on a daily basis) claims that she really can't tell the difference. Former students, who had the misfortune of having to stare at me for an hour each day, would come back to visit and only notice my new braces. (And everyone knows how honest kids can be.) Very few people see me and go, "Oh my gosh, you look so different!" There's been, like... 2.

So do I think I look "better?" Um... I don't look worse. And I was perfectly happy before. But I'm also happy now. And I'm smart enough to not hate my new face because that's just stupid. (You have to self-brainwash, sometimes, people. You can't change what you can't change. Unless you wanna live your life constantly being unhappy.) I will say that my profile is very nice now. But, if you read the beginning of my blog, you know that I very rarely thought about my profile before this whole adventure started.
~End of Random Thought~

Back to the aquarium - did you know that annual pass holders can scuba dive at the aquarium?!?!?! You get to dive in a tank that houses all of their CRAZY sea animals! Like fish and crab and sharks!!! And, because it's a fake environment, it's all perfectly clear water. Freaking amazing!!! Since we're not certified, it's going to cost us the price of certification ($250, but you hold the certification for life) and the actual "Dive Immersion" experience ($279). That's a sh*tload of money, yes, but where else would you be able to dive somewhere that is so safe, so full of sea life, and with such clear water? :D Plus the aquarium is awesome so I'm down to contribute some monies their way.

On a side note, I'm really not into zoos cuz I feel bad for the animals. But I love aquariums! Is that weird? Am I mammal-biased?

Oh, oh, there is some other news - I got new Rubber Bands!!!

Okay, technically they're the same rubber bands - they're just in a new position. The "V" now come forward onto my #3 teeth at the bottom. That makes them a little tighter and it makes me... look like a VAMPIRE! Muah ha ha... I think the red lipstick really helps.

Maybe I should be a vampire for Halloween... Hmmm...

Which reminds me... here's a picture of my Halloween makeup from two years ago. Not only is it just an awesome photo, but it also shows the state of my teeth from below. Not terrible, but you can tell that they're crooked. In high school, they use to be straight. Like, perfectly straight. Tooth on tooth contact + some crookedness = teeth that move every time you bite down.

Halloween 2014

See in the first/vampire picture how they're still not perfectly straight? These braces aren't coming off anytime soon...

At my last orthodontist visit:

Me: "Dr. (surgeon) asked me when my braces would be coming off. He thought they'd come off really soon. But I told him it's gonna be a while, still."

Ortho: "Oh, yeah, those surgeons don't know. Haha."

Me: "I told him I haven't even asked you how much longer it would be - it would probably just make me sad."

Ortho: (Little laugh.)

And that was it. No response from him. Hahaha.

So that's about it... here are some update pictures and videos.