I've been out of town for about a week, and am just getting back into my routine again. I went to pick up BigBuddy from college. It was good to be with three of my children at the same time, but every time we went out the door, I kept counting and reminding myself the fourth was already accounted for, but not by me. . . . Just those mothering instincts, I guess.
I'll share some photos from the trip soon, but right now I need to process what's happened since I got home.
Yesterday, I mistakenly thought it was trash day. I had put the trash out in the morning when I saw a neighbor's trash out also. I thought it was funny that Mike hadn't done that, but forgave him quickly, realizing we had a harrowing night on Monday.
I drove almost ten hours on Monday to pick up BigBuddy from college. Less than forty-five minutes after arriving home, I heard a scream and footsteps running up the stairs. As I went to see who it was, LittleBuddy was running towards me, holding his hands under his mouth, and when close enough, spit pieces of his teeth into my hand. Playing Wii quite excitedly with his brother back from college, he had pulled the steering wheel back towards him to make a flip (in Mario Kart) so fast and so hard, he broke off his two front teeth! The right one was a clean break, leaving a straight horizontal line revealing half the tooth was gone, but at least it was in one recognizable piece. The left tooth had the center corner knocked off, rounded, like it truly had been hit by a round steering wheel, and that section had broken into three small pieces, which I was now carrying. I immediately put them into a small plastic lunch bag while his dad was hugging our boy, and commiserating with him, as he, too, has chipped front teeth.
I had been in the middle of stirring the mashed potatoes, and I turned back to stir them twice more; my mind was just spinning. I was so tired and overwhelmed by the sight of his broken teeth it was hard to think, but then I realized I needed to call our local dentist. We only met him two weeks ago, for a consult for LittleBuddy's fang tooth, and I felt bad calling his emergency phone number on a Mon. night, but this seemed to be a real emergency. The dentist was very nice, and told us to meet him at his office in an hour, which we did.
He proceeded to bond back the big piece. We're praying it doesn't need a root canal, but it was broken right to the root. . . . waiting and seeing. For the other, he had to create a new tooth to replace the smaller pieces, and after over an hour, miraculously, he has front teeth again.
And, they look fantastic! Our dentist did such a great job! And, how nice of him to not make us wait until the next morning, but to take care of it immediately. LittleBuddy was so thrilled, he actually gave the dentist a hug, which resulted in the biggest smile I've seen so far on the dentist's face. The next morning, in his usual humor, LittleBuddy quipped, "Maybe this year I really will ask Santa for my two front teeth." :-)
Obviously, when we got home around 9:30 that night, I was exhausted, and we all slept in and missed seminary, but sometimes, that's just the way it goes. Anyhow, back to the trash. . . .
I didn't realize it wasn't trash day until afternoon (Oh yeah, its only Tuesday - duh - still pretty tired), and just kept it out for Wednesday. This morning I needed to drop some of BigBuddy's things off at Goodwill, after he went through the decluttering process, and upon arriving home, our two trash cans were placed nice and neatly up at the top of the driveway against the third car garage, with their lids on. Seriously! Can you believe it?
This happens Every week. Not left down at the curb. Not with the lids inside the cans or lying next to them. No chance my trash cans will ever blow down the street. These trashmen are not just doing a job, they are doing me a service. One week I forgot they were coming, and didn't get the cans put out until they had already passed my house, but on the way back, they stopped, and did them then. I'm floored by this. In all my years, no trash company ever went to this much effort. When I mentioned this to my husband when we first moved here, that this is amazing service, his comment was, "That's what competition will do," and clearly he is right.
In our little town of 7,000+ people, there are three trash/disposal companies you can select from. I just used the one the previous tenant had used. I am assuming some of them serve the larger city south of us also, but the fact that the truck who comes to pick up our trash is not mandated by our county or community, but is a choice, gives them an incentive to work hard to keep their customers satisfied. All I can say is, Long live the free market and competition! I can honestly say I have never been so happy with my trash company in all my life. I am one very satisfied customer!
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