Xbox madness and brace face

I recently got a game for my Xbox, Return to Castle Wolfenstein. It is a LIVE enabled game, meaning it can be played over the interent. Last night, I played with my buddy up north as well as up to 6 other people. I played for 2 and a half hours. It was a blast. We pretty much suck but it was a good time regardless. I got blown up, sniped, lit on fire and peirced with hundreds of bullets and enjoyed every minute of it. 🙂

I have no definitive plans for the 3 day weekend. I have to do the basic house maintenance routine. I’d like to get some plane flying time in and geek out on the xbox.

Yesterday Ali and I went to an orthodontist for a consultation. I have been conscious of my crooked teeth my entire life. It has shaped my personality to a degree and affects the way I act around people. As a kid, I remember sitting in bed and pushing on my teeth, trying to move them. I was scared of getting braces as a kid because the doctor I saw prescribed a radical “treatment” plan that included pulling 6 teeth, headgear and 3 years of braces. So I didn’t get them as a youth. A couple times as an adult, I have investigated getting them fixed but didn’t because of costs and/or inconvenience. Well this orthodontist said that Ali and I were both good candidates to use Invisalign braces, the clear plastic “braces” that you put on like a mouth piece. No teeth pulled and an estimated treatment duration of 18 months. WOW, sounds great! The doc said someone would be in to go over the costs and mentioned they could give us a “deal” since we both want to get it done. The lady comes in and gives us the sales pitch, it almost felt like we were buying a car. Ironically, when she finally got around to the costs involved, we could buy a car for what they charge for this treatment. I tried to mask my surprise from the cost. We told her we had to try to come up with a gameplan on how we would do this financially. We want to get it done and we can finacially do it. I just have to decide how I want to handle it. As expensive as it is, it is really worth it to me to not be embarrassed by my teeth. Ali’s mouth problems aren’t as visible as mine are but she really wants to get it done as well. Ideally, if we split it up and did one first and then one later it would be much easier to swallow. Otherwise, we are going to have to sacrifice some other things we may want to do in the next 18 months. Ali says she is fine with doing that, but I know how that goes. It will be something to think about this weekend.