Do you remember this picture? The great bone mystery was resolved today!

I got a call this morning that my dentist had a cancellation for 9am – could I make it? Yes! I was overdue. So off Ben and I went. I hadn’t eaten anything yet but had exercised – figured that was perfect, nothing in my teeth. Ben was so good at the appointment, reading a book, talking to Grownup Eagle, checking out the window with Eagle for “mice” (pine cones), and chatting up the hygienist. Well – it all got very funny when she was asking him questions while I was unable to refute anything! She said “So Ben do you go to preschool?” He leaned back and bellowed out in a gruff voice “NOOO-HO-HO!” with a big smile on. “I go to preschool in my HOME!” I giggled with mouth propped open. Then she said “Soooo…does your mama work with you then?” “Yes!” I was hoping she wouldn’t ask any other questions which I might need to correct as his clarity is not so good – related to breakfast 90 min prior, he only got part of it correct – waffles with jam. But forgot the white creamy stuff – yogurt! I was hoping he wouldn’t just pop out with strange stories which might get misconstrued, like doing pushups right in front of the Pavilion in town in lieu of timeout  or something.  Anyway, from there we went to Bay Hay for more bedding for the chickens, coffee (should have been a half-caff but I have my doubts now) and a carrot muffin. All fired up on caffeine and very little food (remember that bit about not eating before the dentist?) we decided it was high time to figure out what this bone was. So we gassed up the truck and began our query with the Wildlife Shelter. Turns out it is NOT a CLAW! The biologist there very kindly redirected me to the right taxonomy – the class of Mammalia. Hmmm…mystery thickens. So off to the vet – who is very nice. I disrupted their staff meeting because they were all curious, helping Google various jaw bones. We finally settled on a young seal. So interesting! Which brings me back to my own jaws. The xray revealed some interesting stuff on the roots of my teeth which are likely benign tumors. (I always review my own x-rays – one just never knows, and I have learned by experience that you are not necessarily told things unless you ask – these tumors have likely been there for years but it would have been good if I had resident knowledge of that vs tracking down x rays from three moves ago!) Anyway – I sent this jaw to my dentist for laughs. The poor guy is probably wondering…and as my mom just said on the phone she can just picture my red hairs all standing straight up with caffeine all the way out to the tips (redheads are very sensitive to drugs – we metabolize them differently so that often they are more bioavailable than the norm). I hope I settle down by the time Dave gets home…off to chicken chores and figuring out how to cook trout!