will be driving my Honda down to LA tonight (poor car...) and will be spending Christmas in San Diego... doubt will be able to blog till i come back from this roadtrip; so Merry Christmas to all my dear friends =) i'll return on the 26th.

Thanks to Netflix, i managed to watch Promises from the comforts of my bed; without even going to the video store to rent the dvd... i know Netflix has been around for some time, but i've never really bothered signing up....no time to watch videos during semester! but last week i was both free and boliao after finals and so decided to sign up for the 2-week trial subscription and be cheapo and watch say 3 or 4 shows i've always wanted to watch, for free... =P
the children in the documentary left a really deep impression; though they are only 11-13, they seem to be pretty mature for their age... and hold pretty individualistic views on the Israel-Palestinian conflict... but it's rather saddening too how because of this conflict many also hold grudges against children from 'the other side'. whom they might not have even met before...

i think i look like a hippo today. sumei says i look 'cute'; like those actors/actresses who intentionally put on weight for their roles.. sigh. how flattering =P but whatever lah; decided i had to run errands and couldn't hide in house forever so i went out. =P

so even though i can't really eat solid foods; diet hasn't really been compromised. if anything, i'm afraid i might have packed on more calories.... i made a blueberry smoothie for dinner yest; finished more than half a pint of Haagen Dazs this afternoon... ate two Yoplait yogurt whips within these two days- choc mousse and lemon meringue; and nibbled on two blueberry muffins i made this afternoon... in between i did have porridge twice but i think i ate far more unhealthy stuff! bad Shi Min. i had better be careful those swollen cheeks dun become permanent ones by the time real swelling has subsided.

AARGH. i look like a total goldfish/hamster that likes to tuck food in its cheek pockets now!!!! totally disfigured and mei2 lian3 jian4 ren2 now... sob. =( and cheeks are so swelled up i can hardly move my mouth. good news is though that bleeding is starting to stop...

i'm actually not as goldfish-faced as i expected myself to be (so i'm relieved) but there's still some swelling (which hopefully wun get worse over next few days...). So the whole surgery was actually surprisingly short; in slightly less than an hour all my 4 wisdom teeth were taken out. it's actually not as painful as i thought it might be lah, but it was still a pretty nasty experience. i HATED the grinding sounds... and unfortunately, as "she has a tiny mouth" the oral surgeon had some problems reaching in.... dun think my mouth is that small but perhaps it's not too 'stretchable' and i can't open it very wide... =P other than that i think it went fine.
am just feeling =( cos wounds refuse to stop bleeding and jaw feels really kinda sore and weak from biting on gauze all day. and of course, got mini 'scolding' from mum upon hearing that i took all 4 out... and should have known better than to have told her that wounds have been bleeding ever since the extraction... oh well. in the end i decided on the spot that i'd rather listen to the doctor (and NEVER have to go through this again) than to listen to mum... =P i hope it wun turn out to be a bad decision....

i'm scared.... IT will take place in about 2 hours. i think the reason i'm getting so nervous is cos i keep thinking about how the surgeon will go about extracting it. cos the tooth is under the gum and i keep wondering how they will cut up the gum to yank the cosily-lodged tooth out.... and it conjures up some random horrifying images in my mind.... pain shouldn't be that bad; i just can't take the "goriness"... Dentists ought to have TVs in the surgery room; or other wildly distracting things to distract patients with vivid imaginations from inducing undue fear in themselves......