Christmas Parades, Dentist's Office, and Bjorlin Christmas

Well, Christmas in Duluth has been just what the doctor ordered. It reminds me of this song that is a Duluth staple around the holidays:

Apparently, one of the local TV stations commissioned Merv Griffin to write and sing that song especially for the Christmas City of the North Parade, which is the parade held in downtown Duluth every year on the Friday before Thanksgiving. If you listen to the last 20 seconds of the song, you will hear the specific Duluth shout out. Oh, the memories from that parade! Hermantown's band would march in it every year, and I remember wondering why Duluth thought it was a good idea to hold an outdoor anything at that time of the year. Half the brass instruments would freeze up on their respective player's spit, your hands would become almost unresponsive to any brain signals, and the below freezing weather did very little for a band's intonation, believe it or not. But it was all worth it when you saw those beautiful cheerleaders in their snowmobile suits. I wonder if there was any frostbite reported post-Christmas city?

Speaking of medical attention, I made it through my dentist appointment! I walked in at 7:50 with a healthy dose of fear and trembling and was escorted into the dental chair by a hygienist that is a friend of the family's. This was good because I could shower her with excuses and caveats before she began, and she couldn't guilt trip me quite as bad knowing I could go cry to my family. Then the cleaning process began. About ten minutes in, I'm sure it looked like a reenactment of a Civil War surgery as she stopped periodically to sharpen her torture tools with the sching sching of metal against metal. At about 20 minutes I started getting lightheaded from the loss of blood as I practiced centering prayer and other forms of meditation. At 30 minutes I was debating whether to ask for a blood transfusion or local anesthesia when she said, "Well, let's just polish these things up!" Then out came the floss and the obligatory question, "So, how much do you floss?" Always believing honesty to be the best policy, I answer, "Not much." Which is true, as far as it goes. I'm not going to define what "not much" means or rub it in her face how little I've been flossing. Here's how I would graph out my flossing:

I do try really hard after to be better, but it never seems to stick. I am going to give it another college try after this cleaning. However, I don't have any cavities. The exact conversation at the end of my check-up:

Dentist: Well, I can't see anything wrong with you.

Dave: Really?

Dentist: Yep, it looks good.

Dave: It's a Christmas miracle!

Dentist: Miracle at the dentist's office...I like that!

Dave (running out so they can't change their mind): Okay, see you lat... (door slams shut and tires screech as I fly out of the parking lot).

I probably should have consumed some juice and cookies to get the blood sugar up before driving, but I'm a risk-taker.

Bjorlin Christmas (Dec. 28th) went well up at Anna and Peter's. We played some games, ate some food, and ended the night opening presents. I was ecstatic with this Duluth Pack bag:

Also, I got two pictures framed, which both look absolutely incredible. Add a couple pairs of smart wool socks and a Dylan CD and it was about as much as this boy could ask for.

Now, I'm headed down to the Brewhouse because I haven't eaten in about an hour and a half. Get ready for some food/exercise-related New Year's Resolutions on my next post after this vacation gluttony!