Tooth abcess = sinus infection = anger?

I haven't posted in several days, and here's why: I went to a new dentist, found out I had gum disease (oh, great!), discussed with him my ongoing sinus problems and a couple of days later, found myself in his chair having a tooth extracted. That was yesterday. Once the tooth was out, he found it was horribly infected and had abcessed into the floor of the sinus cavity.

Long story short, I have been carrying around chronic infection in my body for several years. I feel so much better today -- both physically and mentally -- that I'm wondering how much this has had to do with my general crabbiness. I know I haven't felt well for a looooong time. I had been to several dentists and ENTs, trying to find someone who'd connect the dots between my dental and sinus problems. I always suspected they were related. And evidently they were.

Maybe it's just the huge relief over maybe, finally, finding a solution to this -- but I swear I have felt significantly calmer and clearer in the last 24 hours.

Hope it's going to last.

The 300 mark

I've made 300 paper cranes now. That first 300-sheet pack of origami paper is gone. A large plastic shopping bag is full of the fruits of my labor. I'm nearly one-third of the way to my goal.

And today I lost my temper over some silly, small thing. Yelled not at my child, but in her presence. She got silent, as she always does. I felt guilty and sick at heart.

Makes me wonder why I'm even doing this.

So far, so good

Four days into this, and all is well. Forty paper cranes are crowding my desk. Gotta find a "place" for them pretty soon, as they continue to reproduce. Some of them are a little wrinkly and some refuse to stand up properly. Obviously my technique still needs work.

But at least I'm sticking to it so far. And the even better news is: Taking on this project seems to have created a little "something" in the back of my mind that helps me moderate my temper. I have been markedly calmer the last few days. There have been situations where I KNOW I normally would have blown up or, at the very least, spoken sharply to someone. And I didn't.