Imagine social networking with a purpose, a community of seekers and conscious entrepreneurs circulating wisdom and inspiration and wealth and all that good stuff. Fun fun fun.

• frozen fruit
• plain (NOT frozen) yogurt

• Here's the twit that's been keeping me up at night with her midnight mousecapades. She just doesn't understand why I start shrieking when she wants to play with her little mouse friends in my bedroom at three in the morning.

• As a result, not only have I not been falling asleep until dawn, I woke up yesterday with a wicked kink in my neck. It hurts.

• How can it possibly be Sunday night?

• How can it possibly be the middle of July?

• Why is there nothing good to eat in my kitchen?

• I want to go back to the beach ....

• I got saltwater taffy at the beach -- just because I could.

• I tried to get Milk Duds at the movies Friday night -- just because I could -- but they were out, dammit.

• I have never enjoyed flossing so much in my life. It's a breeze now that my teeth are straight and the braces are off.

• I have been spending entirely too much time on Flickr.

• I love the Internet sooooo much.

• One of the speakers at Web Design World introduced himself as a "professional blogger." I went up to him afterwards to ask how, exactly, one becomes a professional blogger. He said you have to find a niche and fill it.

• Anybody got any niches that need filling? (Get your mind out of that gutter!)

• My niche is not very niche-y. "Fat chick with cats in Montana writes about mouse encounters, adult orthodontics and daily minutiae."

• Do you believe there is a lid for every pot?

• Should I break down and get a MySpace page?

• My fingernails are longer now than they've been in years, thanks to Avon Instant Manicure. Those things rock.

• If you had all the time in the world, what would you do with it?

• I'd read. Well, and travel and ride horses and take pictures and do lots of other things. But more than anything, I'd read.

1. It feels incredibly fabulous to have those things off.
2. Getting them off wasn't too bad. Only one or two teeth felt like they were being broken in half.
3. In fact, thanks to the Valium and Tylenol I took, the whole experience was sort of fun.
4. As everyone warned me, my teeth looked very BIG at first.
5. They also felt -- and still feel -- amazingly, wonderfully silky and smooth.
6. For the first day or so, I kept feeling a strange sensation, as if there was something underneath my upper lip. There was: my two front teeth! My lip had never had something smooth to rest on there before.
7. I want to smile at everyone. Talking to people, driving down the street -- I want to just flash my pearly whites at everyone!
   
8. The retainers, which I have to wear at night, make my teeth ache. But I did not spend the equivalent of a new car to let my teeth relapse.
   
9. I am now trying to wean myself off toothpicks, which I became addicted to over the last 21 months in braces. I don't really need them anymore, but it's habit.
10. Although I love my new smile, I have the lingering feeling that it's too perfect for the rest of me. I told a co-worker this, and he said, "There's no such thing as too perfect." Yeah. Damn. I guess I'll just have to live with perfection. :-D

• My orthodontist, Briar Diggs, and his wonderful staff -- especially Cheryl, Melissa, Lisa and Pam -- all of whom took such good care of me, made me laugh, and did fantastic work.
• Dr. Roger West and his team in Seattle, who did a great job on my jaw surgery. I was fortunate to be among the last patients of the highly regarded Dr. West, who is retiring this fall.
  
• My friend Susan, who inspired me by getting adult braces a few years before me -- and held my hand throughout the process. Not only did she give me advice and encouragement, she took time away from running her business to drive down from Kalispell twice, to be with me when I got my braces on and off. AND brought me a bottle of Dom Perignon to celebrate! You're a gem, Susan.
• My friend Gay, who also took time away from her business to come to Seattle with me last summer when I had my surgery. I was having so much fun with her I barely noticed I had surgery! (Well, not really, but she was a very good distraction during those first uncomfortable days.) Big love, Gay.
• I'd also like to thank the Academy ... I mean, everyone else who put up with me, my moods and my metal mouth for most of the last two years.