Woke up this morning and to my surprise my back teeth weren't hurting. I was foolish enough to point this out to my wife, so of course they started to throb just a few moments later. The worst of it was Wednesday...I can't even describe the agony they put me through that night. I kept it under control most of yesterday, with a well stocked supply of ibuprofen. Never got too serious, but there were a couple of instances when the pain came through, Right now it's not unbearable, but I'm pretty sure that if I hadn't already swallowed a few pills it would escalate into some hardcore hurting. God, I hate toothaches. But this time I have GOT to go to a dentist and have them take care of these particular teeth. Which hints at the reason I haven't already gone. I have a very strong suspicion, borne of the continual erosion of the enamel of my teeth, that any dentist I choose will insist that I have all of my teeth pulled. NO NO NO!!! I can't bear the thought of it. But then again, I don't know how long I can take this pain. I can't drink my Dr. Pepper because of the sugar, and I am addicted to that stuff. I kind of worry about eating spicy stuff, because it gets lodged between the teeth and before you know it the agony is back again in full force.

Well, the Christmas holiday is upon us, so that probably means there won't be an opportunity to visit a dentist until Monday. I guess I should commit to it, and not let it be contingent on whether or not the ache has eased up. I want to be optimistic, but it's hard. The Christmas season is no big deal to me, especially as it has turned into such a commercial holiday. Just last night the wife and I were discussing atheists and Christmas. She is of the opinion that there are atheists who "do" Christmas, and I held firm to my belief that you can't truly celebrate a holiday that's based on something you not only believe in, but deny. She says "They put up Xmas trees and give presents and visit relatives". Well, maybe I'm old fashioned, but you can do that any day of the year. So it's the rituals that are being observed and not Christmas itself. Christmas is just a good day for it, because it's convenient...you can always count of vittles and generosity. The Bible Thumpers will tell you "Jesus is the reason for the season", and as corny as that sounds, it must be admitted that were it not for the birth of Christ the 25th would be just another day. I know there are folks out there who would cry foul at that comment, rightfully pointing out that Christmas was a pagan ritual long before the Roman Catholic Church stole it and made it their own. At the risk of offending the Pagan community I must say that I think the Church was justified in doing this. From what I understand the Church had already established it's stronghold by the time it usurped these particular aspects of their rituals. I certainly don't think they did it FOR the pagans. I'm not so sure of how they treated the pagans at the time, if they expected them to hop on board the bandwagon and leave the rest behind. The more I think about it, though, the more I am convinced that, unfortunately, that's probably exactly what happened.

It's too late to fret about now, that's for sure. I'll zip it for now, seeing as how I'm not a scholar. I have my own reasons for being ambivalent about the holiday. Now this toothache will just be the icing on the cake this your.

Ho ho ho.

---