Dear Diary,
You’d wonder what kind of things I’m getting myself into, with this kind of title. It all started with a simple outing to Saratoga Springs, where I enjoyed roasting marshmallows on an open fire outside Lee’s house.
Roasting Marshmallows… on an open stove: As the subtitle says… Yes, Little Reiko found the joy of roasting marshmallows over an open fire. Wanting to savor that melted sweetness and the charred marshmallow skin, I tried the only method possible in the house, which was to use our gas stove to roast. While Chris stood by and laughed at this spectacle, he also indulged in some of my acts of sin as well as encouraging me to find fondue skewers to do the trick. It was all blissful… till one day….
The Karmic Marshmallow repercussion: Now I don’t know if it’s subliminal the stress of anticipation going home to visit my family, or having consumed a few 100% cornstarch every other night, but one morning my upper left side of my tooth/gum started to hurt. It wasn’t a tooth ache hurt, but it was that nagging feeling of it could develop into a cavity if I didn’t watch it, kind of hurt. Naturally you’d think that I’d stay off of the marshmallows, taking that as a hint, but instead I decided to get into flossing (probably was a mistake).
The Dentist: a week into my nagging gum/tooth (coz I don’t know which it is) and I now have a panic attack. My god, what if it was another root canal? Last time I had this problem it developed into a fine root canal (from an old spot) that sent me to the orthodontist to operate on and it cost me $300.00. And it was after my last trip to Japan. That said, you can imagine my panic as I called my dentist, at 2am in the morning, asking him to see me at his best possible convenience. Since it was just a week before going, I had to know. Is it a cavity or not?
So I ended up going to the dentist’s office. He looked at me with this amused look on his face as I carefully explained to him why I had come and what got me here (he knows me well by now). Then he said, “well I thought I was strange, roasting marshmallows at my fireplace at home!” At least he has a fireplace. We only have a stove (or a candle, which is perhaps the most pathetic level you can fall to).
He checked it out through and through, poked it, prodded it, took X-Rays of it but nothing showed up.
“Your gums are pink and healthy, and I can’t find anything in your teeth?”
He puts it that I can’t be punished by a few marshmallows over the past week but he sincerely suggested it could be due to stress.
Could be true… but it did make me nervous about the marshmallows. After all, it is 100% sugar. And as some of you out there might know, while I don’t do chocolate or any heavy sugar things, I do on occasion do incredibly sweet things like pixy sticks and of course… now roasted marshmallows.
Chris laughed at me even more when I first told him about my fear of this Marshmallow repercussion and the toothache thing. He asked (still laughing)
“so you think this might be some sort of karmic payback for you consuming the marshmallows??”
You may laugh too, but you never know. Like I said, I do incredibly innocent but stupid things (because they make me happy).
Tomorrow Chris and I get on a plane to go home. Wish us all the luck that we survive the trip.
Little (RMA – Roasted Marsmallows Anonymous) Reiko
Little Reiko's Diary 