Teeth, roadworks, and pupil free days...

Today has been fun. It started at 2am. I was awakened by the brain frying combination of throbbing and stabbing pain in the joint of my right jaw. The pain was so intense that my lips and tongue hurt. I took two neurofen plus, and when those did nothing to dull the pain after an hour, I also took four panadol (yes, I realise that is more than the prescribed dose). The pain failed to subside and when the Grumpy Old Man rose to the sound of his alarm at 6.30am, I told him I hadn't slept and would not be going into uni today - I'd work from home after some more hours of attempted sleep.

Around 7.30am, a council worker knocked on our door to tell us the roads encircling our block are all to be ripped up and relaid in the coming three days - and could the Grumpy Old Man please relocate his car if he intended to leave the property in that time.

The work commenced immediately, and loudly. Needless to say, I only managed to doze over the next four hours.

When I finally got up at 11.30am, it was to the sound of Bryn and Ari squabbling over the prime position on the couch. To complete the trifecta of frustration, I realised today is a pupil free day at the primary school. How wonderful.

I have big plans for finishing off the family flash section of my creative artefact this week, and so it seems I'll be working into the night after the road works break for the evening and the younger boys go to bed. Coffee will be administered intravenously.

Meanwhile, I'm going to have to do something about the situation with my teeth. I can't continue to have sleepless nights from the pain, or take so much medication (God only knows what it's doing to my kidneys), but the wait is 11 months - I may have to find a way to afford the private option because the status quo is ridiculous.