We wish you and yours a great Thanksgiving to feast and relax.  We are thankful to be your dental home.  I know I love my dentist title.  I get to mingle and chat with patients all day long and do some dental work.  I thank you for sharing your stories with me.  
As we slow down for the holidays to enjoy some time with our own families, I want to thank you for being my dental family.  Everyday is a joy and blessing to do what I do with people that I love being with 99% of the time.  
Please be careful while out and about.  Please remember to floss and brush at night to keep your teeth healthy.

This weekend, you can turn in your unused prescription drugs for free.  Copy and paste the link to get the site closest to your home/office/business.  https://www.dea.gov
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This week my patients sent me a picture of themselves shopping at Costco.  It was their outing for the day after seeing me, of course.  They come from the East Bay so venturing to San Jose is a treat.  She had the appointment, he just tagged along for the fun.  They're retired so getting out of the house is fun.  They asked us which Costco was big so they can experience the shopping since the one in Fremont was small.  I don't know if there is such a thing as a small Costco but I've never been there so....
They remind me of people who think going through a drive thru to order food was exciting.  I still have yet to do that.  But it's refreshing to see the excitement in the simplest of things.  We used to take Costco shopping as a chore, now it's a trip.  The kids used to hate going to school but now can't wait to get back in.  Even the teachers who wanted to stay home and teach realized how great it is to be with their students.
As a dentist, I've been working since June 2020 and my world has somewhat returned to "normal".  I don't think normal can be described for this office but you get the idea.  Our patients are returning and trying to retrieve what was once in 2019 as 2020 was lost.  Now we need to challenge ourselves and do some things differently in 2021.   Our past lives were great but our future lives can be better.  Maybe now is the time to start learning something new.  For me, it was solving the Rubik cube.   I spent time learning it from my 12 y.o. son, who is a whiz at it.  I fired and reinstated him so many times as my coach throughout the 3 weekends that we spent together.  It is now my office party trick.  So if I can learn a new trick, so can you.  Try something new, don't give up.  Stay with it and maybe you will love it.
 

Some days we just need to stop and appreciate the beautiful environment we are in and realize how lucky we are.  As time decay most things and beings, what we have now is precious, almost sacred.  Scientists have been saying climate change is real.  Yet, there are some people denying it.  In CA, we see wildfires taking tens of thousands of acres annually.  Soon, there won't be much left of our mountains and hills.
Let's just say it: climate change is real.  There are more humans on this planet now than ever before.  India alone has 1.7 billion residents...and counting.  You don't have to be a tree-hugger or eat plant-based food.  All you need to do is decrease your own waste in as many ways as you can.  Some ideas are: don't litter anywhere, don't waste food/water, don't drive so much everywhere, take a walk instead...easy steps.
I love being able to go outside and smell the fresh air in the morning because cars are not out yet.  I love being able to see the natural beauty of rocks, bodies of water, trees, etc.  They give me peace of mind.  It's a great stress reliever.  I hope future generations can see what I see now and have that place of sanctity for them as well.

The majestic Bryce Canyon.  It really does take your breath away.

As our world turns,  I get so tired of hearing the news.  There are so many crazy narratives that people want to believe, even against science.  Teachers refusing to go back into the classroom in CA because they're afraid of getting COVID.  Not that science has proven otherwise, but the rest of the country are back in school and they are doing fine.  They're afraid of COVID yet still go on vacation and grocery shopping.  The irony in valuing the teachers for their sacrifices.
I'm baffled by the state's vaccine rollout.  Pharmacists can give the shots but dentists cannot.  Even medical assistants can give the vaccine before dentists can.  Only until  recently are dentists able to give the vaccine.   We have to complete a 3 hour self-study and exam.  I guess it's because we don't know how to hold a syringe.  Okay, maybe some don't but the majority does, like 99.99%.  
With the recent increase in violence against Asian Americans...I just have to ask, "Why?"  If you're going with the stereotype, aren't you afraid your doctors, lawyers and engineers are Asians?  When you are faced with an Asian doctor in the hospital, dental office or anywhere else for emergencies, please request for another provider.  I had a friend who was told, "I don't want no Ch*nk working on me!"  He happily walked away but was forced to come back by his superiors because he was the only one that could perform the type of surgery needed that day at the Stanford Medical Center.  The irony?  The patient was an elderly Jewish male.
I hope for the sake of our younger generations, common sense and human decency return to society.  We should have our differences.  It's how we learn to be better humans.  But we should also respect those differences.  I know it's hard to be nice to mean people.  Trust me, I know.  But I grin and know that the hour will pass.   Then I vent to my support system.  Even then, my support system and I don't always agree.
Please be nice to others.  You just don't know what someone is dealing with at the moment.  Have empathy and kindness ready to share.  Don't hate someone based on their colorings.  It says more about you than the other person.
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Flowers from a patient who was appreciative of our work and time to listen to her life issues at the moment.