Investing in...my teeth

So this is probably going to be the grossest and weirdest blog post of all time.

Remember back in January when I wrote my Make an Investment yearly goals post? Well it's September, and while I've made a decent amount of progress on some of those goals, some were left in the dust. Particularly, "focus on diminishing one bad habit"...ahem, pen chewing.

Or more like, pen chomping. Embarrassing story time! At some point in my life I switched from nail biting to pen chewing. No idea when or why that happened, but I've been chewing pens for quite some time now. The chewing turns to chomping when I'm in stressful situations and sometimes gets down right out of control. Example: back in high school during my AP Government exam the proctor (who was also my track coach) suddenly tapped me on my shoulder. I had been so into my DBQ (document based question for those non-nerds) that I almost jumped out of my seat. He proceeded to tell me that I was chomping on my pen so loudly it was distracting the other students and I had to stop. Eek.

Seriously this gets so bad that sometimes after a day of work my jaw and teeth will be killing me. I take pretty good care of my teeth, but I imagine all this pen chewing has to be doing something negative to my teeth or gums. I'm actually really surprised my dentist has never asked me about it.

So last week I decided to do some reading up on pen chewing to see if I could scare myself into stopping. Did you know chewing on plastic pens can lead to lead poisoning, which can lead to various neurological and behavioral problems, organ damage and blood toxicity?! I ended up reading about some easy strategies to break the habit and have incorporated a few of them.

1. Remove all pens you are not using. This seems obvious but I usually have 5-10 pens out on my desk at all times. When I'm feeling really stressed/anxious at work sometimes I notice I go from one pen to the other replacing each one in my mouth for no reason. Sometimes I am writing with one and chewing on another. This is so gross, I know. I now have all of my pens but one in my desk!

2. Tape up the end of pens.

This has really worked!! I haven't chewed on a pen in a week! Every time I go to put the pen in my mouth I feel the tape, then immediately put it back down. I try to make sure not to bring these into meetings as to avoid any awkward questions.

So this post was probably not necessary but it's my blog and I'll do what I want! It's important for me to make sure I'm making progress on things, even the disgusting things.

In other news, I took home almost THIRTY tomatoes from our garden last night. I didn't take a picture, I don't know what I was thinking! Tom and I decided to whip up a quick awesome sauce using a few tomatoes, garlic, basil from our plant, salt & pepper, herbs de provence, grapeseed oil, red pepper flakes and parmesan cheese. It was delish!!

This afternoon I am off to eastern Long Island for my cousin's wedding. I can't wait for some family time and some relaxing time!! If I write here that I packed my workout clothes, will I hold myself more accountable to do something? Only time will tell.