UFF DA

Pronunciation = oof-duh.

In case you're not familiar with the term, Uff da is a Norwegian interjection - used when something is unpleasant, uncomfortable, hurtful, annoying, sad, or irritating. Uff da is most often used as a response when hearing something lamentable (but not too serious), and could often be translated as "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that". (Wikipedia) 

Uff da is an expression I heard and used regularly in my childhood - having Norwegian ancestry and growing up in a predominately Norwegian community in south-central Wisconsin. There were many opportunities to work the word into normal life and conversation. We'd use it in place of "Ouch" or "Oh, that's bad." If something was really bad, my grandmother would say, "Uff da Fee da."

Cut your finger = Uff da.

Cut your finger off = Uff da Fee da!

Stepping in a dried up cowpie = Uff da.

Stepping in a fresh cowpie = Uff da Fee da!

After going off to college and then moving to mid-Michigan, I purposely tried to remove Uff da from my everyday speech. That seemed so much easier than to continually stop and explain to everyone what on earth I meant when I said it. I must admit, however, that Uff da still somehow managed to slip between my lips now and then. We're now living in the U.P. in an area where some folks do have Norwegian DNA. If Uff da happens to slip out when I'm in public, chances are that whoever hears it may actually understand what I'm saying. What a relief! No more 'splainin to do!

Anyway, I said all that to help you understand what I mean when I say, "Uff da. Last week wasn't especially fun." In fact, there were times on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, when Uff da Fee da was the more suitable phrase. Thankfully, I'm now on the mend and can share our experiences.

I'm going to apologize for the photo quality in advance.

Since we began our trip to Marquette before daylight and I couldn't use my flash as I snapped pictures through our windshield, clarity is lacking on some of them - especially the first three. Still, I wanted to give you an idea of the conditions, so we'll press on.

If you remember, we needed to travel to Marquette for my dental implant surgery. I had an extraction and bone graft in July leaving me with an ever-so-attractive gap in my top row of choppers. Yes, right up there where good old #8 used to sit - front and center. It was now time for the post to be implanted into the bone. Since we scheduled this surgery back in July, we were obviously concerned about what type of weather we would experience, as it snows more often than not on most January days here. We thought about booking a motel in Marquette, but decided against it for a couple of reasons. (1) The longer we were away from home, the more likely it would be that our driveway would become impassable due to snow accumulation. (2) After my July procedure, I ended up with a horrific migraine for several days. If I had to travel with a migraine, I may as well do it the first day. Besides, I knew I would have several prescriptions from the surgeon that needed filling ASAP (like on our way home). 

As last Tuesday approached, it looked like we could be in for clear sailing; but the forecast changed. By Sunday evening, we were hearing about the possibility of some very unpleasant weather. Also, let me remind you that due to proximity to Lake Superior, changes in elevation, and wind direction, weather conditions can vary greatly within just a few miles here. Much of our snow is lake effect snow which often comes in classic waves or bands. It'll be snowing hard one moment, clear up enough that we may see a bit of blue sky, and then a huge dark cloud will move over and pummel us with another round of snow. Next thing we know, it stops. Then, it starts up again. You get the idea. 

It was snowing off and on throughout the day on Monday, and Mr. Cut Off took a final swipe with the plow truck just before he came in for dinner. At that point, our local forecast didn't look too bad, but they were suggesting possible whiteout conditions between Baraga and Marquette. Since I needed to get up at 4:00 the next morning, we headed to bed early. I checked the weather several times the next morning. It didn't sound good, but I prayed and left the decision on whether or not we'd go up to Mr. Cut Off. He said we should go, so off we went. As we backed out of the garage, we were both surprised to see how much snow had fallen since dinner the night before. It was still snowing, and we left deep tire tracks all the way down the driveway. Since it was so early, we had the dark roadway mostly to ourselves.

It was still snowing as we crossed the bridge between Hancock and Houghton.

We drove out of the snow at times when we hit the "banana belt" from Chassell through Baraga, but we could see a large lake effect snow cloud looming on the horizon.

We made a quick pit stop in L'Anse to grab a couple of bakery treats to eat with our thermos of coffee along the way, and the weather cleared again. Here's how things looked when we reached the Alberta area.

Six minutes later, the snow started up again.

It was off and on like that for quite a few miles, but we were enjoying the scenery.

Then, quite suddenly - whiteout conditions.

That was the last photo I snapped all day. The whiteouts had me feeling tense, so it seemed like a real good time to stop looking forward. I grabbed my Android tablet and started playing games instead. It was good to get my mind off the road conditions, and I'm sure Mr. Cut Off appreciated that he could focus on the road without my verbal commentary (although he's much too sweet to ever say such a thing). These conditions persisted most of the way through the Ishpeming/Negaunee area, but we arrived in Marquette without incident. We even had a little time to kill, so we ran into Menards and Michael's for a few things before my appointment. 

The dental implant procedure went quickly, but it was admittedly much more unpleasant than the last procedure. The surgeon seemed pleased with the result despite the fact that there wasn't quite as much bone to work with as he had hoped. We were on our way back home in no time, but I once again developed an immediate horrific migraine. Yes, my mouth was throbbing, but that pain was pretty manageable. The head and neck pain? Uff da Fee da! Now, I'm no baby. After all the years I've suffered with migraines and back pain, I think I'm a pretty tough cookie. But...this was bad enough to make me cry half the way home - despite taking pain medication the minute we left the surgeon's office. I'm not talking about blubbering sobbing, but tears were streaming uncontrollably out of my eyes. I put on my sunglasses and reclined in my seat. Mr. Cut Off later informed me that whiteout conditions persisted in the same areas on the way home, so it was more white-knuckle driving for him - punctuated by occasional moans coming from my side of the vehicle (like every time we went over a bump). 

When we finally made it home, the deep tracks we made in the snow on the driveway when we left that morning were almost completely filled in with new snow (despite the fact that Keweenaw County didn't record any new snow in that 24-hour period!). I went right to bed; Mr. Cut Off went right to work with the plow truck. The rest of that day, Wednesday and Thursday are pretty much a blur. I was horizontal most of the time with migraine pain and the added bonus of nausea (common with my migraines). Hubby was great about giving me my meds every 6 hours and making me eat some soft, room temperature food when I could handle it.  

Now that I'm on the other side of the worst of the surgery's aftereffects, I can report that there's far less facial swelling and mouth pain this time as compared to last time. Not as many stitches either. If you're planning a dental implant procedure, I don't want this post to scare you. The mouth pain (even after the first procedure) is mostly in the first 24 hours or so, and it's certainly tolerable with the help of some pain medication. I doubt you'd have the lengthy migraine I had unless you're also prone to migraines - maybe not even then. My own mother has had 5 dental implants and didn't have migraines after her procedures even though she is a migraine sufferer. Maybe the fact that my procedure was for a front tooth had something to do with it; Mom's implants were all for back teeth. The vertebrae in my neck also cause me headaches at times, and the surgeon did have to use quite a bit of force while working to insert that implant into the bone, so I'm sure that was also a contributing factor. Whatever, the worst is over. I don't see the surgeon again until May when he'll determine whether or not I'm ready for the crown, but my gap should be gone by summer. Yay!

We so appreciate all who prayed about our trip and my procedure. The Lord got us back and forth safely, and I obviously survived, so we're thankful for those answers to prayer. 

All is well in the Keweenaw.