The

Undeniable

Ruth

®

…and the Ruth shall set you free!

  • A Year In Invisalign

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    Ruth Carter

    I’ve worn Invisalign trays for the last 53 weeks. Every Tuesday night, I switched out my current trays for the next set, and every time it was a remarkable sensation to feel which teeth my new trays would be moving. Thankfully after the first few months, my teeth didn’t hurt that bad, but I did get my trays stuck in my mouth on more than one occasion.

    There has definitely been movement in my mouth. I’m curious to see my before and after photos to see if the change is significant. My teeth were mostly straight before doing Invisalign. I did this because their alignment was off and if I didn’t do something, I’d likely break my bottom teeth on my top ones. So, as long as we prevented that issue, I’m happy.

    52 Weeks of Invisalign Trays – Week 53 is in my Mouth

    Two Birds, One Stone
    Sleeping with Invisalign was never problematic, because I’ve been sleeping with a night guard for years – one of the lovely benefits of going to law school. (No, you don’t wear a night guard with your trays. The trays replaced the guard.) My trays help protect me from myself, well at least grinding my teeth. There were many mornings where my trays were jammed tight on my teeth from grinding and clenching them in my sleep.

    So it’s a two birds, one stone situation, but a very expensive stone.

    Floss Champion
    I’ve become that guy who keeps a toothbrush, toothpaste, and floss in the office. I regularly brush my teeth and my trays when I’m at work. One of the benefits of Invisalign, is you will instantly know if you have a bit of food between your teeth the moment you pop your trays back into your mouth after a meal.

    If you’re doing Invisalign, you’re probably flossing – by necessity.

    22 Hours a Day

    Running with Invisalign
    I’m training for a marathon. During my long runs, I use gels to replenish my calories and electrolytes. With Invisalign, they recommend you wear your trays 22 hours a day, and my long runs were usually longer than 2 hours. I didn’t want to run without them, but I didn’t want to have to pop them in and out either. I was afraid the gels would either stick to my trays and/or stain them.

    Thankfully, neither of those things happened, even when I used cherry-flavored gel.

    The Process Continues
    This week, I go back to the orthodontist this week for my 53-week follow-up appointment. I feel like a junior high kid every time I go in there. Hopefully, my doctor will tell me that my teeth have moved to where they need to be, and I get to move into the maintenance phase: 6 months of wearing my trays all the time and then I get to shift to just wearing my trays at night. I look forward to the days I get to chew gum and sip coffee for hours.

  • Reducing the Waste I Create

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    Ruth Carter

    I’ve watched the videos like I Tried To Make Zero Trash For 30 Days and We Tried To Make Zero Trash In Our Beauty Routines For A Week, and they inspired me to look at my habits and what I can do reduce the amount of trash and waste I create. Like many people, I recycle and I use a reusable water bottle, but I feel like I can do more, especially when it comes to the amount of plastic I use. These are some of the things I want to try to reduce my environmental impact:

    Don’t Forget to Recycle by Blue Pylons from Flickr (Creative Commons License)

    Bamboo Toothbrush: The next time I need a new toothbrush, instead of buying a plastic one, I want to try one make of biodegradable bamboo.

    Zero-Waste Deodorant: Instead of buying a deodorant in a plastic twist-bottom tube, I want to try a natural deodorant that comes in a glass jar. I also wonder if something like this would be better for my sensitive skin.

    Shampoo Bar: Yes, there is shampoo that comes in a bar. I’m curious to see how well this will work. It’s going to be a while before I try it because I have short hair and it wasn’t too long ago that I bought a new bottle of shampoo.

    Seedling by Kevin Doncaster from Flickr (Creative Commons License)

    Regular Bar Soap: There was a time when we just had bars of soap next to the skin for washing our hands. I could go back to that. I wonder if I can find a bar of soap that has exfoliating properties that I could use instead of my apricot face wash.

    Asking Companies to Consider Lower-Waste Options: There are certain products that I know I won’t want to give up – like my moisturizer. I can ask them to consider offering a version that comes in glass instead of plastic. At least then they’d know there’s an interest.

    Reusable Produce Bags and Food Containers: Top of my list this year is to pick up some reusable produce bags so I don’t have to keep using plastic ones every time I go to the store.

    I often shop in the bulk food section of Sprouts for seeds, dried fruit, grains, and lentils. They don’t advertise this, but you can bring your own reusable containers to use after they weigh it. I want to get some jars and try this.

    Since my diet is rich in fruits and vegetables, I would love to compost the parts I don’t eat. I currently don’t for a few reasons: (1) I’m afraid I’ll do it wrong and create a smelly mess that will attract rodents and bugs and (2) if I use vermicompost (aka worms), I’m afraid I’ll kill them and have a smelly mess that will attract rodents and bugs. (The fear is real – I’ve killed a cactus.) My city collects landscape waste, but not food scraps for composting. If I want to try it, it appears Arizona Worm Farm sells a ready-to-use worm bin.

    I’m excited to try new products as I need them and see what works.

  • Undeniable Recap of 2017

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    Ruth Carter

    2016 was bad. I felt as if that year couldn’t end soon enough.  But it’s as if 2017 started the year saying, “Hold my beer” and it went downhill from there. I had a lot of challenges this year including reconstruction at Castle Carter after my condo flooded, death of my childhood coach, being in a car accident, studying for the California bar exam, and processing my gender identity.

    My jar of happy memories

    Thankfully, I started a new tradition of keeping a jar next to my bed where I wrote notes about things that happened in my life that made me happy or giggle. Even on bad days, I could look over at my jar that was filling with notes and be reminded that life doesn’t suck all the time. It was a joy to go through them while I wrote this post. Here are my top 5 events/activities from 2017:

    Me and my skateboard

    1. I got a Skateboard at CMWorld
    Content Marketing World always does an excellent job taking care of its speakers. I look forward to this conference every year and I’m proud to be part of Team Orange. When they announced that Casey Neistat would be one of the keynote speakers, I started tweeting at them that I wanted an orange skateboard as my speaker gift. (They usually get us each a wireless mouse/laser pointer.) Shortly after I checked into my hotel room, the hotel dropped off a big box for me. It was a mini orange skateboard! I love this thing, not just because it’s awesome, but because it made me feel like part of the CMWorld family. Once I finish my marathon in 2018, I’m going to take a skateboarding lesson and learn how to ride it properly.

    I love this tattoo

    2. “Don’t Be What They Made You” Tattoo
    I saw Logan in the theater. When I heard this line, I instantly knew I wanted it tattooed on my wrist. A few months later, Hollis at Iconic Tattoo made it a reality. This is a daily reminder and inspiration for me.

    3. “But I’m still your Tranpa”
    Accepting that I’m non-binary made me feel like I was a baby queer all over again. I felt especially vulnerable a few months ago and sent an email to trans entertainer and advocate Buck Angel, just an open invitation for lunch the next time he’s in Phoenix. He responded and signed it “Tranpa.” I wrote back and said, age-wise, we’re more like cousins. (We’re only about 7 years apart.) He responded, “Hahaa but I’m still your Tranpa ❤️.”

    This warmed my heart. It matters to talk to people who “get it.” Buck is someone I reach out to when I experience dysmorphia or feel like I live in a world that wasn’t made for me.

    Still smiling after running 20 miles – and rocking some mad hair

    4. Running with David
    I’m training for the Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona Marathon 2018. After getting a DNF at my last marathon attempt, I decided to hire a coach, David Roher. He lives on the east coast, so we communicate over email, text, and phone. He gives me my assignments and tracks my workouts via Strava, plus we talk about nutrition, stretching, injuries, and life in general.

    David always has a word of encouragement when I need it – often to remind me that I have the ability to do any assignment he gives me and not to push myself too hard. When I finished my 20-mile training run a few weeks ago, I was pleased with my pace and by how good I felt at the end of it.

    5. Ethics and Ice Cream
    I had a flash of brilliance at the beginning of August to do a continuing legal education seminar looking at what Arizona lawyers were being disciplined for during the last few years to look for patterns and commonalities. I pitched the idea to do this for ASU CLE and call it “Ethics and Ice Cream.” They loved it and we scheduled the event for about a month later. I recruited fellow lawyer and comedian, Matt Storrs, and we reviewed all the Lawyer Regulation reports since 2015 and pulled off a successful event.

    This event made this list, not because I created a CLE, but because I put this idea into action and made it work.

    As I read all the notes in my jar, I noticed there were at least six notes that mentioned hugs or being the “little spoon.” Besides giving me a warm fuzzy trip down memory lane, these notes reminded me how important the people in my life are to me.

    Rosie Dog – Go check out her Instagram

    Firsts in 2017
    Flying in/out of a city in one day (for Ungagged Las Vegas)
    Standing ovation for singing “O Holy Night” at the Community Church of Hope Christmas Show
    Love and Complements Rally
    Interview on The Out House Podcast
    Foods: Almond butter (meh), Vegan gourmet shreds (cheese-like, not bad), Cashew milk ice cream (best non-dairy ice cream), Almond milk yogurt (not food), Cashew yogurt (not food), Pumpkin seeds (so good), Spirulina (meh)
    Events: ICON, Law Launcher, TBD Law, BlogHer

    Minions make me smile

    Celebrity Sightings
    Tom Green
    Joseph Gordon Levitt
    Chris Guillebeau
    Casey Neistat
    Paul Risser
    Minions

    In Memoriam
    George Seivert
    Don Rickles
    Andrea Esquer
    Laurel Graver
    Dorian Kreiling