ANNOUNCEMENTS

You know, I really do feel sorry for the weather forecasters.  They're the brunt of so many unkind jokes on social media and around the office water cooler whenever the predictions for a big storm don't come true, and yet, weather itself is so inherently unpredictable.  So while I am personally quite disappointed to have woken up this morning to find 0.7" of snow on the ground instead of 7", let's give them a break.  After all, it's not like the rest of us have to make sense out of weather than can change so quickly, nor do our jobs have those kinds of demands. That said.....Smiles by Payet Family Dentistry is closed today, February 26th.  While road conditions are not that bad, the slush can be dangerous in which to drive, and several of our employees have long commutes.  It's simply not worth risking them or our patients' safety. If you must go out this morning, please do be careful.  We will be in touch as soon as possible to reschedule those people who hadn't already called yesterday about moving.

It is with great sadness that we must announce that Rosie, our long-term Dental Assistant, will be leaving us at the end of December.  She will be returning home to Arizona and her family, where she will be helping to care for her mother and spend a lot more time with her grandchildren.  While we understand, we will miss her more than words can express. Rosie first came to work for us back in 2007 and continued until early 2011, when she had to take an extended leave due to a badly broken ankle.  However, when an opening came up again in early 2013, we were just as excited as our patients to welcome her back, and it's been a fabulous 2 years. Rosie's work ethic is simply unparalleled, and countless patients have experienced her warm, welcoming smile; the way she always looked for something sweet and kind to say to every patient who came in; the way she comforted the many nervous patients; how comfortably and easily she answered questions and explained the options each patient had available. It will be difficult for anyone to fill her shoes; not just her technical abilities as a chairside dental assistant, but as someone who knew how every aspect of our office works.  She knows our patients and their stories and has watched so many of them grow up.  She's been there since shortly after Dr. Payet got married and had a baby; through the tough times of the recession into the boom times of recent years.  She's stayed late when needed, come in early when needed, worked through lunch without complaint - all to make sure that our patients were cared for. Rose..........we will miss you. [...]

As a husband, father, dentist and dental geek, photographer, blogger, passionate learner, etc. it often seems that there is never enough time in the day, week, month, or year to get even remotely close to getting everything done.  Add in my ADD that pulls me in a dozen directions at once, and it seems that I never stop.  Oh yeah.....and we're in the middle of the holidays from Thanksgiving to Christmas to New Years (and any other holidays in there you may celebrate :-) ).  Can you relate?  Ever feel like you can never catch up, catch your breath, or take a break despite mental and physical exhaustion? I mean, as much as I like to imagine that my life is like the picture on the left, far more often the squirrel pulls me in a gazillion directions at once, and I end up like the image on the right. Who's with me? Give Yourself Permission to Do Nothing and Enjoy It! At least, that's what I did this past weekend, and man, did it feel good.  After working incredibly hard this year on many different projects, I hit the proverbial wall the week after Thanksgiving.  Worn out mentally, emotionally, and physically.  You know you've felt the same way, right?  And the worst part is - if you try to take some time to yourself, you start feeling guilty for not doing all of the things you "know" you just have to be doing!  The idea of just dropping everything and saying "NO MORE!" is so difficult these days, don't you think?  If you're not prepping the house for holidays because everyone on your street is doing it, or planning the family travels and meals, [...]

Just a quick announcement that Smiles by Payet Family Dentistry will be closed from Friday, Aug. 29th through Sunday, Sept. 7th 2014.  As we do have a daughter in 2nd grade in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, we are doing a "stay-cation," which means that I will be available for genuine dental emergencies (for current patients only) during the period that the office is close.  Otherwise, please don't hesitate to call the office and leave a message, and we'll contact you as soon as we're back in the office on Monday, Sept. 8th.

As people who know me can attest, I'm very open about the struggles of my early dental practice, as well as my ADD diagnosis, which happened when I was about 33 years old. It took a lot of hard work to learn how to deal with the ADD, especially in my day-to-day business work; dentistry was never the problem, it was leading, managing, accounting, all that other stuff. Very early on in my career, I even suffered through a period of deep depression, which I later learned was related to the ADD and all the frustrations in life that came from it. But I don't intend this to be a post about the struggles; it's meant to be an inspiration to those who struggle as I did, and who fear that they can't, or won't succeed. It's Not Talent - It's Hard Work and Persistence That Matter As I grew up, I really struggled to find a creative outlet.  I did swimming and tennis, and I played trumpet in the high school marching, concert, and jazz bands.  I was reasonably good and could have done even better, but was never able to stay on task long enough to really excel.  In college and dental school, and eventually into the "Real World," I continued to struggle, and I often got really down on myself for not living up to my potential.  Same thing with my business - lots of people told me I was a very good dentist, but if you looked at my bank account, you'd see I sure was a lousy businessman! But beyond that, I thought I had zero artistic talent.  I could barely draw a stick figure, struggled to paint a sunflower, [...]