Last week while at a party, the master mind of WGAY and I were able to do come catch up (did you know that Monday was his birthday?) and we did some talking about me getting back to you all here. I agreed - it has been a crazy year thus far, to say the least. So without further delay the GC Princess is back and Dave has even picked the first topic.

Colgate.

No, not the University. And no, not for brushing your teeth... nor am I going to lecture you all of the importance of cleaning your teeth, flossing daily and using Listerine - I personally use the blue one now that I am out of my parent's house and am no longer forced to use the yellow "original" one - as my mother thinks (knows!) that it is the only one that REALLY works. Oh and do not forget to go and see your dentist for a cleaning and check up twice a year, more often if you are pregnant. Okay, and just so that we are all straighten out before starting down on our path today - what I just wrote was not a lecture - it was a friendly loving reminder.

But in any case, back to the Colgate. So, Dave told me about a talk that he (and everyone else) had last week at WGAY with someone that said that they kept their underside "clean and fresh" with Colgate. I nearly spit out my drink when I heard this - and that boys and girls would have been a major party foul, to say the least. Granted, I was thinking more along the lines of attaching the tube to an orifice and squeezing (from the bottom of the tube, of course) and just letting the tooth paste do its magic. I was also kind of thinking that maybe he would use a toothbrush as well - OUCHIE - anyone else agree with that?

...But after some delicate discussions (please, something had to be delicate after the thoughts that were going on in my head - and yes I did verbalize some of them to Dave) I was able to understand that it was not so much inserted or used as a cleaning agent, but for "freshening" purposes.

Now, when going to visit down under on your partner, I have heard of people using things such as strong mints (such as Altoids), ice, cinnamon (I personally, would highly recommend skipping the cinnamon Altoids - they have a bit of a charge and lasting effect, to say the least), and other kinds of things that would (normally) give your mouth a bit of a "Hello!". Many people enjoy and look forward to spicing things up with their partner in this manner every once in awhile.

Dave's biggest concern with this process of "freshening" was one of being harmful to the person. Now as many of us know, our bodies are riddled with bacteria. Many are helpful and keep us safe from bacteria that otherwise would kill us or many our lives more difficult to say the least. For example, there are bacteria that live in our intestines that breakdown the food we eat into smaller and more absorbable compounds. When those bacterial numbers drop, say by using antibiotics or when they are crowded out by invading bacteria - we have problems digesting our food. Thankfully over time the residential bacteria usually come back, and thrive! I could understand Dave's concern, but once it was discovered that the person in question was using this as a freshen agent; my alarm level went down by many levels.

That said, I would not suggest doing freshening exercises daily, as this person does, as the skin down there tends to be a bit sensitive, and you do not want to worry about the skin being irritated (and thus very sore) after multiple exposures to the Colgate. After all, I would imagine that one would get a bit of a tingling sense by using it, and I could see how that could get people kind of addicted to a feeling that is a pleasurable feeling, but just remember humans have a tendency to build up a tolerance - after all, you do not want to be stuck having to use Listerine down there eventually, do you?

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