The Lesson Learned

Happy Hour

Today, I'm happy for my knitting hobby. I recently read an online article (found at the K1 blog) that declared knitting as the new yoga. The author likened it to meditation. And it’s definitely relaxing for me. It keeps my fingers busy. It can be relaxing or challenging depending on the pattern you chose to knit. It definitely makes me happy.

And it kept my mind off the eye thing for most of the day.

Knitting is the new black.

Crossed Fingers

So, I go to the eye doctor tomorrow to find out if LASIK surgery is an option for me. I’m trying not to think about it too much or get my hopes up. But it’s really hard not to.

I’m so tired of all the troubles I have daily with my contacts and my allergies. I hate wearing glasses with the way they slide down your nose during the summer and fog up when you enter a building during the winter. And the lure of perfect vision without the need for corrective lenses of any type is impossible to resist.

The lure is stronger than any fear or reservation I previously had about the procedure. And I had many reservations. I've always been terrified of the thought of someone performing surgery on my eyes. I mean, what if I end up worse than I am now? That's a very scary thought. I never dreamed that I would even consider this. It never seriously crossed my mind until last week.

But once I took the first step by making the appointment, I started to dream of what could be based on the reality of others I know who had the procedure.

My hopes are definitely up, in spite of the little voice that keeps telling me that it might not work out. I’m anxious to go to the appointment and I’m hopeful that I will hear the answer I’m looking for. But if you can cross your fingers for me, that would be good too.

Simply Saturday

What a beautiful day! I’m not referring to the weather outside, as I haven’t even ventured out yet, although I can tell by the sunlight streaming through the window that it is nice outside.

My sentiment is all about my mood, the mood of the Blogiverse, and the fact that it’s Saturday and I’m looking forward to what I have planned for the day:

Catching up on all my favorite sites and posting to each of my sites. This task is complete and I thoroughly enjoyed it as well. As if I don’t have enough going on, I’ve recently decided to make a concerted effort to post daily entries at both sites. I haven’t posted every day, but I’ve posted more regularly than I normally do, so I’m pleased with my efforts. And I’m going to keep it up throughout the month of August. I think maybe this “happy” thing is actually making me happy in and of itself.

Shopping with the Youngest Son (YS). I plan to take the YS school shopping. This weekend is a “Tax-free” weekend in our state. What this means, is that all clothing and non-food items are not taxed. Wooohoooo for tax-free weekend. Now, I realize that items are probably marked up to compensate for taxes, but I still feel as though I’m getting a deal and, to me, that’s what it’s all about.

Checking out my local yarn store. I recently discovered that there are two real, life yarn stores in my close proximity. Up until now, I’ve only been able to purchase the ho-hum yarn available at the local hobby, fabric, and craft stores. I plan to drag the YS into these two yarn stores to experience a real yarn store and good yarn. I hope I’m not disappointed.

Reading. I plan to read more of Anna Karenina. I’ve been reading a little each night, but I’m usually too tired and haven’t made much progress.

Cooking. I plan to prepare a nice, home-cooked meal for the family tonight. This would be a major change from all the eating out and fast food this week. I have no idea what to make, but I’m confident I will think of something wonderful!

Movie watching. The hubby and I plan to take the YS to see something. Not sure what, but, again, I’m not overly concerned about that right now. I plan to go with the flow.

Knitting. And if there’s any time left (yeah, right) after all of the above I hope to knit.

I’m happy with the snapshot of my day. Sure, it’s not especially exciting, but that’s okay. It’s just how I like it—simple.

Too Tired

The real post is on my knit site. But I'm still very happy. Just check out tomorrow's post.

The New District

How is your city or town in regards to having something new, such as a new restaurant, shopping center, or other new area attraction? Does everyone flock to the new location as if they had never before seen its kind? That’s what people in our area seem to do. When something new comes to town, everyone runs right over to check it out.

A case in point is a new shopping center that opened this week. Now, this new shopping location is neither an indoor mall nor is it a strip mall. Rather, it has been marketed as a shopping experience. It is basically an amusement park for shoppers. The shopping district is surrounded by a 3.5 acre park, a pond, waterfront dining, a hotel, and an amphitheater

Now, I think this sounds rather cool and I look forward to shopping there one day; however, the grand opening has drawn a larger crowd than expected. From what I've heard from friends who've ventured out to check it out, the entire area is a mess of people and traffic. Think holiday shoppers with six lanes of bumper to bumper traffic.

So, I might check it out in the spring when the hoopla has died down. And I'm not really disappointed, since it's my choice. And I'm rather happy that the new shopping district is all the rage. It leaves all the old stores with fewer shoppers to get in my way. Mwwwaaahahaaaa.

Happy Hour: Shopping without the crowds. Pure happiness.

Plan to Be Happy

Having a plan makes me happy.

Goodbye Contacts

I've worn rigid, gas-permeable contact lenses since I was 16. I couldn't tell you how many pairs of contacts I've had. I couldn't tell you how many bottles of solution, cleanser, and eye drops I've purchase over the years. I couldn't even begin to guess how much time has been consumed by their daily upkeep. And I couldn't count the number of times my itchy eyes have been teary and red.

Especially over the last five years. I seem to have developed some allergies over the years that affect my contacts. I start out fine in the morning but after a couple of hours, my eyes are dry and my vision is blurry. At lunch yesterday, I found that my vision was affected so badly that I could not read the dollar amount due on my check. My friend had to tell me the total of my meal. And I had to use eye drops to restore my vision enough to drive back to the office.

I've been to the eye doctor several times and there isn't much that can be done since the problem is caused by allergies. In a few months I'll be fine. I just don’t know that I can make it that long.

My friend could relate to my problem because, until a few months ago, she experienced the same problems I've had. That was until she had LASIK surgery this spring. She now enjoys 20/15 vision and her allergies do not affect her vision.

Since I rarely see this friend and didn't know we shared the same contact lense problem, I took it as a sign. So after my lunch incident, I contacted the local LASIK Eye Surgery specialist and scheduled a consultation for next week. The doctor will examine my eyes to determine if I'm a potential candidate for LASIK surgery. If I am, it could be the end of the line for my contact lenses. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Tuesday's Happy Hour: Medical advances make me happy. And even if I'm not a candidate for LASIK, I'm happy that it's an option.

Typical Monday

Today was a typical, manic Monday. I swear every Monday is the same—early to the gym, early to work, late for lunch, late to head home, and reluctant to make the treacherous, but necessary, stop at the grocery store. I could mix things up by shopping over the weekend, but what fun would that be? I don’t want to ruin the weekend so instead I end up running around like a crazy person every Monday. Okay, it may not just be a Monday occurrence, but play along with me here.

I race around on Monday’s until my mind is mush. Then I space out in front of the reality TV show du jour, which is all my mind can handle.

Happy Hour: Today I’m happy for mind-numbing reality TV.

Happiness 101--Sunday

As a rule, Sunday's make me happy. Next to Wednesday, Sunday is my favorite day of the week. We always kick back and bum around on Sunday. In fact Sunday is, in the Lesson Learned household at least, synonymous with sleeping in, sweatpants, and snuggling. I've done all three today.

I've devoted a great part of my day to my favorite hobbies of knitting, blogging, and reading. I've dipped into Anna Karenina and one could say that Tolstoy had me at "hello," but it would be more accurate to say that he had me at "All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." That was the very first line. Yeah, I'm hooked. And I can’t wait to learn more about the families and the reason(s) they’re unhappy.

So if you're looking for me today, you can find me snuggling up with my book, happy as can be.