What's been going on here?
- Illness--We all got the respiratory flu, or something like it, during the first full week of February. I have not been that sick in a very long time. It was awful and lasted a full week for the kids and I. Matt came down with it first on Sat., then the kids and I had it on Mon. Poor Matt had to take care of the rest of us even though he still felt fairly bad, too. Almost 3 weeks later, we're *still* recovering from it. I was even sick on my birthday and we were unable to celebrate. Oh well, I'm probably past the age where birthdays are really necessary to celebrate. LOL! Luckily, Garrett didn't miss much school because we got some snow that week as well.
- Eyes--I've had a roller coaster month with my eyes. I'm very, very nearsighted and have worn glasses since 2nd grade and rigid gas permeable (RGP) contacts since I was 11. My last pair of contacts were 12 years old and were starting to bother me. I looked into participating in a study for P-IOLs (phakic intra-ocular lens implants). This is similar to cataract surgery, but the natural lens is not removed from the eye and another, corrective lens is implanted to improve vision. I had decided to go for it. Eye surgery requires that contacts not be worn for several weeks prior to surgery. For me, I had to be without my RGPs for 3 weeks, have an initial exam, have a 2nd exam a week later, then plan the surgeries on my eyes--so up to 7 weeks in glasses. The eyes need to go back to their natural shape, esp. when you've worn RGPS for as long as I have.
I spent the week we were sick in my glasses. It was TERRIBLE! I couldn't see worth a darn and felt like my glasses were keeping me sicker than I ordinarily would've been. I gave up on Sat. and put my contacts back in. I decided that it's not worth the torture of wearing glasses I can't see with or drive in. I've gotten along with contacts just fine for most of my life, so they aren't that much of a hardship for me. Plus, I think I was jumping into the surgery too quickly.
I went to the eye doctor the next week and was told that the reason I can't see with my glasses is because they are TOO STRONG! Huh?! I was totally shocked, but it makes sense why it seemed so hard to focus on things far away. Crazy! Currently, I'm trying out some extended wear soft contact lenses and I'm liking them. The first set I wasn't getting great vision with, but this second set that I got this Thurs. are great! Great vision, but I can feel the left one a little bit too much sometimes. Have another appointment next Wed. to see if these are going to work for me and then the eye doc will write me a Rx. Lots o' driving to Chillicothe for this, but I'm sure it'll be worth it in the end.
I haven't completely given up on eye surgery for sometime in the future, but I just don't think now is the time. We'll see what technology brings down the road. - Substitute Teaching--I've been substitute teaching a bit this month. I'm saving my paychecks to possibly purchase a Canon Rebel DSLR. Since I don't have all the money for a camera yet, I'm trying to learn more about the operation of DSLR cameras and more about photography in general. I'm reading Quick Snap Guide to Digital SLR Photography. Study, study!
- Visiting Family--We visited my family last weekend and had a lovely time. My parents bought the kids bunk beds so they wouldn't have to share a bed anymore. They are sleeping so much better because they aren't kicking and pulling the covers off of each other. LOL! Gracen's loud thumb-sucking one night ran Matt out of the bedroom (the bunk beds and a double bed are in my old bedroom, so the kids, Matt, & I all sleep in the same room) and to the couch! I thought it was pretty funny!
My parents, sister, & BIL got me some new FIRM workouts that I asked for. I haven't done them all yet, but I like them so far! Thanks, folks! - Treadmills & iPods--Since this winter has been so yucky, I have been stuck inside to workout. I love my FIRM workouts, but I do like to walk/jog every now and again. It's been either too cold/snowy/windy or too muddy to get outside for exercise. Plus, the kids together will weigh too much for the double jogger stroller once the weather gets better. Garrett is just too big for it anyway, but he's not yet experienced enough to ride his bike alongside me on our hilly gravel roads around here. Now would be the perfect time to get a treadmill. After much research and looking around, I had decided on a one. The very day I was going to go pick it up, Matt called and said that his aunt and uncle will give us theirs! We're supposed to get it this weekend. How wonderful is that?!
To go along with the treadmill, I've been looking the past couple of weeks at MP3 players. I tell ya, there is a dazzling array of these things available. They also do a lot more than just play music if you spend only a tiny bit more money on them. First, I bought a cheapy ILO brand (or something) at Wal-Mart. It wouldn't even turn on! Returned it. Then, bought a Memorex at Target. Got it home and saw that it got awful reviews on Amazon and Target.com. Gonna return it. After researching and agonizing and agonizing and researching, I bought a 4GB Apple iPod Nano. It's more money than I originally wanted to spend, but I figure the whole family can benefit from it--we can listen to audiobooks in the car on long drives or the kids can watch videos on it. I plan to use it when I'm on the treadmill. I'm going to purchase Cardio Coach to do some training. I haven't tried CC yet, but I've heard good things. I also miss listening to Dr. Laura since she's not on the radio around here anymore, so I'm going to try subscribing to her podcasts. I'm also going to start exploring the wide world of digital media--there are lots of free mommy podcasts on iTunes, podcasts for kids, videos, movies, music--lots of stuff! It'll be fun to play with the iPod.
That's the majority of what we've been doing, I guess. I have a bag order that I need to complete before next Wed. I've had no time to work on my other sewing projects though. Thus we come back to the main question: Is it the winter blahs or laziness?
