Aug 27, 2008

Does This Mean I'm Middle Aged??

I had a whole large post planned out for tonight but I have a vicious headache from clenching my jaw so I'll pass on that. Why am I clenching my jaw? It appears that it's an subconscious effort to keep my new glasses (choke... bi-fo-cals... agh!) in the proper place to see.

Actually, they're progressives and I will say that, when they're not slid down my nose, they definitely make it easier to see.

Oy.

Aug 20, 2008

Dem Damn Ducks

Is still nibblin'. (And, yes, Virginia - oh, yes - these ducks have very big pointy teeth - the avian version of the rabbits from MP&THG.)

I know, I know... I haven't posted in a couple weeks. I know, I know... my new year's resolution (one of them) was to blog more often. But, basically, when it comes down to it? I have a boring life that's of interest to pretty much no one but me and, honestly?, even I'm not that interested. So I tend not to post when things are beneficial to the insomniac population.

And, then, there's the whine factor. I have NO RIGHT to bitch. There are, quite literally, billions of people who have lives that are truly Godawful in comparison to mine so to whine about being stuck at home with my kids all day, working at night, with no free time and no money is just me being a candyass and I admit it freely. So I tend not to post when I'm feeling indigo on the edges.

But as it's been a couple of weeks I felt I ought to at least get something up. So what's been going on?

The spouse's business is struggling. Paycheck is down by about $800 this month so far. And the frightening thing is that summers are usually the "good" time of year for income. Sort of fills me with trepidation for the fall and, particularly, the winter. Also, he's a real winner when his business is suffering. Fun is. My business, too, has been dead since I had the baby. I'm starting to make jewelry again though and hopefully I can get a couple of home parties booked for the fall. But, in the good news column, turns out we're getting (supposedly) a stimulus check. Good. It should pay for my new (shudder!!) bifocals.

Yes, at 41, my eyes have sh*t the bed and I'm moving from just astigmatic and incredibly myopic to astigmatic, incredibly myopic, and in dire need of magnification and good reading light. I can get new lenses for my current frames for my regular glasses but I do need to replace my prescription sunglasses which are now 2 (3?) prescriptions behind. Total cost: $631 - which, actually, was much cheaper than I expected. My last full pair of prescription glasses (last year) was $382 and that was without the progressives. Yet, even in the blindness, there's a little good news - despite being so blind as to not even be able to tell there were letters up without my glasses, I'm still correctable to 20-25 SO I can still pass my medical to fly - assuming I can ever afford to utilize my license again!

Ok, what else... Is it possible to die from overexposure to a preschooler? Just curious. She starts preschool September 2. I'm maudlin and madly looking forward to it by turns. In the meantime, you'll find me cowering under the dining room table trying to get the newspaper read and a cup of coffee drunk before Phil the Prince of Insufficient Light starts knocking on the door with his giant spoon. Registered her for dance class today. Raided her savings account to pay for it but I think it will be good for her. The giving up of nap seems to be agreeing with her. Me, well, let's not go there.

So, I'm trying to figure out how I can manage to get something productive done without having naptime to do it. My latest theory was that I'd redo my office into a creative space for all of us and have Miss Preschooler draw while I bang metal. But the budget precludes any true redoing. I figure I'll raid the basement and see if I can come up with anything that will work.

The infant member of the household (no, I did say infant, infantile is a different person) had her 4 month visit to the doctor today. She grew 3" in the last 2 months. She's now 95th percentile for weight and 75th for height. She appears to be very healthy despite her premature start. And though we were worried about a potential hearing issue, the ped feels she's just been inured to noise by said preschooler overexposure. She's teething. And, be there no mistake about this, oatmeal is definitely on her Do Not Feed This To Me Under Penalty of Much Noise list.

And that's the news from Lake Wobegon
Where all the women are strong,
all the men are good looking,
and all the children are above average.

So back I go to read contracts which, of course, is what I'm being paid to do. Sounds like a barrel of laughs, doesn't it? More like a barrel of monkeys...