Everything Is Clear…except my vision

I went to the eye doctor today; it turns out I should have gone a solid six months ago.  (Confession: I do not follow the official guidelines and am on my own biennial plan.)  I’m due for an appointment next month, but since my right contact seemed a bit foggy I decided to go early, so as to get a current prescription and buy new ones.  (You cannot order contacts with an expired prescription; prescriptions are valid for one year.)  I know my contacts are old and assumed that to be the issue.  Contacts don’t last forever, you know.  Um, there were other, greater, issues.

1.) My formerly stable vision?  Yeah, no so much.  Ol’ righty is a disaster.  My left eye didn’t change much, so it’s still all right for me to drive wearing my contacts.  (I asked.)

2.) I knew my lens were a little dated, but turns out they are four YEARS old.  Whoops.  I gave new meaning to “extended” wear.

3.) I was wearing my contacts on the opposite eyes from which they were intended.  That explains a lot.

I ordered new lenses.  Going forward, I will be following the standard “annual exam” guidelines.

Woah!

Yesterday was the 25th time I’ve title a post “Five Good Things.”  Initially – and intermittantly - I tried/try to be sassy with my titles so that was the 48th 5GT overall.  FORTY EIGHT!  That’s 240 good things. 

It’s not that bad to be me.

Big Day, Lights and Sirens

I’ll post more on this later, but by 9:30 this morning, I’d had my first rides in both an ambulance and a police cruiser.  (I’m totally fine.)  The distances of both rides are best measured in blocks.  Since 9:30am, I have not ridden in any emergency vehicles.  Unless I meet a studly firefighter, I’m hoping to keep up this trend.

To Crock (v)

Recently, a friend hit me up for a definition of “crocking.”  Most simply, crocking is the action of using a crockpot.  Less simply, and more accurately, I gave her this response:

Some people might tell you that crocking isn’t really a word and that it’s the verbitizing of a brand name - a brand name which is probably trademarked.  I’m here to tell you that those people are losers and pick their noses all the time.  Crocking is the cool kids’ version of slow cooking.  It’s a bit more extreme and requires a lot more passion.  Fear not though!  It’s still fantastically energy efficient. 

Slow cooking is what nanas do.  Slooooooooooooow cooking is what the chef on South Park WOULD do.  Crocking is a movement of our time. 

 

Crock on, world, crock on.

Hot Chocolate

Yum.  I a convert of making my own hot chocolate.  My friend SB recently blogged about how “it’s basically as easy/quick, yet much tastier” to make one’s own hot chocolate.  I’ll agree with her on the second point, but not the first.  However, while it is significantly more involved and time consuming to make cocoa from scratch, it’s still super easy and super fast…and super worth it.

As per my usual, I didn’t actually measure anything.  Thus, I can’t comment on her exact recipe.  I CAN (and will!) say that it is a great guide.  I really liked the kick from the cinnamon; it was NOT too much.   Try it.  You’ll love us both.  Recipe is here . 

This would probably work well in a crockpot, for a larger group or thirsty/cold friends.  I would probably melt the chocolate in a saucepan, for faster results.  It would require an extra pan, but I think that is worth it to avoid melting chocolate in a crock.

Warning: This is super rich and makes Swiss Miss look/taste/smell like dirty water.

Warning #2: NO RUM FOR KIDS.

Presents!

I bought a birthday present for one of my favorite little people.  I’m feeling a bit guilty about it as it is one of those gifts that can be kind of annoying for the adults involved.  Honestly, a lot of presents for kids are annoying in some capacity; even Legos lose their allure when stepped on with a bare foot.   Regardless of what the parents think, I think I got the little guy a pretty kickass birthday gift.  In addition to catering to his interests, it also hits on a developmental area in which he has “potential for further growth and development.”   At least I didn’t get him a drum set; he would not like that anyway.

Drugs

I loathe the taste of Dayquil/Nyquil.  I find the cup filthy and gross, even though I don’t use it.   The bottles are hard to transport, particularly to work.  Why do I insist upon buying the cough syrups versus the gelcaps?

Halloween Reflections

At expectation, I went to a couple of Halloween parties Saturday night.   I made the following observations:

1.) The Halloween crowd on public transit is less scary and more interesting than the usual crowd.

2.) Despite point one, the solitary, uncostumed elderly gentleman on the bus wanted to be my new BFF and chatted me up.  Halloween or not, I struggle with ignoring people with whom I do not want to be friends.  I generally don’t like strangers, but that seems rude.  I often remember too late to pretend I don’t speak English and just reply in Russian. 

3.) As a child, how my costume would work with appropriate outerwear was a HUGE consideration.  As an adult, how annoying my costume will be in a crowd is my primary consideration.  (This year I went for an easily removeable costume – win! – which I removed after the novelty wore off…and when I went to the bathroom.)

My Head Shows My Age

I “did” my hair a little differently than usual today, which meant some normally hidden hairs made their way to the top layer.  My normally response to non-conformist hairs is to pull them out.  Today, however, they received a reprieve as I was tired and their numbers were strong.  Instead, I am going to try to remarket them to myself.  Here are some ideas:

1.) Sparkly hairs – sort of like hair glitter for the over-30 crowd.   (Except I had my first sparkly hair in eighth grade.)

2.) SHINY hairs – who doesn’t like shiny things?  Shiny like money or jewelry.

3.) Open-minded hairs – let the top of my head be a symbol of racial equality.

4.) Way to get a bus seat hairs - the sign says to stand for the elderly.

I think I might be onto something.  Interestingly, the chemicals from hair coloring did not inspire any of these ideas.  I am just not ready to go there.

Five Good Things

1.) I made a deposit at the bank on Sunday.  My bank recently changed its hours and the teller decided to give me a random quiz on the new hours.  (I was the only person there = likely bored.)  When I got the answers TOTALLY RIGHT, the teller was not only impressed, but convinced by another teller to give me a prize.  Yay for free grocery bags!

2.) My bank is open on Sundays.  

3.) Indian Summer.  Now is the time.

4.) I booked my tickets for Thanksgiving vacation!  AND I get to cut out of town midday on Tuesday.

5.) I got lab work results and I’m all good.  (Maintenance appointment.)