Overbooked

I have a pretty busy life. That is my choice. I don't do well with bored. Idle hands and all that. But every now and then, as life would have it, something unexpected pops up into the middle of my busy life and I find myself scrambling.

Back in January, I was dreaming of warn white sand beaches, tropical sunshine and well, heaven. So I scheduled a week and a half off from work and booked a trip to Mexico. We'd gone last year, and was planning the return trip before we even left the country to come home. I was happy. I was excited. I had months to wait, but that was okay. It's alway good to have something on the horizon to look forward to.

In February, I made a trip to the eye doctor...one of those maintenance things required to keep me in good(?) running shape. I do this every two years. Surprise! I have cataracts. I have what? I'm too young for cataracts! Yes, I am told, this is unusual. If I had a dime for every time a doctor told me that...

Anyway, long story short...a few more trips, a lot of whining and complaining on my part, as this is all highly inconvenient, I am told I will need eye surgery. More whining, cue the violins. More doctor appointments, testing, prodding, poking, etc. Surgery gets scheduled, along with follow up visits, six appointments at four locations over the course of three weeks...nine days after I get home from Mexico. That means, count it up boys and girls, a trip out of the country and two surgeries (both eyes) in a month.

So now, my brain is swimming in self pity, tempered with utter exuberance...that makes me one slightly confused and highly over whelmed individual. I need to start making lists. Who am I kidding? I need to reorganize the multiple lists I've already started into some form of helpful stream of...what? Where am I?

Oh, who cares, I'll soon be drinking fruity drinks with the smell of sun tan oil, the sound of waves and cabana boys that want to get the senora a drink...no pity here.

Choices

I was asked, "If given the choice would you rather be smart or pretty."

I answered, "I would prefer to be interesting."

"That isn't one of the choices."

I replied, "That is what makes me interesting. I refuse to confine myself to the choices that other people limit me to."

I was assured, at the very least, that I would never be boring.

I can live with that.

Vision

I have always had the fear of losing my vision. I am severely near-sighted, four inches beyond my nose is about my limit. When I was a kid the eye doctor used to threaten that I would need a seeing eye dog if I didn't wear my glasses...guess we know where the fear originated. Over the years I have had issues with my eyes; flashes, floaters, etc. I have been told that my eyes are unusually oblong, causing thinning of their surface...wanna talk about an idea that will scare the crap out of you. I have had posterior vitrial detachment. I have been warned about retinal detachment. So I feel completely vindicated in my worry. 


Now, I am losing my vision. Not from any of the things I have been warned or worried about, but from cataracts. A cataract is a clouding of the lens. This is something most people deal with much later in life, usually in their 60's. I am a little ahead of my time. Cataracts normally develop over a long period of time, mine have appeared and compromised my vision in less than 2 years. My ability to see is declining on a measurable basis...in weeks.


In hindsight, I see all the measures I have taken to counteract the deterioration of my vision, the loss of detail and the increased glare caused by the foggy film inside my eye. All of my web pages that offer design options are dark...less glare. I bought a new living room lamp, put in brighter bulbs and ultimately bought a book light to get enough light to see the print. I've even found myself adjusting the brightness setting down. It's a fine line between needing more light to see and fighting glare.


Fortunately, this is all correctable. I can have surgery. I will have surgery...sometime in the next few months, first the left eye, then the right. I won't even begin to explain what a mess that is going to be with surgery, work, recovery, vision adjustments, glasses, medications, eye shields...driving. I get anxious just considering it all. I expect a course of 3-6 months before it is all said and done...assuming I don't get a secondary cataract, infection or any other unforeseen incident as they say in medical jargon. 


It is a small thing in the world of big and scary things. I work in the medical field, I know all about big and scary. But this is my scary thing, this is what sets heavily on my mind.

Spanking...teens

I caught part of a story the other day about a girl that had been suspended because of her prom dress. The part that caught my attention was when they stated she was the only one, of a dozen or so, that was suspended. The other girls had elected to be spanked rather than be suspended. WHAT??? Girls going to the prom, we're talking teenage girls here...and the school is spanking them as punishment? Are you serious? Where are all those civil liberties people and child advocates? Where are all the people that make parents fearful to even raise their voices to their children in public? Where is the public outcry? 

I have several issues with this. Mainly the fact that I don't think any school has the right to spank a child. That should be the parent's responsibility. Then the school can call the authorities and have you arrested for child abuse. Hello? Wake up call. Besides, aren't teen girls are a little too old for corporal punishment? Was someone getting their jollies? I have this mental image of a me twirling around, asking, "Do you like my dress?" Then flipping up the back and requesting to be spanked in a sultry voice.

Back in my day, after avoiding dinosaurs, you arrived to the prom in your much sought after finery. Most of the dresses were floor length, some were backless, some had sequins and some were slit up a thigh. Teen girls playing dress up. Girls today seem much more sophisticated than the girls of those bygone days...or maybe the fashion industry has discovered the depth of Mom and Dad's pockets when it comes to keeping princess happy. So I wondered what the schools dress code consisted of. One news story stated, "The dress code prohibits, among other things, transparent materials and revealing necklines. “Our community has certain expectations of what is appropriate,” the principal says." Most formal type dresses are not turtlenecks. If a girl has any gifts at all up top, there are going to be some revelations for some teen boy. Though I seriously doubt that it will be anything they haven't already seen.

I saw this girl's dress. It was turquoise, fluffy and diaphanous. She is not flat chested, but she wasn't hanging out of it either. It was above the knee, slightly. Not my style, but not objectionable. She didn't look like a whore, slut or pop star. She did not deserve a three day suspension. She did not deserve to have her once in a lifetime Senior prom ruined by small minded school officials. I never did hear if the girls that elected to be paddled were allowed to attend the prom. Spanking Senior girls for their choice of prom dresses...seriously Alabama, welcome to the 21st century.