The birthday/holiday/event months

February and March are crazy birthday months for us. It begins on February 5, which is my sister-in-law's birthday. From there, it spirals madly out of control. February 11 is my son's wedding anniversary. February 12 was Lincoln's birthday as well as my father-in-law's and ex-husband's birthday. Then, of course, there is Valentine's Day, which is also the birthday of one of my aunts (I just love her to death) and of a good friend of mine. They are followed immediately by February 15, the birthday of two co-workers and another friend. February 20 is my other aunt's birthday (Dad's sister). She turned 77. February 21 this year was President's Day. Every year it is my friend Sharlene's birthday. February 22 is my husband's birthday, which he shares with our first president. Sharlene's husband's birthday is the 23rd, as well as that of a very close friend from high school. Another good friend (his daughter is at the same college as my son and his wife and I gave birth just one week apart) has his birthday on the 25th. Now comes March - my daughter-in-law's birthday is the 4th. Mine is the 8th. I share that with my former assistant, Carl, and my recently deceased stepdad, Pat. My grandson's birthday is the 16th (I begged my daughter to have him on the 8th, but Tyler didn't comply) and my grandmother's birthday was the 19th. She'd have been 97 this year. She passed away just last summer. She and the aforementioned 77 year-old aunt lived together for years and years. They were quite proud of being Pisces and happy to include me in that club. Another close friend has his birthday on the 20th. My sister's birthday is March 25, to sort of cap off the madness. Oddly, I remember every one of them by heart every year. But I'm a numbers sort of gal and generally always remember birthdays.

Unfortunately, Tom came down with the flu or something yesterday. He had a miserable day at work. He couldn't keep anything down - or in - not even water, so he was very dehydrated and weak and he had to work. Jonathan came home last night to talk to us - he'd gotten into a bit of trouble at school and needed to tell us about it. Sadly, Tom just wasn't in any condition to really talk to him, but he listened and gave his comments. I have always believed that Jonathan is at Whitworth for a reason, and this latest incident has strengthened that feeling. He didn't do anything horrible, just broke a rule, for which he has consequences to pay. The good news is, it has caused him to think about what he's been doing, where he's headed, etc. and to actually start to think about his spiritual life. That's an awesome and something I have been praying for. I'm hoping the changes he wants and intends to make will expose him to new people and give him an opportunity to make new friends. He is going to go to church with his RA on Sunday - that totally rocks! He really likes his RA and feels he can really trust him. He opened up and shared a lot of really personal things with him - something he's not usually inclined to do. It is working out totally for the best. I just am so thankful that God has a plan - even when I might think He doesn't - or think I have to have one "just in case". God does have a plan and He will accomplish His purpose, despite our foolishness.

So, back to the birthdays - Tom is feeling much better today. He was dreading going to work because it's also the day of his annual review. He figured he was going to have to fight with his boss about his on-road numbers. Surprise, surprise! She told him he got a 7 - the highest you can get - in that category. He was convinced he wouldn't because they've been set so high he has only been achieving about 85% in on-road productivity most days. They talked so long about that part of his review they didn't get to finish it, so he'll have to finish it tonight or tomorrow, but so far, it looks good. He's used to getting a 6.8, 6.9, or 7 on his review, and has for 18 years. Anything less, for him, is simply unacceptable. So, a sort of birthday present - knowing he got a 7 in on-road. He probably will only want soup for dinner, so no fancy birthday dinner. I am going to get him a little present - nothing big, just a nose-hair trimmer - and just try to make tonight as nice as I can for him. He is now officially a senior citizen - 55.

I finished my e-rate application last Friday. That was the deadline. It was so hectic. I applied for over $40,000 in discounts! If we get fully funded, we can do all sorts of stuff we would have had to wait a couple of years to do. We will only have to pay $20,000 for $60,000 worth of services and equipment (new servers, voice mail system, etc.) so it's very cool. We're also going to switch from T1 to DSL in this building, providing us with 7 times the download speed, and from 256k to T1 at the branch in Clark Fork, which will be huge. The gross costs will be the same as we're paying now. The net costs, once e-rate kicks in, will be so much less than we're paying now it's going to be great.

So, that's the latest. I've been so busy with work and haven't had anything I felt was interesting enough to write about - not that this is all that earth-shattering - that I've neglected my blog. I will try to get back on track. Not that anyone is reading this... but you never know...

Ol’ Blue Four Eyes

I started wearing glasses in 7th grade. I distinctly remember the first day in class after I got my glasses. I remember looking at the clock in the classroom and was surprised to see that there were dots noting the minutes between the numbers. I never been able to see them before. The reason no one had noticed my vision problems before 7th grade was that I was one of those kids who always sat in the front of the classroom, so I could see the blackboard just fine. Turned out my vision was pretty awful - 20/425 in my right eye and 20/375 in left. So, from 7th grade on, I wore glasses. I officially became a nerd and totally looked the part. We were poor growing up. When wire rimmed glasses came into style, I wanted a pair so bad. I was convinced wire rims would make me cool. We were on public assistance during my junior high and high school years. The good news was, for the first time in our lives, we kids got medical, dental and vision care. The bad news was, MediCal would only cover plastic frames, not wire rim frames. Goodbye cool. By the time I was a freshman in college, I decided I really wanted contact lenses. But in 1972, the only contacts regularly prescribed were hard {crunch} glass lenses. They were notoriously difficult to adapt to. Then, a scientific miracle (to me at least) - soft contact lenses!! By the end of my freshman year of college I had saved enough money to get them. I'll never forget the first day I had them. I could see everything, no frames, no borders, I could see! I adapted to them very quickly, wearing them all day within a week. I was in heaven!

I endured the mixing of saline solution to clean them, the boiling to disinfect them, the milky white spots that would form on them, necessitating replacement lenses (later discovered to be protein deposits that were cooked on during the boiling process) a couple of times a year. I was one of the first to get extended wear lenses back in the early 80's. I've done it all when it comes to soft contacts. I've worn them exclusively for 32 years. I never saw any reason to wear anything else. But my astigmatism in my right eye has gotten worse, necessitating that I wear a toric lens in my right eye. Unfortunately, for some bizarre reason, the lens wants to twist off axis when I wear it. I've tried about 5 different brands. Some are worse than others, but they all twist. Even when the doctor sees that the lens goes off axis 10 degrees to the right, and orders a lens weighted to sit 10 degrees to the left, hoping to negate the twist, it still twists. He doesn't understand it. He did say there are about 200 brands from which to choose, and one is bound to work, but it's getting frustrating. Adding to the problem is the fact that, with my contacts in, my near vision is not as good as it used to be. If the light isn't bright enough, if the print is really small, I need reading glasses. Without my contacts, I can read anything in any light, I just can't see past the end of my nose (well, it seems like that anyway). So, I decided it was time to get glasses that corrected my myopia, my astigmatism, and my presbyopia, and just accept the fact that I need to wear glasses during the work week. So, I ordered drill mount (rimless) glasses with progressive lenses. I've been wearing my "backup" glasses (they don't correct my near vision) for the last few weeks while at work since I've been getting headaches trying to deal with the twisting right lens, lifting them up to read small stuff in poor light. I figured the new glasses would look better (less like I'm wearing glasses) and let me see everything in every light condition. So, they came in last night. Actually, they came in day before yesterday at the optician in Coeur d'Alene I had to go to in order to take advantage of the vision coverage I now have under Tom's insurance. I had Tom pick them up on his way home last night. I put them on only to discover that they are in serious need of adjustment. I'll get that done this morning at the WalMart vision center. Beyond that, wow, is it weird to have this portion of the lenses magnifying everything. If you don't look through them properly, like tip your head down a bit to look at the computer screen so you're looking through the myopia correcting part of the lens and not the presbyopia correcting part, you can't see. Tip your head to the side and everything gets distorted. I hope I can adapt to them. Millions of people do, so why wouldn't I? But boy, it's really weird - and a bit nauseating.

So, now, instead of being old blue eyes, I am definitely old four eyes. Just in time for my 50th birthday. Ugh.