Birthday Subscription Boxes

My birthday presents to myself this year were mostly subscription boxes. I wanted to try a couple new ones. The first one was a bit of a bust. I got 1 month of Finders Seekers, which is a type of mystery game where you look for clues in the items in the box. I thought it might be fun to play with my family. We’re not that kind of family, I guess. We used the hints on every clue and did solve it, but we did it mostly to just get it over with. It’s similar to the Outfoxed board game, which is more for kids and my family loves, and prefers, to what this box had. Oh well, we tried it and now we know. 

The second box was from Introverts Retreat. I did this one on a whim at the last minute and had very low expectations. Book subscription boxes always look fun, but I am very picky about my books and rarely read mainstream or literary fiction. I absolutely loved this one. I got to choose my drink (hot chocolate) and genre (romance, which I picked because I figured it was a throw away book anyway and mysteries I don't pick myself never work out). The book they sent was a Georgette Heyer that I don’t have and will absolutely read. And the treats and candle are just fun. I was only going to do one month of this one but I’m going to do another one because I liked it so much. A win, for sure.

 

And finally, I got myself a 3 month Succulents Monthly subscription. I get a little plant in the mail along with a pot and soil. The first one came and it looks like it might be a fun little box that I will be happy to get. However, the succulent was frozen and all of the little leaves had fallen off. Are they even called leaves on a succulent? I contacted the company and they are sending me another plant. That’s really great of them. Now that I’ve seen the type of plant I’m supposed to be getting, I really want it. I’m hoping for better weather in March and April so hopefully my next couple months of plants survive the shipping. 

So another great birthday month is over for the year, but the presents will still be coming. Ha ha ha

Silent Night

Last night as I wasn't sleeping, I opened up the blinds and then opened the window and watched it snow for a bit. It was so peaceful. It was almost 2:00 am so there were no tracks in the snow and only the occasional sound of a car on the usually busy street a few blocks over. Even if I wasn't sleeping and wished I was, it was a really lovely night to be looking out the window. 

New Glasses, Part II

I finally got my new reading glasses. I say finally, even though it’s only been about 12 days. I missed them. The progressive bifocal is just not the same. It’s great for some things but not for hours of reading. And with my updated prescription, the words are sharp again. I love it. 

I also did my first dry eye treatment and now I’m wondering what I got myself into. LOL It’s called Optilight or Ultilight? I can’t remember. But it wasn’t exactly done the way the brochure said. It’s like laser light applied to your face and eyelids to get your cells to repair themselves or something like that. It was the option most likely to give quicker results so I took it. 

I have had electrolysis done before so I was kind of expecting something like that, but it did not feel anything like it. They put numbing drops in my eyes (like 3 different times) and then they smeared some kind of gel/lotion all over my face and eyelids and then put some kind of cover over my eyeballs to protect them from the light. I still saw lots of light flashes and it wasn’t until they took the caps back off that I realized how dark they actually made everything. Then it’s almost like being struck with a rubber band that’s on fire. But in my mind I keep thinking it was a tiny defibrillator being used because I jumped/twitched every single time. Dr. said that was normal. So yes, when the hot thing touched my face it hurt and burned. But it was only for a second and it disappeared fast. The actual treatment on the eyelids didn’t hurt at all. It’s much lighter. The upper lip area and sides of my forehead hurt the worst. 

When that part was done I got to wipe off my face and clean it up then the doctor tried to get my meibomian glands to express oil. My right eye got a little bit out and he said it was the consistency of tooth paste, but it’s supposed to be more like olive oil. My left eye not a drop. After my 4-6 treatments, I’m supposed to see some real improvement there. Now, I just can’t go in the sun without sunscreen and hat on, but that’s not a problem at this time of year, plus I always wear sunscreen. 

Overall, right after the treatment was finished, I felt like I had been run over by a train or something. I was wiped, even though the actual pain disappeared by the time I cleaned my face off. The sunburn feeling was gone by the time I drove home. Now its just my eyelids that feel a little soreness and that’s not even worse than normal. So yes, I can handle it and I will be fine, it’s just a really strange, weird process. Next time I’ll be more prepared for it and bring something to pull back my hair and clip back my bangs. I really, really hope this helps.  

Closets

I cleaned out my closet yesterday on a whim. I had been thinking about what would happen when I had to start traveling for work again. My corporate office is business casual and my normal office is just plain casual. I wear t-shirts and jeans every day. I was wondering if I even had any nice clothes left that fit. In the past few years, I have only bought t-shirts. So I started going through everything and trying things on. I ended up with a huge pile of clothes to give away. Some have never even been worn. I got rid of everything that didn’t fit or things that I didn’t like how they fit or looked. I even ended up with a pair of pants I forgot I had that do fit and I haven’t worn them, plus found some jeans I haven’t worn in a long time. I also ended up with one pair of nice black trouser pants and maybe 2 nicer shirts I could wear with them. I’ve decided to start early to get some nicer clothes so I’m not scrambling if the time to travel comes sooner rather than later. I should probably add shoes to that as well. I can’t wear dressy flats any more so I need a nicer shoe that has some support. I think I will also go through my puzzles this weekend before I take everything to the D.I. I know there are some I can get rid of. It feels good to lighten my closets up a bit.

I’m trying to not go too crazy for birthday shopping month so I won’t fill them back up again. Its fun to shop a bit, but I don’t need so much “stuff”. So far, I’ve settled on some eye friendly make up from Sephora, a couple books, and 3 subscription boxes that I wanted to try but won’t keep going. And that’s good enough for this year. I’m more interested in saving money for the things I need to do to keep my dry eyes happy. That includes a fish oil supplement which is crazy expensive.  But I’m willing to do what it takes and if they help then that’s where I’ll spend my money. 

New Glasses

So you know when the eye doctor says the good news is that you don’t have mites, there’s going to be some bad news. Lack of mites is my good news?! LOL I already knew it was bad news because I’ve lived with my dry eyes for a while now. They were feeling ok so I hadn’t been back to the doctor in a while but it turns out they really weren’t doing ok. So I opted for the less invasive, more expensive treatment in hopes that it works quickly and well. My boss might think it strange to have so many eye doctor appointments on my calendar. Fingers crossed that it helps. I’m managing, but some days are bad.

 

The actual good news is that I’m adjusting to a progressive bifocal lens and the world is much sharper again, at least when I’m looking through the correct spot in my glasses. I have a straight reading lens being ordered too because I can’t tip my head back all day at work to read. So now I’m a person who carries around 2 pairs of glasses. I’m going to need a bigger purse. Good thing it’s birthday shopping month!  

January Blues

Well, covid has certainly hit my family. My sister and her 2 year old and my brother's entire family are sick with it. That means that my mom and I are the only households to escape it, thus far. I'm just resigned to getting sick at this point. I got my vaccine booster shot a few weeks ago and wear a mask except for at work, where I pretty much stay in my office, but I don't think I can stop it. With the numbers as high as they are, I'm back to home church for awhile. I started working from home this week as soon as my family started getting sick. I'm going to the grocery store bright and early tomorrow morning to get some things for my brother and sister while they are stuck at home. It's all I can do. 

I'm tired, tired, tired of it. 

I don't actually have January blues, but I definitely have pandemic fatigue.

I've been reading some good books. So there is that. 

Welcome to 2022

Happy New Year, I guess. I didn’t do anything for new year’s and as an introvert I find that completely acceptable. Of course the news has been filled with dire covid warnings for parties and people are mad. I’m avoiding the news for another 2 days. I’d rather be home anyway.

This morning I’m feeling hopefully optimistic about the new year. Last night going to bed, I was not. I still feel like I desperately need something to look forward to this year. I don’t know what that will be yet, but I’m going to come up with something. 

I’m going to spend this day staying home and doing a few things around the house, maybe another puzzle. I can’t spend any money. My paycheck frequency is changing from weekly to bi-weekly and I don’t know how to handle it. LOL the money is the same but I have to change a little bit about the way I budget it for my bills. So I’m planning on building up a little bit extra in my checking account just in case. So no shopping for me. I don’t need groceries, gas, or anything else online or at a store. 

The sun is shining and the snow is bright white outside. Bring on 2022.