rain = no need for sunglasses :(

so today . . .  it rained.

it rained.  here i am, with brand new prescription sunglasses...  and it rained.

the cosmos hates me...

new glasses = a big smile :)

so today . . .  i got new glasses :)  actually, i got three pair of new glasses :) :) :)

i've had issues with my eyes since i fell and broke my glasses a couple of year ago.  before that, i would get my eyes checked, get a pair of glasses, wear them until i noticed i couldn't see anymore, and then lather, rinse, repeat...

but that cycle was broken when i fell and broke my glasses last year.  my new glasses just didn't seem to work as well as the old ones.  but the problem was, i had my glasses made at a different place than i had the exam.  so, who to blame?  were the glasses made incorrectly?  was the exam faulty? or was the prescription written incorrectly?

 i sort of have my suspicions...

i sort of think that perhaps there was a mistake with the prescription.  but by the time i realized that there was maybe a problem with the glasses and i wasn't just adjusting to a new prescription, it was too late to get anything done.  and i really loved the glasses, so i learned to live with it.  but i was determined that when i was ready for another eye exam, i would get both my exam and glasses at kaiser (where i have insurance.)  then, if there was a problem, i could get help.

so, i made an appointment for an eye exam at the beginning of march.  my plan was to keep my frames (which i love) and just get new lenses.  i had the exam.  i was the first appointment in the morning, because i am convinced that my eyes are worse in the morning.  the doctor said there wasn't much change.  this should have been my first clue that things were not going to go smoothly...  i know i have trouble seeing, especially close up, so when he said there wasn't much change, i should have realized that something was wrong.  but it was early, my brain wasn't really percolating yet, and i needed to get back to work.

i went out to see what it was going to cost to get new lenses, only to discover that my insurance benefit wouldn't kick in until november.  november.  that's seven months away!  and that wasn't the only problem.  the bigger problem was that i only have this one pair of glasses, and since kaiser sends their glasses out for lenses, i would be without any corrective eyewear for two weeks.  which is just impossible.

clearly, i needed a new pair of glasses.  right now.  i took a few minutes to look at kaiser.  i pulled the frames off that i had seen the day before (apparently the woman i helped decided to go another way...)  i asked about the price, and decided nearly $600 was too much for a back up pair of glasses.  because, again, i really like the glasses i have!  i needed another solution...

i scoured the internet.  i checked out target (did you know they have an optical department?  i'm telling you, target has EVERYTHING!)  i found glasses i liked, but the prices were still too high.  and then i saw an ad for glasses at sears. (SEARS has an optical department?!?!?)  it was a screamin' deal for two pair of glasses.  so i went in.  just to check it out...

and i met danielle.  danielle is about 12 years old, and contrary to my previous experiences, didn't wear any glasses at all!  i asked danielle about the special and she explained it to me, finishing with, "look around!  see what you like, and let me know when you are ready for me to figure out the price for you."  ok, i could do that.  because while sears does have an optical department, it is about the size of my bathroom, so it wasn't going to take long...

i was by myself.  shopping for new glasses.  this is usually not a good idea.  except, i have very definite ideas about what i like, so even when someone else is with me, i am pretty much just looking for them to say, "oh yeah, i like those."  danielle was able to fill that need for me, and by the time i was done, she had written up an order for two pair of glasses and a pair of prescription sunglasses (which i have never, ever had before!  good bye fit-overs!) and all for less than it was going to cost me for one pair of glasses at kaiser...

(to be fair, these are not designer frames, and one of them was on clearance.  but i like them.  and did i mention that i also got sunglasses?!?!?  they aren't sparkly.  but, i can take them to the oc swap meet and have the lady who does the very expensive phone covers encrusted with swarovsky crystals add some bling for me.  which is my evil plan for saturday morning... and it is only an evil plan, because i am not telling rollie that i am going.  he has to work on saturday, so he can't go.  and i'm taking diandra, which means it will be fun.  but i don't want rollie to be sitting in meetings, thinking he would rather be with us at the swap meet and feeling all bummed.  so i'm just not going to tell him we are going until we get back.  and that is why i have to label my plan as evil...)

but i had to go home and think it over.  it seemed like a good deal.  and i would finally have an actual pair of prescription sunglasses with non-glare coating on both sides of the lenses--a major benefit when you have to deal with the califoria sunshine nearly every day!  but you know me,  i needed time to percolate, process, and ponder...

which i did, for over a week, until danielle called to remind me that the sale would be ending in two days!  so i quit percolating, processing, and pondering, and talked it over with rollie.  we made a decision (which included the sunglasses-yay!) and the order was placed.  which meant i had to wait.  again.  i am terrible at waiting...

i woke up this morning feeling the anticipation that new glasses always brings.  i went to work, and then i dashed to sears as soon as i clocked out.  danielle wasn't there (which is probably just as well.  she keeps telling me how i HAVE to go see 'the hunger games,' because it is 'the best movie EVER!!')  but i was still able to pick up my new glasses.  all three pair.  and i do think the prescription is better, even if it is only a little bit different...

i certainly hope that these glasses work for me, because once again, i had my eye exam at one place and puchased my glasses at another place.  and i did this mostly because i needed glasses now and kaiser has shut me out until november and sears had such a sweet deal.

but next time... next time i am going to get my act together.  next time i am going to keep track of when my insurance benefits actually benefit me.  next time i'm going to get my exam and my glasses at the same place. next time i will take someone with me to offer a second opinion...

... because now that i have my new glasses at home, i am kind of wondering if a purple sparkly frame was really the best choice...

"dude! i need some wicked cool shades..."

so today . . . was a perfect day in the o.c! and lucky for us, once again the planets aligned juuuust right so that we could go to the swap meet!

(i am just going to warn you, this is probably going to be a photo-heavy blog. so if you don't want to see a thousand pictures of sunglasses, you might want to log off right now.)

as you know, we love the orange county swap meet. i don't know why--it just sucks money out of our pockets. but we always have a fun time. and we always have an agenda...

today's agenda was mostly rollie's. he went to the eye doctor last week and is giving contact lenses a try for the first time. they are giving him fits, but he is doing his best to adjust to them, because he is concerned about his ability to see the basket when he plays basketball. (you notice his reason has nothing to do with anything even remotely humanitarian. it isn't like he is going through all this agony to save the world...) and so, now he needs sunglasses--really cool sunglasses--(which i think might also be a factor in the whole contact lenses vs. glasses debate.)

before we made it to the end of the first row at the swap meet, he had already bagged four pair of sunglasses, diandra had three pair, and even i had one. (i only bought one, because they were 2 for $10 and diandra had an odd number...)
it wasn't as easy as it sounds though. we had trouble before we even left the driveway. somehow diandra was in the car first, but when i walked out, she was already making a sad face. i whipped out my camera to take a picture... only to realize i didn't have my camera! thankfully, we were still in the driveway. i went into the house, retrieved my camera, and pointed it at her. but by then she was smiling... i tried to get her to make the sad face again, pressed the shutter on my camera... and nothing happened. as always, i pressed it over and over and over again, before finally giving in to the thought that my batteries must be dead. so, i went back into the house for fresh batteries... which also didn't work. now i was starting to get worried. i took the batteries out and put them back in again. i turned the camera off and on and off and on. and then i finally realized... my camera was set for viewing photos, not taking them.

maybe i should just choose a care facility now...

we finally made it out of the driveway, stopped at mcdonald's for an unhealthy breakfast, and made it to the swap meet by about 9:30--which may be the latest we have ever arrived at the swap meet. ever.

we have a set pattern for shopping the swap meet, but today when we walked in, there was a booth with sunglasses right in front of us. so instead of turning right and going up and down the rows in an orderly fashion, we went down the center aisle! i would have thought rollie would get hives over such a brash move, until i realized that we were following him straight to the center aisle...

at the first sunglasses booth, he was like a kid in a candy store. when you have worn glasses to correct your vision for your entire adult life, wearing regular sunglasses seems to be an unattainable luxury. you look at the cool sunglasses in the store, knowing you will never be able to wear them, (unless you are me, in which case you try to make the cool sunglasses fit over your regular glasses... with mostly disastrous results.) and so this was his first opportunity to put sunglasses directly on his face.

it was hysterical. he would put a pair on, look at us with a big smile on his face and say, "what about these?" to which one or the other, or sometimes both of us would reply with some form of "no." he had some very specific ideas about what he wanted, but we were mainly concerned with how they looked. rollie was all about function, and we were the style police. then diandra said, "here, try these!" this worked much better. we would choose glasses (and when i say "we" i mostly mean diandra,) and then rollie would try them on to see if he liked them.

by the end of the first row we had purchased eight pairs of sunglasses, (well, when they are only $5 a pair...) i had spent all my money (not just on sunglasses,) and diandra was ready for a soda. this was not our typical day at the o.c. swap meet!

rollie and i sat at a table while diandra bought a soda, and this is what happened.doesn't he look happy?did i mention how excited rollie was to have normal sunglasses? and lest you think he went a bit overboard, he was quick to inform me that each pair of glasses served a different function--one was for very bright light, one was for partially cloudy days, one was for driving the convertible on the freeway (the wind, you know...) and the last pair? ok, that was just because he liked the blue lenses :)

these are my new sunglasses. it is kind of hard to see it in this picture, but the side edges are all sparkly!! let me just say that i succumbed to peer pressure when buying these glasses. first of all, i do not wear contacts, so sunglasses are an issue for me. but these fit pretty well over my regular glasses, they were jeweled, and diandra said, "come on mom, get them!" so i did. (have i mentioned that i have very little sales resistance? especially on items costing less than $10?) and yes i was wearing a tank top--it was a beautiful day! rollie even wore shorts!!

as soon as we got home, rollie left to do an errand.
i think maybe he just wanted to take his favorite new sunglasses for a test drive...

another day at the o.c. swap meet

so today . . . we went to the orange county swap meet.

the planets have to align in just the right way in order for us to make this happen, because usually our family scatters on saturday mornings--rollie plays basketball, diandra usually has plans, and i generally sleep in.

but today, rollie did not play basketball, because they are laying new carpeting in the gym. and diandra was home, because there were no weddings and javier is training in kansas. and i, well, i agreed to get up at 7:30 so we could go to the swap meet!

we had a time deadline today, so we skipped mcdonald's and headed straight to the fairgrounds. once again, we each had goals--rollie needed a new belt, some folding scissors, and maybe some cherries. i was looking for the ever elusive perfect handbag and some sunglasses. and diandra? well, i am not sure what she was looking for . . .

at our first stop there were hairclips, earrings, headbands on sale at 3/$5. diandra found two pair of earrings and i found a hairclip. as diandra was pulling out her money to pay, i opened my bag and said, "i think i have a dollar in here . . . no, wait. i guess i left my dollar in my other purse!" diandra looked and me, and then she laughed. "you left your dollar in your other purse?!?" for some reason, she found this to be hilarious . . . maybe because i did have birthday and mother's day money to spend. but i didn't have a single dollar!

diandra soon decided she might want a sparkly cell phone cover. she considered having the crystals applied directly to the phone, but eventually decided on a jewelled snap-on cover.

we moved on. and i saw this:

this is daisy. you never know what to expect at the swap meet, but a dog in a stroller was definitely a surprise! i've seen dogs in handbags and back packs and front packs, but this was my first sighting of a dog in a stroller. and if ever you wanted to be bitten by a dog, you want to be bitten by this dog. this dog has a $3,000,000 liability insurance policy. yes, you read that right. three million dollars. daisy is a therapy dog for a local hospital. and the reason she is in a stroller is that they have to be very careful where she walks. she could pick something up on her feet that would be toxic to the patients she visits. so when she goes to the swap meet, daisy rides.

(i petted her, but she refused to bite me. which is kind of too bad, because i could use three million dollars.)

i was still thinking about daisy in the stroller, when i saw this:

yes, those are doggie sunglasses. and while they are currently on a fake dog, they were being sold to people for their real, live pets! i don't have a problem with dogs wearing sunglasses, but i'm pretty sure my dogs are not going to wait to go outside until i position their shades correctly . . . and, if my dogs are going to wear sunglasses, they are going to have to come up with something a little less goggle-like . . .

and speaking of dogs, look at this hat!

really? who would put this on a child?!? it looks like the husky is having diandra for lunch! (well, it would if she had tied the thing under her chin. but doesn't she look cute? even with a dog on her head?? she is such a good sport when we are at the swap meet, and i say "stand there! hold that! put this on your head!")

i had to backtrack to the bathrooms, because even though we didn't stop at mcdonald's this morning, i did bring a drink . . . and when i got back to rollie and diandra, they were standing just where i had left them--in front of a cookie stand! and they were both holding bags which i soon discovered held cookies and fruit. for some reason, we were going backwards today and had started with the food row, which is where we usually end our day. they looked pretty happy about it. sadly, i did not take a picture . . .

rollie's quest for a belt started out a little rocky. at first all we could find were studded and embellished belts, and after seeing these sunglasses, i was a little worried about finding what i was looking for too!

but we continued on. rollie got sidetracked at a booth with stuff for laker fans, and diandra was trying to discourage him from making a purchase. we told the vendor that we were blazer fans, because you can take the girls out of oregon, but you can't make them cheer for the enemy. rollie gave the vendor his most heart-wrenching "see what i have to put up with" look as he was eyeing the beverage containers. diandra pulled him away and said, "dad! those are beer mugs!" to which rollie replied, "no, it is just a mug. it isn't a beer mug unless you put beer in it."

as all this was going on, i was still looking for that perfect handbag. after our search last week, i think diandra had sort of given up on me finding one and had just given me money for mother's day. so i had cash, and there were several booths with lots of choices . . . you would think it would be easy. but it was not. there were so many choices! and it isn't like you can buy a bag, take it home and put your stuff in it, and then return it if you change your mind. so we looked, and discussed, and looked some more . . .

rollie said, "why don't they ever put the places selling couches next to the places selling purses!" i think he was maybe getting a little tired of standing around while we debated the merits of one strap or two, zippered openings or magnetic, colorful or neutral . . .

but rollie was finally rewarded when he found the splatting tomatoes.

and yes, i have video, but you know i am having trouble getting my videos to post. maybe tomorrow i can make it happen.

as is usually the case, rollie finished up before diandra and i did, but we weren't too far behind him. all of us had found some of the things we were hoping to find, and we had a great time together. on the way to the car, i made diandra pose for one last picture in front of some beautiful bougainvilla plants.

the sun finally came out, and it turned out to be a beautiful day. we went home with some treasures, but the good news is, we didn't find everything we were looking for.

and that is good news, because it means that we will have to go back to the o.c. swap meet again. of course, we will have to wait for those pesky planets to align . . .