Tested and re-tested

Half term is a time for catch up and inevitably there are a lot of little jobs that need to be done that are too difficult to fit into a busy term time. Today was one of those days.

Apart from sorting of the dumping drawer in the bedroom ... you know, the one where you think mmmm I am not sure where to put that, I will put it in the drawer, I am not sure what to do with this, I'll put it in the drawer, I have nowhere for this to go, I'll put it in the drawer..... THAT drawer.  Apart fromt hat we also had our eye exams.

They are very good at the opticians - we always use the same one, have done for years and are very impressed. The optician who tested my eyes gave me a really thorough going over, repeating some tests several times. Apart from the checks for glaucoma (Mummy developed it in her 40's so that puts me at risk) she also did a lot of tests on my left eye in particular which is much worse than my right and has a lot of scaring from when I had keratitis when I was in my 20s. The good news is that my distance vision hasn't changed ... it is just as awful as it has been for years LOL, but my close vision has deteriorated a little, just down to age. It is a small change so as the last pair of glasses cost me £700 (yikes) I can get away with not having new glasses at the moment. Phew. Nigel also had little change so we both walked away without having to buy new glasses for the time being.

I meant to take a photo in there but forgot and so the picture is of my current designer specs, which I love. They are frameless but as you can see are very thick. And that is witht he ultra thin zeiss lenses too. They would be real bottle bottoms without those.

 
I started a new project today too. I have been removing all of our photos from the sticky acidic albums and have decided to now scrap the pictures from our special trip made for my 40th birthday. We went to Obberamergau to see the Passion Play and a tour round Austria. They are not the most esxciting photos in the world, and are pre-digital, and pre-scrapping, but at least they will be safe and we will have an acid free record of Austria.

I started with this page of the golden roof in Innsbruck.

 
Today I am thankful for

• the gift of sight. It is my real phobia - losing my sight. I try never ever to take the fact that I can see for granted.

 

I LOVE my LOL cat for today. It made me laugh out loud. Having written this week about my iphone this was just too funny. To think I already have 12 of these!

 

My one minute devotional today is all about the strength we get when we most need it - the ability to do the impossible.

“I can’t pedal anymore,” I panted. “Go on ahead, I’ll catch up.”

“We’re almost to the top. You can do it,” Travis replied, pedaling his bicycle next to mine. The scenery around me had slowed to a jerky crawl. I dismounted and began pushing my bike up the hill.

I can’t count how many times this scene has played out since I started cycling with Travis. He and I are hardly a matched pair: I’m stocky, stiff, and slow; Travis has thousands of miles of cycling experience. He does his best to find easy but interesting rides for us, but on every route, it seems, I encounter a hill I can’t climb and I walk my bike to the crest.

One afternoon, we came across what looked like a short hill. I’ll make it this time, I promised myself; however, every turn in the road revealed not the crest but another climb. The scenery, though lovely, slowed to that familiar, agonizing crawl as I pedaled in my lowest gear. My legs were burning, I was out of breath, and the same old feeling of failure had just set in when I heard Travis call out, “We’re almost to the top! You can do it!”

I had been ready to announce, “I can’t pedal anymore!” but realized, quite suddenly, that I could keep going.

I didn’t waste my breath on a reply; I pedaled. A few long minutes later, I rounded the last bend in the road and saw Travis waiting for me at the crest, cheering me on. Another minute ticked by and I passed him, legs pumping for all I was worth. As I started to coast down into the valley, I heard him call after me, “Go on ahead, I’ll catch up!”

 

Comments

[Mary B]

Glad you haven't got to have new glasses and I can see why they were so expensive, very pretty.
Good idea to take those photos out and scrap them properly. That is going to be another great album.
I have 12 IPAWDs too now I don't have to hanker after another do I and they are much cheaper in the first place even if maintenance makes them dearer in the long term. lol

[Lizzie]

Oh I love that story today - and I have memories of similar cycle rides, in my 20's, with my BF, who was a mad-keen cyclist... he thought nothing of cycling 20-30 miles in a day. I had trouble with 10!

Your specs are very nice - good thing you don't have to replace them though, if they are so expensive. Mine have gradually sneaked up in price over the last few years. Last time, I went for varifocals and chose the highest quality of lenses that they do, as I was very unsure about the varifocals anyway and wanted to minimise blurry spots. I'm so pleased with them - I don't have to keep taking them off to read things close up, or swapping distance/reading specs all the time! I do have "close-up specs" though, for my very close bookbinding and crafting work. Hopefully, my prescription won't need to change, when I have my eye test in June!

The iPawd is funny! Great picture! And the Innsbruck page looks good - promising start to your holiday memory album.

[Ladkyis]

We call that dumping drawer the "for now" drawer.
"I don't know where to put this, oh I'll put it in here, for now..."

I'll confess now that the small room at the front of our traditional terraced Victorian is not called the box room but the "For Now" room for the same reason