Through New Eyes.

Every once in a while, I get a wild hair. By this I mean that certain ideas sort of smack me over the head. I go from something being entirely off my radar to suddenly knowing that THIS is what I’m going to do. Knitting was like that. And starting a blog. And buying an iPad. Sort of minor stuff in the grand scheme, you know?

Deciding to apply to law school was one of the more wild of the wild hairs that got me. Luckily, that worked out, as I passed the 20-year anniversary of my swearing in last May and I have practiced full time for that entire span.

Recently I got the wildest of the wild hairs of my life. I decided to have Lasik surgery. I have needed vision correction since the fourth grade. I wore contacts through my teens and twenties, but became increasingly intolerant of them as I aged. My last try at the latest technology in both contacts and cleaning solutions failed. I got new glasses last winter, and found them uncomfortable. In addition, my close vision, which had been OK with glasses, started to go, so I was looking at needing bifocals soon enough. Finally, I had enough. I happen to see a very fine Lasik surgeon for general ophthalmology, so I called for an appointment.

The preliminaries took some time, so I certainly could have backed out. I had an initial consultation, was cleared as a candidate, and set an appointment that was sufficiently far in the future as to seem distant. I had a vacation, the surgeon had a vacation, summer drew to an end. I saw my glaucoma specialist just to be sure he was still on board, then had my pre-op screening and prep. I got more excited, then nervous.

Last Thursday was the big day. There are many step by step accounts of the procedure available on line, so I won’t add another here. I will say that it all went just beautifully. No surprises, excellent and professional care, and it really took no time at all. I was out of the laser room within 15 minutes, and only a fraction of that was spent on the actual procedure. I had iLasik with wavefront guided correction, which means that everything was done with lasers, and the correction was based on a mapping of the exact refractive issues and shape of my own eyes, rather than a model. This is the most expensive of the surgical corrections, but considered to be the safest and most effective. Anyone over 40 will need reading glasses after the procedure, but I was having issues with that anyway so felt this was not a big deal.

The hardest part was the immediate aftermath, when I was sore and blurry. I could tell that my vision was corrected, but the procedure does beat up your eyeballs and they have to heal. I followed instructions and went home to try to sleep or at least keep my eyes shut for most of the rest of the day. By the next day I was reading and functioning normally, but still a bit irritated and hazy. Over the weekend, I continued to heal, and I would say that today, 4 days post, I’m at a good 95%. My distance vision tested 20/20 one day post op, the reading glasses take care of the close vision, but the mid range continues to be less clear as I heal. This will just take some time, and I have noted imrovement each day.

In all, I call it pretty amazing! Today will be my first day back in the office, so I’m sure it will be somewhat tiring, but I’m excited to return to normal.

And that’s the story of my wildest wild hair, and my new eyes.

Happy September, everyone!

Sunday.

This is what my afternoon looks like. Recovering from a wonderful trip to the Bay Area, Tahoe, Napa… Wondering what life will be like when the Olympics are over… Doing this and that around the house… Pondering dinner, which will involve potato salad and barbecue sauce.

Hope your day is peaceful.

Frippery.

Should I be worried about how pleased I am that my nail color coordinates with my knitting?

Happy Sunday everyone!

Ten Minutes.

Reading. I’ve recently enjoyed Defending Jacob by William Landay. A little disturbing for parents of teens but still a well-done mystery. I also read Divergent by Veronica Roth. Another YA future dystopian thrill ride. The author is only 23! Did I like it? Well, I ordered the second book from the library!

On a related note, I don’t really understand readers who won’t use the library. Of course this doesn’t apply to those who do not have ready access to a library, but I’m amazed by the number of people who live literally within a few blocks of a local branch yet never set foot there, instead choosing to buy all of their books. At the rate I go through books, I would be bankrupt within weeks. It is so tempting, when I really want to get my hands on something, to buy it and have it on my iPad in seconds rather than waiting on a library hold, and sometimes I do for a treat, but I really try to be patient.

The Back. I have been swimming a few times a week, since that is the only really vigorous exercise I can do right now. Well, other than the elliptical, which I detest. It really is a good, very efficient workout. The pool at our club is not chlorinated, but instead treated with an ozone system, so it is very pleasant. The downside is that swimming is just me and my brain. Scary.

Knitting. The Madison contingent got together Sunday for a lovely few hours of lunch, chat, and knitting. I made the trip and it was so worth it. What a wonderful group. One of our number was destashing and I wound up with the most generous gift of a sweater’s worth of merino cashmere in a glorious purple. I did not accomplish much. I cast on a sock and screwed up the ribbing, because apparently I can’t knit and talk at the same time.

That’s more than 10 minutes, so off I go. Enjoy the day!

Stripe Study and Other Business.

I finished my Stripe Study shawl sometime in mid-April, and here it is nearly Memorial Day. How does that happen? All the deets are on Ravelry. This was wonderful to knit. Simple, forgiving, and oddly compelling (one more stripe…). Better yet, it is wonderful to wear. The asymmetric shape lends a modern feel. The only reason this is not an ideal knit is the need to juggle two balls of yarn.

I started a second one, this time using three colors. I still have a ton of the green Ultra Alpaca Fine, and I’m making do with the rest. The only drawback is that with more than one contrast color you can’t really carry the strand up the side. This means ends to weave in.

In other news, it’s spring! Hasn’t it been glorious? The migratory birds have already been through. Orioles, rose breasted grosbeaks, indigo buntings. So cool. We hiked the other day at a park a bit further north, and we saw a bobolink. They are native to Wisconsin but I don’t recall ever having seen one. We got our annuals and vegetable patch and basil planted over the weekend. I did some major deck sitting. All good stuff.

Hope you have a good Monday!

Spring Socks.

The weather has been wacky, but it is still cool enough for hand knit socks. Finished this pair this morning (yes, there are two, but I managed to lose the photo showing both). This is your basic 64 stitch cuff down sock, knit in broken rib, with a slip stitch flap heel. The yarn is Trekking XXL. I have a crap ton left, as I always do after knitting two socks.

I have another ball of the same, in crazy springy colors, ready to cast on in my quest to keep the sock drawer topped up.

My last post never hit google reader. We shall see what happens with this one. Hope you all had a nice weekend!

Stand up!

You have probably seen this scary infographic at some point in recent history. It depicts the extreme toll on our health taken by sitting all day. This is true even for regular exercisers. The ugliest statistic: Sitting six or more hours per day increases your risk of dying within 15 years by 40%.

Ouch.

I sit. I get paid to sit. I sit at a desk or computer when I am not sitting in meetings. I sit at lunch. I sit in my car. I sit in my comfy chair in the evenings. I knit. Therefore… I sit.

Yes, I exercise. But apparently that doesn’t count because … I sit. A lot.

I shared that I have been having some low back problems. I don’t believe these issues are as related to doing mountain climbers and burpees in boot camp as they are to sitting. Sitting shortens your hamstrings, freezes up your hip flexers, and does who knows what else to other muscles involved in pelvic stability and core strength. Sitting is bad sh#t, people.

I’ve been thinking about how I can sit less, move more, and try to counteract 20 years or more of being a desk potato. Here are some ideas. I’d love to hear yours, too.

1. Arrange your space so you can work standing up. In my office, I have an adjustable height computer table that I can raise to standing height by pushing a button. I try, I really try, to stand at the computer for part of every day. On a good day, I do all my computer work standing, but that doesn’t happen often enough.

2. I also have a lectern that allows me to read standing up. I don’t do this very frequently, because, well, I’m lazy. But I can and I should. My wireless headset also allows me to walk around my office when I’m on the phone. Another thing I don’t do enough.

3. A friend loaned me something called a dyna disc to sit on while at my desk. It mimics the act of sitting on a Swiss Ball, which is not really feasible in an office environment (as Dwight Shrute learned when he attempted it) and forces you to keep your core stable. It really helps with my back pain and I do use this almost all day.

4. Stretch. I take a lot of stretch breaks and it really does make me feel better. Yoga helps, too.

5. Take walk breaks. Duh. But do I do this? Not so much.

Any other ideas??

Enjoy your Wednesday, everyone.