Girlfriend Chat

I thought I'd write this blog without mentioning books at all, and just talk about what's happening in my life in general.

My biggest news of late is that I got new glasses. Not one pair, but two. I got my progressives, and this time, I added a pair of prescription sunglasses. I don't like transitions because I have some cataracts and I need a lot of light. So I need to decide when I want tint, I can't let the lenses decide for me. They decide too soon. And the prices at Zenni were good enough that I could get both for hundreds less than I paid for my old ones, including the cost of the exam.

The last time I went to the eye doctor was 2022. It cost over $700. We don't have eye coverage on our insurace, which we get through the ACA (Obamacare) because I'm self-employed. So I've avoided going back due to the cost, but my eyesight has been getting progressively worse, and lately I've been using a magnifying glass in additon to my eyeglasses from time to time. (If only all things got bigger when we spread our thumb and forefinger across them, like on our phones!)

Tough being a writer when you can't see straight, though. I finally gave in and went.

My daughter Katie told me to get the presecription written by the eye doctor ($150) and then go order the glasses from Zenni. And that was excellent advice.

I've been wearing my little round wire-rims a long time and wanted something different, something that would really pop. I used the virtual try-on feature for like 100 pairs, chose my faves and showed my hubby, daughters, and besties, and they all agreed on the same pair, even though I thought they might be a little too big for my face. I'll grab a selfie. Hold on.

The sunglasses are almost the same shape, but have pretty dragons on the arms.

Did I do okay? As I was taking the selfies, I was noticing the wrinkles. OMG, they're coming on hard now that I'm well into my sixties, I'm afraid. I read somewhere that there are two decades when we age physically the most; between sixty and seventy, and between eighty and ninety. Or something like that. Yuck.

So I got glasses. That is BIG news for me.

The other big thing occupying my time is gardening. I've planted a ton but nothing seems to growing very well so far this season. We need to increase the fertilizer, I think. We did the Garden Tower, raised beds, terraced beds, and everywhere looks the same. The plants have barely changed since we put them in weeks ago. Must be the soil. Anyway, I'm working on that.

I spent the weekend attending two local events and I had a great time! I ran into a friend from high school I hadn't seen in forty-eight years, back when I was just fifteen. I also saw the kindergarten teacher of two or three of my girls, and their high school English teacher, too. None of them had changed much at all. I recognized all three on sight, and they recognized me, even though I think I've changed a lot.

Oh, and the funniest tale of all was at the second event of the day. I was standing on the corner in a crowd, and a Sheriff's Department SUV pulled up just as the light turned red. He stopped, glanced my way, did a double-take, and pulled his sunglasses halfway down his nose to look at me more closely. So I pulled my sunglasses down, too, and looked back at him grinning. It was my grandson the deputy!

I was an hour away from my home, and he hadn't expected to see me there, but the timing between my local event and this one was just enough that I had time to attend both, so I did.

So to nutshell it, I spent most of Saturday surrounded by positive, upbeat, well-informed, intelligent people, mostly women like me, who care passionately about the same things I do. There was a ton of common ground and bonding and laughter. They were happy, joyful hours that pumped me up for the coming week.

Being a woo-woo type, I chose the perfect, slightly concave amethyst cluster, wrapped it in a dish towel with a magnetic rainbow hematite, and carried it in my backpack to soak up all the positive energy I always feel at these things. Now the amethyst is on my mantle, beaming happy vibes around the living room.

I tucked the magnetic hematite into my wallet. (Now, we wait.)

What else, what else?

Oh, my little waterfall, the one hubby built me three years ago, is just gorgeous this year. Wait, I'll run out and grab a little video and some pics. The plants have filled in beautifully, to the point where we've had to trim them back, even. It's just stunning this year.

He is so talented. I placed the statues, spread the mulch, and am keeping it weeded, though it doesn't need much. Play the video with the sound up so you can hear it. I can open my living room windows or two of the upstairs bedroom windows and hear it in the house. My sofa is beside a waterfall-facing window. This my favorite spot in the world. And it's entirely DIY.

Below is a still shot, wider angled. See the little white bistro table there? It has green cushions I take inside when not using them. I write at that little table every nice day there is. A lot of my more recent work was written at that little table beside the waterfall.

The patio needs a good sweeping. There are pine trees over it, so it's constantly littered in needles. But the smell is amazing!

In other news, I'm awaiting the day when the grandkids finish their school year, and we can get a couple of overnight visits. The two in college still want to come and hang out with us, too! That's the biggest compliment I can think of. Elementary classes go all the way until the 27th, I think. And they'll need to rest up for a day or two. You know, to prepare. And then, they're mine. We'll stay up all night watching inappropriate stuff on TV and eating junk food and they'll go home with Grammy's House Hangovers. It's tradition.

Oh, sure now the sun comes out. That photo would've been a lot better now. Oh, well.

It's been a weird, cold, rainy, dark spring here in the northeastern USA. I hope the summer is nicer, though I don't mind if it stays cooler.

So that's an update on my life without a single mention of books. I don't know if that makes this a refreshing, fun post, or a boring one everyone will skip.

This week's newsletter will be going out in the morning, so be sure you've signed up for that. There should be a sign up box at the bottom of every page on this site.

Until next time,

Maggie