Nuthin’ but an H thang, Baybay…

About 2 years ago, I left my glasses in Denver while on a business trip. Because my prescription is so slight, I never made the effort to have new ones made. Bad excuse, I know. I’m near-sighted and I really should be wearing glasses while driving…and especially at night.

A few weeks ago, I tagged along with Chrissy and Justin to their eye exam appointment and had my eyes checked out too. My prescription hadn’t changed much from a couple years ago, which was good news. I obtained not only my prescription, but also my ‘pupilation distance’ so that I could order glasses online.

Lately, Adam has been ordering his glasses from this great website: zennioptical.com. He’s been able to buy complete glasses and frames with all the extras (anti-glare and whatnot) for around $35 or less. I used a couple pairs of his glasses as points of reference to choose the correct size frames. You can check out one of the frames on me above. Here’s the other pair. I paid $65 for both, including shipping.

It sure feels good to see the world so clearly again.

Playa del Carmen was the Best President’s Club Ever!

Our room on the third level of the Royal Real Resort turned out to be so beautiful. We had stunning views of a sweeping green courtyard, a waterfall into a decorative pool, the main resort pool and the ocean. The gleaming marble floors led up to both a king-sized bed and a 2-person hot tub. The armoire contained not only a TV, but a Bose speaker system, iPod dock, mini-fridge stocked with beverages and snacks and a mini-bar! You can imagine how grateful I was to have a lovely can of Mexican Diet Coke (AKA Coca-Lite) each morning.

Of course, with the time zone change, my eyes flipped open at around 5:30am each day. My boss (Don) and Justin were early risers too, so I dubbed us as “The Morning Crew” when we ran into each other on the beach one early morning. Consequently, I took some nice sunrise photos and worked out in a largely empty gym our first two days into the trip. On another morning, I took in a relaxing massage at the spa. I decided afterward that I need more massages in my life. (more…)

This week, I’ve been so busy I can hardly see straight. A lot of it has to do with leaving for vacation soon…but my brain is just too full of to-do’s. Stress has caused my face to break out, my sleeplessness to become a regular thing again, my workouts to be more sluggish than normal, and my shoulders to be perma-tight. I need a massage, people. Or a Valium. Or something. I need to calm myself.

On a sort of related note, I read Eat Pray Love while in Jersey last week. Loved it. There were good lessons about integrating pleasure and devotion, self-support and taking chances in this book. Plus, the author, Elizabeth Gilbert, writes with the kind of self-deprecating humor that a mid-westerner like me knows and loves. I laughed aloud on the plane a couple times. As soon as I landed, I stopped by my mom’s and passed the book on to her.

Anyhoo, I’m ready to start my vacation now.

All the while I was growing up in St. Paul, my family was very close to the Adrians. They lived across Daly Street from us, their 6 kids went to the same schools we did and their mom, Margee, provided daycare for us until I was old enough to babysit my sisters. Audra, Kel and I each matched up in age to an Adrian kid: me with Kevin, Audra with Renee and Kel with Tracy. I sometimes think my mom still wishes I would’ve married Kevin Adrian (which is kinda gross considering he always seemed like more of a brother than someone of a romantic interest).

The Adrians were (and still are) a special kind of family who takes serving their community more seriously than most of us do. The family patriarch, Denny, was a state trooper for about a million years. Kevin followed in his dad’s footsteps and became a trooper after college. Renee did the same.

Just today, I heard through MySpace that Renee was in a fairly major accident over the weekend. Her oldest brother, Tim, sent out a bulletin with the information and an update on Renee’s condition. Despite how hard she was hit inside her car, it sounds like she hasn’t suffered any permanent damage and is expected to recover relatively soon. I’m comforted in knowing that she has an amazing family who will take great care of her. I’m keeping Renee in my thoughts and wishing her the absolute best.

A note about MySpace: Tim found me on MySpace some time ago and it’s proven to be a great way to stay current with old friends like these. Through MySpace, Kevin and I hooked up last year and discussed organizing a reunion for our grade school class; he put a plan into action and it was a fantastic experience to see all of those old friends. Plus, it’s fun to spy on the Adrian boys’ annual Las Vegas trip photos every year on their MySpace pages. As much as I see MySpace as a cesspool, it’s pretty handy once in awhile.

(Photo of Renee above is from KSTP.com)

On Saturday, Adam and I drove over to Maplewood to celebrate my niece’s golden birthday at the Saints North Inline & Roller Skating Center. As a kid, I remember them being called “skating rinks.” Apparently, they are now “centers.” What hasn’t changed a bit are the DJ’s. Sure, their feathered hair or afro has turned from brown to gray, but they are the same old dudes stuck in 70’s bliss. It’s heartening to see the 70’s still alive somewhere.

My niece seemed to have an absolute ball. You couldn’t get her or her friends off of that rink for more than 5 minutes. With my nephew, it was a different story: he was hanging on to the half-wall around the rink (or his parents) for dear life. Poor kid…had I skated, I probably would’ve done the exact same thing (including hanging on to his parents).

At one point, they held a Hula Hoop contest – sans skates. I’m not sure what this has to do with roller skating, but whatever, the kids liked it. My niece is an expert Hula Hooper, so she was one of the winners. Her prize was the ever-coveted glow stick that she could wear around her neck.

It started to get a little crazy in the joint. There were 8 or so birthday parties going on, so you had kids and adults alike trolling back and forth in a tiny seating area – half of whom were on skates. Most of those on skates were wobblers who ended up falling on you in one way or another. And the DJ’s kept getting the kids to shriek for the heavens! If they’d said: “If you’re having fun, let me hear you screeeeeeam!” one more time, I was about to grab that microphone and dump it into a pitcher of Pepsi.

In all, Deja had fun, the kids all enjoyed their afternoon and the adults survived. And the DJ’s survived, too.

I can’t believe it was 8 years ago now that I held her in my arms soon after she was born. Amazing.

Remember how I was complaining about not getting things done? Well, check out what Chrissy and I did on Saturday:

• we got our new, um, jewelry
• we shopped for vacation clothes and shoes
• we had eye exams and got our prescriptions
• we took the men in our lives to a lovely dinner

How’s that for productive? Thanks to Chrissy for running around with me all day and also for our fabulous lunch!