Friday, July 2, 2004

My Eyes...

The full moon hung just above the road as I drove home from the grocery store at 10:30 tonight. I love it when the moon does that. It's so big you would swear you could just reach up and touch it. Then you drive around a bend and suddenly it seems smaller.

Yes, I was at the store when I would usually be getting ready for bed or at least sitting at the computer. The day was jam packed and yet the regular chores did not get accomplished.

The day started with an eye appointment for me. Luckily, my FIL watched the children. We won't even go into what could have happened had he not. The eye appointment was scheduled to find out what the black spot in my vision was. The fact I have a degree in art might tell you a bit about how much I value my eyesight. I had to have my eyes dilated so they could look and tell me it was a "floater" that will probably be there forever but will not cause any damage. The good news.

The bad (and yes minor comparatively speaking) was they DILATED my eyes. It has been many years since this has happened. My eyes usually dilate enough on their own for them to check them out. They proceeded to give me "reversal drops". The caution that, "they burn a little," was a bit of an understatement. Yes, they burn. And I'm not convinced they work. I managed to drive home basically blinded. I could see large objects and am fairly certain I didn't hit anything on the way. Luckily, I live about 2 miles from the eye doctor.

I must mention that it was one of those blindingly bright days out. (Isn't it always.) The kind of day when the sun reflects off everything - especially the white garage and white house. Whoever thought to paint them white should be forced to stare at the sun... for days... without sunglasses! By the time I made it into the house and took off the darkest pair of sunglasses I've ever found (I have sensitive eyes to begin with), I was nauseous. I also was unable to do anything. The children were watching movies that Grandpa had put on for them so I read The Horn Book Magazine with one eye (I think the drops may have worked in my left eye. I could decipher nothing with two eyes but the left was fairly clear.) and made the kids lunch.

By the time Jeff got home (early for the holiday weekend) I was ready for something else. By now I could see large objects and decided to finally paint the porch stairs. Let me mention they were built - oh, I can't remember, 2 or 3 years ago. They are now painted. Gray & white. Dull. The kids asked why so boring. "Why didn't you paint them colorful?" I thought about it and realized I had no good reason. I used the color scheme of the existing porch and never thought to do something different. So now I am thinking what wondrous bright color I should buy to repaint them.

I was about to say the day went off without a hitch, but then remembered Zach did step on the paint lid and then stick his hand onto some fresh paint. And let's not forget the toad that almost jumped from Tyler's hand into an open can of paint. Tyler was holding the toad directly over the can while showing it to me. All in all a productive day.

We ended it with a baseball game (parents vs kids). Baseball is over for the season but Alex's coach does this each year with the kids. I, wisely, walked up late to the fields with the other 3 children and missed out on playing. I did take a moment to notice the sun dancing sparkles over the lake. You can just see a sliver of it when you stand on the top of the hill in town. The coach thought I should join in anyway but since I didn't, there were no injuries. You'd understand if you've ever seen me with a ball or bat in my hand.

I realized when everyone was noshing on pizza and soda that this was the first time my children have ever had caffeinated soda. At 8:00 at night. Scary. Another reason I ran to the grocery at 9 p.m.

The things I remember most about today are the dark, brown, lumpy toad being held in Tyler's little pink hand over a circle of pristine white paint, the yellow full moon sitting atop the dark road, the red pizza sauce dripping down Zach's chin and his white little foot as he hobbled to his dad to have it washed off with the hose. Alex's sweaty red face beaming at me when he finished playing ball with his friends and his dad, Dylan's smooth skin, deep brown eyes and the way his scar creased when he smiled at me and held out his arms for a hug. I'm glad my eyes are okay.

3 comments:

DiaBoLuS said...

Great post glad your eyes are OK. I've never seen anyone respond to a post, so I thought I would start a new trend. Hello everybody!
Uncle Mike

DiaBoLuS said...

My apologies to BJC. Looks like he has commented on a ton of stuff.

MoMMY said...

Hey Mike-
Good to hear from you. Comment away! Yes, that BJC is getting a bit carried away with his comments. Those remarks about my hubby are out of line. ;-)