I can see!

I had lasik done on my right eye last Friday afternoon and it's pretty amazing!  It's bizarre that they can laser your eye and within minutes you can see an improvement--it's seems like it should be such a big deal that you have a big recovery period complete with eye patch and the works but, no.  They give you some drops and off you go to "recoup" by watching a bit of tv, reading a book, going to dinner, going for a run...well, OK I didn't go for a run but not because I couldn't but because I'm a lazy slug these days and it was cold outside.

The past couple years have been so annoying--vision-wise--because as my near vision deteriorated I found myself putting on my glasses, taking them off, looking around for readers, putting them on, taking them off, looking around for my regular glasses, etc, etc.  Just endless fumbling around for glasses.  I'd tried contacts but my eyes got so dry that I could only wear them for a couple hours at a time.  I'd tried bifocal contacts but the end result was that I couldn't see anything very well.

They just adjusted by right eye and that is now 20/15--I don't think I have ever had such good vision in that eye.  My left eye was pretty good for near vision so they left that alone.  Between the two, I can see distance perfectly and I can see up close well enough to thread a needle.

This is fantastic.  I can see.  It's a bit boring.  There is no drama, no annoyance, no caveats...just very simply, I can see.

I finally finished upholstering that f*(!-ing sofa!

I'm very pleased with it!  I have always really liked this couch...it was my parents...and I thought the original fabric was lovely; however, MJ had it re-upholstered back in the late-80s/early-90s and I must admit, I never really cared for the dusty rose fabric even if it was popular back in the day.

I've been meaning to do something with this ever since I begged it off Ken and MJ, but it wasn't until my "sabbatical" this past year that I looked into learning how to re-upholster.  I started taking lessons this summer but then I started my job and the couch got put on hold for a while.  Poor Ron, my instructor finally laid down the law and said I had to either finish working on the couch or come and pick it up and get it out of his workshop.  Sometimes I just need a good scolding to get motivated.

Here's the before:

Note the lovely rose fabric, the sagginess of the three base cushions...

And here is the after:

It's sort of a duck fabric and while the light color is a little worrying, it is a stain-resistant fabric and should clean up easily.  I love the single base cushion and since this will undoubtedly serve as sleeping accommodations when our house guests don't all fit in the guest room, I think the single cushion will be more comfortable.

Despite the time it took for me to finish this up, it really wasn't a difficult project and it probably could be done in a weekend if I had know what I was doing.

Changing the subject...don't you love the rug?  I did that.  That was a horrible project.  The rug is actually an old bamboo rug which had a big ol' red wine stain on it and just general wear and abuse.  I decided to paint and stencil it thinking it would be a fun, simple project but I could not have been more wrong.  It's a messy, tedious, fussy job and while I love the result, I am not sure I will be able to convince myself to try it again.

Here's a broader picture of the room, I'm still working on this--it is the upstairs den but it is starting to come together.

I am currently re-upholstering a lounge chair in a big, bold, blue/red/yellow print for this room but that is another post.

Going under the knife (laser)

After Ian's miraculous experience with Lasik a couple months ago, I have decided to try this myself and I go in today.  They are just going to do my right eye, and they assure me that this is going to work and I will be happy with it; however, I am having a hard time getting my head around this.  Not that I am really complaining---one eye means half the cost which makes me happy.  And I don't feel an overwhelming need to have both eyes laser-ed just on principle...still, it seems like it will be hard to have miraculous vision with one eye that is as it has always been, which is to say, less than miraculous.

I watched the procedure when Ian went it and it's not gross or scary or worrying.  I'm quite looking forward to it.

I'll report back on how it goes.

I'm back

Not that anyone seemed too distressed by my blog absence, and not that anyone has been begging for new posts...

Still, I have decided to pick this up again.