Month: October 2025

Following cataract surgery, I still have vision issues. Just different ones. I can see pretty well with no glasses. Enough to get around. As long as I’m not reading anything. But I have a MUCH decreased eyeglasses prescription to crisp things up a bit. I do prefer to use them for driving. Those are my “real glasses”. And then I have a ridiculous amount of readers from 1.25 to 5. (And oddly you can’t order 5 on Amazon. It always says “can’t be shipped to your area. 🙄 However the crafting store WILL send them to me. So take that, Amazon.)

When I cross stitch, I use a 4. Which is still an improvement because I use to use a 4 PLUS very strong contacts. Laying in bed at night to read, I need a different strength. And to use the computer…well that’s a whole other issue, which I’ve yet to figure out. First of all, I rarely use my computer. I do most everything on my phone, including this blog. But I’m working on a project that has to be done on the computer and figure it was as good of a time as any, while hanging out at the hospital, to do it. Problem is, the strength set on my trifocals doesn’t really work for me (the top is one strength for distance….the bottom is a different strength for close up vision. And the middle is the computer and it’s just an average of the two.) To see out of my glasses I have to hold my head up high and look down through the glasses and that’s just dumb. AND depending on how tired I am, I think my eye needs change.

All that to say, in packing for my night at the hospital tonight I grabbed several glasses of different strengths. And then probably grabbed a few more. And now, not counting my real glasses, I have EIGHT pairs of readers up here. 😂😂😂

And really, now I’m just too wiped out to even work on the project.

I have no idea why people think that I tend to overpack. 😂

My hobby for the last 30+ years has been scrapbooking. Yes, I have pretty much scrapbooked every.single.detail of my children’s lives. As an example, when Brett was a preschooler he was briefly lost in a store for about 10 seconds. As I was headed toward the front of the store a call came over the PA for “the scrapbook lady”. Yes, that is what my child responded when asked “what is your mommy’s name?”  Little dude didn’t know my name, but knew what I did. 🙄 There is probably a lesson to be learned there. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Anyway, once my kids grew up, became surly teens and stopped doing cute things that matched my cute stickers, I scrapbooked less. And discovered card making. I love making cards. Sometimes I even send them. LOL I’m not so good at keeping up with those things on a timely basis and by the time I get around to sending a get well card, the person is well. Clearly, I have focusing issues. Birthday cards are so frequently late that I actually bought a stamp for the back of the envelope that says something along the lines of “sorry this is late. I suck at mailing things.” 😂

For the past several years I have been involved with a ministry at church for our widow ladies. We have a large number of widows in our congregation and I make about 90 Christmas and birthday cards for them each year. Other than making around 120 Christmas cards to send from our family, it’s my biggest project each year. And I’m already behind on that (was planning to work on those at an upcoming 10 Day Retreat that I had to back out of. 😢). But ya know what….its okay. It’s okay if I don’t get to them this year, though I might. It’s a good “stuck at home” project. The good thing for me about making cards for the widow ladies is that all I do is make them. Somebody else is in charge of mailing them. That’s works really well for me and my ADD brain. 

Anyway…..often, I don’t send a card that I made because I think it doesn’t look “good enough” or because I think people will think I made a pitiful little “homemade” card. (Ok, some self esteem issues here, too. I see how in the course of this blog we are going to analyze me. LOL) 

These past 2 weeks while Kevin has been in the hospital I see things differently. He LOVES getting cards (at home, under normal circumstances, most of the “good mail” is mine.  So he loves getting mail.) And he loves ALL THE CARDS. All of them. We have hung them on the walls of his hospital room, as they come in. When we were packing up to head to rehab on Monday he asked me to make sure I got his cards. I assured him that I did, and today I hung them on his wall here. 

What it has taught me is that everybody loves mail and it doesn’t matter in the least if it is perfect or has an ink splotch on it (sooooo many of mine have inks splotch oopsiees) or if it is handmade, or store bought or colored by a child. They are all fabulous and loved. And go on the wall. 💖 Everybody loves mail!

And once we get past this hiccup, I’m going to be a lot better about sending cards. Even the messy imperfect ones. Especially the messy imperfect ones.