a 'vision-ary' tale...

there are some things i really don't look forward to, especially if it  involves an 'implement of torture'... and i definitely dislike someone i'm not intimate with invading any part of my 'person'...

least favourite are doctors, pap smears and the vaginal speculum (ooooh, think i'm way overdue for one of those!!!) - breast checks - internal ultrasounds - hey, let's face it, medical 'procedures' in general...

dental technicians - being fitted for new dentures is no fun at all - they fill these moulds with dental 'putty', shove 'em in your mouth to obtain gum impressions but yuk - the putty squishes out and down the throat and there i go, dry-retching!!! (luckily visits to them are years apart these days - but ohhh so expensive and uncomfortable!!)

i have to add hairdressers to my list - some people just shouldn't be allowed near scissors, 'product' or hot water  - i actually love the scalp massage when done well though... but there's also the brightness of the 'salon' (hurts the eyes), the sometimes very loud, intrusive, not-my-idea-of-music 'noise' (scrambles the brain and hurts the ears), the fact they ask what you want done but then don't listen - they keep saying 'yeah' they know what you mean, while doing something totally different (exposure to too much 'product' perhaps!!! - i've had a number of bad experiences over the years - and very bad hairstyles!!!)

needless to say optometrists fit into the category too - unfortunately it's been getting harder and harder to read - so i had to stop procrastinating and psych myself up for the inevitable... i hate things being done to my eyes - i can't even handle eye drops... watching anything coming towards my pupils turns my eyelids into steel clamps - anything touching my eyeball - nuh, no way - that's never going to happen - nothin' is gettin' passed the defenses of these 'lids - they clamp shut of their own volition!!!! that external contraption is bad enough!!!

my eyes have deteriorated (umm, that's why i made the appointment in the first place!!) so it's new glasses for me... i had thoughts of rimless frames (also cutting down on styles and designs to be overwhelmed by!) alas that proved to be "champagne taste on a beer budget"!!!! the frames alone were nearly $600 - with the lenses i need (they're $550 by themselves!) my glasses would have cost over $1100 - for 1 pair!!!!! i settled on semi-rimless, at less than half the price of the rimless frames - $758 all up... not exactly cheap, and i have to wait up to 10 days for them!!  it's an expense i could do without so there's a frugal few weeks coming up!!! sigh, sigh... there goes my 'splurge' on a nice piece of art for the lounge!!!!

i did treat myself (on a far less grand scale) on the way home though - hey, it's me birthday... i needed a new oil burner so i called into ishka where i  found some soy wax melts, "...a fantastic alternative to oils in oil burners. The soy wax allows for sensational scent throw and is an economical way to enjoy elume's beautiful selection of fragrances." i'm melting a frangipani scented one at the moment and it's delightful, and you can  notice it throughout the flat... i bought a couple of other fragrances to try out too - but i called in to see me mum and she 'snaffled' the lemon-myrtle one...

she was having a bit of a 'bad day' today - exhausted without doing anything - and, unlike her, was still in her dressing-gown and couldn't be bothered getting up when i left... she's sick and tired of not being able to do anything - so i'm cooking lunch for her and my aunt on thursday and shouting them a taxi around to my place - she wanted to take me out for lunch or cook for me for my birthday, but she finds both an effort - and let's face it, with her very limited 'cuisine likings' and dietary requirements, my veganism (which she's trying to get her head around!!) i can make something delicious that we can both eat - and she gets a few hours outside of her daily routine while feeling comfortable in the knowledge that she can lie down should she have to!!!!

 

 

i'm going to leave you with a photo of her on her wedding day (minus my father - no pics of them together seem to have survived their separation!!!!) 

 

and, coincidentally, they were married on 21 april 1950 - 
5 years to the day before i was born on 21 april 1955... hmm, that could explain some things about our relationship!!

 

with my grandmother (centre) and great-grandmother (known to all as 'nanny great' - a very stern and scary womon!!!)

 

 

 

with her brother kevin (and i just don't recall his ears being that 'noticeable' before!!) ... sadly her younger brother graham has just been diagnosed with early stage altzheimer's - he's only 66...

last weekend turned out to be quite a pleasant one... i caught up with Larry the librarian on friday evening - we just got 'takeaways' from fitzroy street and came back to my place and ate, chatted and 'choofed' until it was time for him to pick up his partner - a nice couple of hours 'whiled away'...

saturday, well - i just watched st kilda lose the grand final - but there's always next year!

sunday was a miserable day outside so it was just the day to curl up and watch a few episodes of 'weeds' - i'm midway through season 4 at the moment...

irene, louie and the country cuzzin clan came down on monday - it was irene's 55th birthday (she's 6 months older than me) so we went to tien tien in fitzroy street for dinner... it is soooo nice eating with another vegetarian - you get to share different dishes without having to check which dish you're 'tucking into' - and you don't have to watch animal being devoured in front of you!!!

irene and i met in the 70s - she was going out with my brother then - well, they even ended up marrying after a short time (it was one of those 'rebellious' things - they were getting married regardless of what anyone said!!!) it was either late '71 or early '72 and i would have been 16 going on 17 (and the engagement to james was obviously no more because he wasn't at the wedding!!!) - but, like my engagement, the marriage didn't last long (unlike our friendship!!!)

here's a photo of the wedding - check out darrell's coiffured hair and velvet suit - such a 'sign of the times'!!! and i'm wearing hotpants!!!

ahh, the 70s - so much style - colour anyway!!!! pity the photo doesn't show the shoes too - i was wearing really high cork platforms - what's old is new - what's new is old!!!!