LESS IS MORE

I know you have heard this phase before "less is more". This is a problem I have not dealt with for 10 years. August 28, 2001 I lost sight in my right eyes. I pasted my 10 year anniversary. I know you think of an anniversary to mark a good thing. I don't see my vision loss as a bad thing. I just deal with it. I have been trying very hard in the past year to deal with my clutter, collection of objects, save in an emergency, I can use it someday, ...... but really it's a form of hording. Yes I said the dreaded H word. I've even heard my boys tease my about it. Yes they are right. Most people who go through a trauma like I did can often try to cope in this unhealthy way. Some examples are my loss of sight, loss of a parent, loss of a job, or loss of a loved ones in a
divorce. Because my independence was taken way so sudden I started buying things in twos. Mainly items from the grocery store. I didn't want to run out of toilet paper. What a tragedy that would be. It starts small and grows and grows. Mine is fairly contained to draws, closets, attics and the garage. My niece says I'm always cleaning out closets but I was really just reorganizing my clutter. I have posted a great site called Flylady.net which has been around for about 10 years. My next few post will be tips on cleaning out so there is less in closets, drawers etc. The best place for most clutter is the garbage since I save parts to things I can't find the other parts. Today I cleaned my sons bathroom cabinets. I found my Valentine sock I had the match to. Both are going to the garbage since the one I found is ruined. If you have less, it is much easier to find what you are looking for. Yes less is more.

NEW EYES FOR THE NEEDY

I saw an ad for in a magazine. I had to look at it Jake Gyllenhaa was in the ad. Check out the site. New Eyes For The Needy. It has a video of Jake and the foundation. It has some good information.

BOOKS

From time to time I like to tell everyone I know about a good book I've listened to on my books on tape. I've gotten lazy and will listen to a book even though I can get the large print edition. I can listen to three books a week. Because of my vision and poor reading skills I didn't get to enjoy books before the past ten years. I barely read my textbooks in college. I was better in math. The link is a book by Mary Tyler Moore who is the spokeswoman for the Junior Diabetes Reach Foundation (www.jdrf.org) The title is Growing Up Again: Life, Loves, and Oh Yeah, Diabetes. She was asked to write this book because a young girl wanted to know what it was like for someone like her who had diabetes. Mary Tyler Moore has many of the similar eye problems I have had. She found out she had Juvenile Diabetes at age 33. This is type 1 diabetes. Diabetics can loose their sight if they take control of their diabetes. When I've been at the retina specialist waiting for the doctor I can here him fuss at other patients because they miss an appointment or just don't take what can happen seriously. My retina detached but they have diabetic retinopathy where the retina deteriorates. This book was a great source of inspiration for me because Mary has lived with a long time disability as I have. She does not drive and her assistant help her with steps like my family and friends help me. Check out both links below.

http://www.jdrf.org/

http://www.amazon.com/Growing-Up-Again-Loves-Diabetes/dp/B002YNS0NU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1295913102&sr=8-1

THE MOVIES

My husband and I has started going out for date night to the movies. We are fortunate to have 6 to 8 movies to choose from. We went to see True Grit which is a John Wayne re-make. My tips are to arrive early before the lights go down. It takes my eyes about 15 minutes to adjust to the light if it's dark. Also my favorite spot to sit is the right side near the front. If we get there late the best spots are gone. At our cinema the best seat for me were the ones they removed for the wheelchairs. Oh well! My sons went to a 3D movies last weekend, well since I only see out of one eye those are out. I don't know why anyone wants to see things jump out at them in the movies. I do have a collection of movies at home to watch. Most of the time a watch TV with binoculars I use a 7x25 or 8x21 pair.

SENSIBLE SHOES

Like most women I love shoes. Since we have had snow on the ground for a week I thought I would talk about good shoes being a must. I asked my boss who is a shoe diva to remember her sensible shoes since it snowed. Being raised in the north she just laughed and said she had on rubber sole. I forgot to see if she was wearing 3" heel that day. When my children were small I would buy Pay Less shoes for me. Cheep brand are bad for you feet. Since I have balance problems I only wear quality shoe that I find on sale of course. I prefer Clarks, Naturalizer, New Balance, SoftSole. I can only handle a small sturdy heel. Forget about the trendy walker shoes. I would feel like I'm on a boat. Invert in some great shoes if you have poor eyes like mine.

SNOW

Winter is here. We have snow in the south were we hardly ever get snow. I don't do will in this weather. I have a hard time walking it in and worse if it's mixed with ice but I love to watch it come down. An untouched yard of snow reminds me of how wonderful God's gift of nature is. Maybe I might step out into it.

MISTAKEN IDENITY

Yes this really happened. I went to pick up my dog Rusty at the groomer. They handed me my. We shih tzu brought him home. Well my sons were convinced we had the wrong dog. I was certain they were wrong. I called the groomer. My sons drove to the groomer, they wanted the sweet female I had and returned with our feisty Rusty. I should have known it was the wrong dog when she licked me. The boys said it was darker, had shorter legs and yes was a female. Even me sons thought we had the right dog, at first.