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Scott and I (and the dogs) just got home from a VERY family-oriented weekend south of Chicago. On Friday evening we had my cousin Robert's wedding, yesterday we celebrated my sister Trish's 30th birthday, and today we celebrated a belated Father's Day for my dad and brother-in-law Chris. Trish and Chris live in Texas, so we don't get to see them all that much, so it was nice that they were up for the wedding, etc. And the best part... spending the weekend with my 8-week old niece Katelin. I visited her when she was only 2 weeks old (and tiny!), so it was neat to see how much she's grown in the ~6 weeks since then. The first picture below is Katelin all dressed up for the wedding, and the second is her at 5 weeks old. I know I'm biased, but isn't she adorable? You can see more pictures by visiting the 'Baby Hicks is Here!' blog link to the right side of this page.
It was nice to have the family together for the weekend, and if that wasn't enough, I'll be seeing them all again - well, all but Chris - next weekend when we head to the Women's Nationals bowling tournament in Detroit. Trish will be bowling in the team, doubles/singles, and 40-frame game tournaments, and it looks like I'll be bowling in the 40-frame game portion. I'm looking forward to the bowling part, but also to spending more time with the family. I'm really enjoying being "Aunt Jen"!
Yesterday I had my LASIK procedure, and everything went very well. It's amazing that a procedure that only takes about 10 minutes can turn me from worse than 20/200 (what would be legally blind without my contacts/glasses) to 20/20 at the follow-up appointment the next day. My right eye actually checked out at 20/15, and my vision in both eyes may improve to 20/15 over the next couple of weeks as the healing progresses. I am having occasional dryness (despite using the various eye drops constantly) and halos at night, but those should decrease over time.
The only real downside was that once the numbing drops wore off on the way home from the surgery, I had strong burning pain in both eyes, with extreme light sensitivity. I took some Tylenol on the way, and took a 2-hour nap once I got home - and felt a LOT better after that. They tell you that you will likely have 'some discomfort' afterwards, but if you're considering LASIK, I strongly recommend taking some sort of OTC pain medicine (if approved by your doctor) before you even leave the doctor's office so it can start working before the numbing drops wear off.
Other than that, though, I highly recommend looking into LASIK. As with any elective surgery, there are risks that have to be considered, and the decision is ultimately a very personal one - but I do recommend at least checking into it if you're considering it at all.
Yesterday I had an evaluation appointment for my upcoming LASIK surgery, scheduled for next Thursday. Everything went really well at the appointment, where they evaluated the health of my eyes and took all the measurements they need to program the different types of surgical equipment. As with any surgery, there's certainly risks involved, but there's nothing about my eyes that indicate any specific issues, so I'm not too nervous. I did find out at the appointment that I would be considered legally blind without corrective lenses (worse than 20/200)... for the next few days, anyway. Even if I don't end up with 20/20 vision after the surgery (though 99% of people treated by this group/procedure do), it'll still be a VAST improvement. As long as I don't have any long-lasting complications, and I'll be all set!
Last weekend our new puppy arrived home - a 9.5-week old Harrier we named Maggie. Maggie joins our 4-year old Harrier, Abby. So far they're both adjusting pretty well to the change in situation. Abby's used to being the only dog in the house, and Maggie's used to a house full of hounds. Maggie comes from a breeder we met when we lived in Oregon, Ellen Parr, who runs Wynfield Hounds. Below are pictures of Maggie, and of the two dogs meeting for the first time.
We're looking forward to taking Maggie to Puppy Kindergarten at the end of June. I don't think she's used to her new name yet, but she's learning other commands and we've got high hopes for her. Now, if we could just get her housebroken...
