I received my glasses from Zenni yesterday, one day earlier than the two weeks promised when I ordered.

Each pair came packaged in a snap-closed plastic eyeglass case of it's own.  They were each wrapped in one of those eyeglass cleaning cloths and placed in a plastic bag inside of the case.  The two cases were shipped in a plastic bubble wrap envelope.  Nothing was damaged in shipment.

If you will remember from my previous posting, I have just been wearing reading glasses over the top of my regular glasses when I need to see tiny writing. I pulled out the new progressive glasses and put them on.  The distance part of the prescription is actually weaker than what I have been wearing and it's been more difficult to adjust to than the reading part.  Also, as Howdy had warned me, I have experienced a little nausea when trying to look down when I'm walking because of the different prescription at the bottom.  One other tiny thing is that the nose pads are a little sticky, but I think that might be because they are new.  The frames that I chose also asked me to chose what shape lens I wanted in them and I am quite pleased with the way they turned out.  Overall, I am thrilled with them!  Last night while I was making dinner, I kept noticing things that were now in focus that previously were not.  So nice to be able read again without pulling out reading glasses.  No-line progressive glasses with anti-glare coating.  Cost $46.90

Next, I tried out the sunglasses.  I had the distance prescription tinted 80% gray and put into pink plastic frames.  They look and fit fine.  I took them out driving and they were adequate.  I haven't worn sunglasses in months, so I am not sure if it's the fact that they were actually tinted, or because the prescription is weaker than what I was wearing, but it didn't seem like I was seeing as well as I used to.  I will have to try them out more before I can make a final verdict on them.  I do want to mention that they are not polarized lenses, they are merely tinted.  Single-focus lenses tinted in plastic frames.  Cost:  $12.95

I can tell you that I would not hesitate to order from Zenni again.  I am really aggravated at myself for waiting so long to try this out.  I do want to mention that I don't have a particularly strong prescription and I don't have any major astigmatism problems that might complicate a pair of glasses.  If I have the chance, I am going to stop by the optometrists office and show her and see what she thinks of them.  Your mileage may vary, but I am very happy with my purchase!

Oooh.  Enticing title, eh?  So, I last went to the eye doctor back in my last life.  At that time, the doctor tried to convince me I needed bifocals, but of course, being the young and silly thing I was, there was no way I would be under 40 and wearing them.  I got single vision glasses.

Fast forward to now.  Job in accounting is painfully difficult with these glasses, so I have lately resorted to wearing dollar store cheaters on top of my regular prescription.  Envision female Bob Cratchit here.  Except they are zebra printed cheaters.  

Monthsish ago, I read an entry at WiseBread I think about someone who ordered glasses online.   Saved loads of cash.  Filed story away in brain somewhere.  Then, Claudia talked about it on her blog recently.  After one more day of looking like an idiot at work, I went to the eye doctor (nice chick in front of a Sam's Club.)  (This is probably the point where I interject that I am trying to avoid all of Walton's concepts, since I am pretty sure they are trying to become the Empire and take over civilization as we know it.  Nice Eye Doctor assured me she had nothing to do with Sam's other than sharing a building.  She even took my Amex card, so there!)  I tentatively asked her if she'd ever ordered glasses online.  Immediately, she said that she had ordered frames online, but she was nervous about ordering bifocals online.  However, she provided me with the elusive "pupillary distance " measurement and even recommended a website:  Zenni Optical , which I had already visited prior to this appointment.

After the appointment, I went into the store and asked the optical department employee how much lenses would cost in the prescription I had just been handed by the doctor.  $98 per lens for progressive lenses with anti-glare coating.  A $20 fee would also be assessed for using the same frames that I have.  I browsed around a bit and decided that I just wasn't ready to fork out at least $233 for new lenses in the same old glasses.

So, I went home and started browsing the website.  It didn't take long for me to find a dozen styles that interested me.  I settled on a plastic frame ($8) to put single vision dark lenses in for sunglasses and a wire frame to get made into progressive lenses.   I filled out all the blanks on the order form and the total, including the $4.95 shipping charge was $64.80.  SIXTY FIVE DOLLARS for two new pairs of glasses.  Now, I am well aware that they might not be perfect.  My last pair of glasses, made at one of those one hour places at the mall were not perfect either, and I paid significantly more for them.  Right now, I am wearing cheaters on top of my regular glasses, so it's not like I have a high quality pair of progressive lenses that I am replacing, either.  Howdy has some wicked astigmatism in his eyes, so I can understand his hesitation with ordering glasses online, but for $65 for two pairs, I figure I can afford to at least try them out since I don't have those problems.

I feel obligated to point out that Zenni appears to be the very cheapest of the online purveyors.  There are others, but I was looking for bargains, not bells and whistles.  Other than browsing there myself and what the doctor told me and what I have read online, I know what you do.

Two weeks estimated production time.  I promise to report back honestly about my experience.  Cross your fingers...but not your eyes.

So, I was watching a movie on Netflix's Watch Instantly last night.  A German movie called "Cherry Blossoms" which turned out to be only mediocre at best, but I digress.  Close to the beginning, there's a scene where a woman is trying to vacuum the floor and her kids roll away from her to get out of the way.  I had to rewind and do a double take.  Do you see what I see?

I do believe those are Opal Lollipop socks!

There has been no sock knitting here.  About the only knitting I have done is lowly dishcloths.  I gave a few away and now I have requests for more.  I have had a bitch of a time finding yarn here, though.  Hobby Lobby's selection is boring and the local Wal Marts have completely taken their fabric departments out.  We randomly stopped at a Wal Mart in Burleson, TX on the way back to Houston and they had a fully stocked larder, so I came out with a bagful.  I know I can order it online, but it was a nice surprise to run across it.  My dishcloth of choice is a mitered square in garter stitch.  Cast on 75.  Great mindless car knitting.

Lately, I've been entertaining the thought of making a skirt.  I tried one on at Macy's last weekend, but I didn't buy it.  I was browsing free skirt patterns online and ran across this one and really liked it.  I haven't downloaded it.  I made quite a few garments for Daughter-the-Younger, but usually when I try to make something for myself, I am sick to death of it before it is finished.  

It's hard to believe that it's been nine months since I've posted a blog here.  I'd like to say that time flies when you are having fun, but you all know that time just flies whether you are enjoying it or not.  The business my hubby and I bought is still in business, although with the bigger printers in town now vying for smaller jobs, our workload has also shrunk.  We have let one employee go and dropped everyone else back to 32 hours a week.  I was working part time there, but since Howdy also took a pay cut, I had to go back to full time at my other job, so I am squeezing the bookkeeping in at the shop at lunch and before and after work.  I spent a lot of time gardening this spring, but with this intense heat, most of my flower bed is withering.  A bright spot in the spring was when Daughter-the-Older graduated from Texas Tech this spring and miraculously found a job!  

So, that's all the news from this front, but it is Saturday and I have a literal mountain of laundry to do today and really need to go and find a pair of shoes to wear to a banquet later this summer.  Sigh, everything seems so mundane here most of the time.  And this blog entry is becoming so as well.  Have a great weekend!