Reflections on the Weekend

Jeff and I did not do much at all this weekend. I meant to work more diligently on homework than I did, but I ended up working until the midnight deadline tonight to get my assignments turned in. I know better than that, so I'll be more diligent this week. Jeff ended up working on our DVD database, watching movies, and playing video games instead of doing homework, so at least I don't feel like I was the only one who sinned. :-)

On Saturday, the high point was going to the eye doctor. I love going to the eye doctor. I've started going to a really nice one that is just down the road. It's always fun to see all of the gadgetry and the tools they use to determine what needs to be done to help you see better. Dr. Battani has a great sense of humor and he keeps you entertained. His wife does all of the preliminary testing and she chatted with me about their recent trip to Japan. I've started wearing the 30-day contacts and I really like them. I don't have as many problems with dryness and the lenses are comfortable. Our vision insurance gives us about $120 towards contact lenses, so my out of pocket expense wasn't too bad. It was less than I paid for glasses, that's for sure.

I spent several delightful hours today talking with Francie Chambers, formerly known as Frances Collins. We lost touch during the college years and recently reconnected, and I'm actually going to work with her on a project for school. She and her husband need to design lesson plans for some training in 2009, and I've volunteered to take on a three-hour block of instructional design for them. They get my work for free, and I get to submit it for a grade; we both see it as a win-win proposition. Anyway, we had been trading emails back and forth, but I called her today to get some details on the project and used the time to also play catch-up. She had that same lilting giggle that I remember from days past. She has a good life in Georgia, but she said she would move back to Fort Worth in an instant if she possibly could. It was such fun catching up with her. She's coming back to Fort Worth for a visit during the Thanksgiving holidays, and we're going to try to get together for dinner some night.

So, in the period of a few months, I've gotten caught up with two of my dearest friends, and I'm thrilled about it. Cristy, Francie, and I are all curious, inquisitive people who love to people-watch. It's fun to imagine what the person's life was like just before you saw them, and where they are going after they leave your presence. I like to think of it as training for a fiction writer, which is what I'd like to ultimately be if I'd get off my duff and bear down on writing. I've got a good story idea floating around in my head, but it won't do me any good if I don't get it down on paper. I want it to be about a trio of lesbians struggling with their personal lives and their self-esteem, so I would call it We Three Dykes of Disorient Are. There's more, of course, but I don't want to share too much of it now.