Smileys, Glasses, and Cars,..Oh My!

SMILEYS...After an incident on the playground at school, I requested a conference with Connor's teacher. Connor and I went in and his teacher shared a "Smiley Chart" (a.k.a Behavior Plan) she had created for Connor. Prior to this, almost daily, we were receiving notes home describing problems/issues that had arisen. The teacher thought the Smiley Chart would provide us both positive and negative feedback. The chart includes each part of the day (Circle Time, Work Stations, Lunch, Recess, Special, Morning and Afternoon Activities, Rest Time, etc...) and allows the teacher to draw either a happy or a frown face to denote his behavior during that particular activity. Each day is a new day and we never know what to expect. We are, however, hoping to see some patterns that might help explain his behavior and provide us with feedback as to what our evening discussions need to focus on at home. Only time will tell...

GLASSES...For a some time now, I have had trouble with my eyes. I have always had 20-20 vision so it was immediately obvious when these issues began. I had previously acknowledged the fact that age must be playing a factor when I couldn't read things as close as I had been able to before and I found myself extending my arms to hold something at a distance to be able to see clearly. I also couldn't see road and street signs from as far away as I could before. More recently though, I felt the sensation like I was really, really tired and I felt like I was zoning...like my eyes were crossing. After dealing with this for a few weeks, I decided to take the next step and make an appointment with an opthamologist.
I thoroughly enjoyed my visit and loved the experience. He did many tests and tried many different things before a diagnosis was made. He concluded that the muscles in one of my eyes (I think the right) were weak, therefore allowing it to drift slightly inward. The problem is fixable (and also genetic). Guess how? GLASSES! Anyone that knows me knows how badly I have wanted glasses...ever since I was in middle school. I just love the "look" of glasses and think it's so neat how they can change a person's look almost immediately. So, I was actually excited when the Dr. told me that he was prescribing glasses and he was laughing at my excitement. I spent the next hour or so trying on different frames, getting the opinions of all the ladies in the office, and I even called my mom to come to the office (with C&C) to help me make a decision. I liked them all! Finally, we narrowed it down to two. They suggested I take both frames home to show Matt and get his thoughts...which I did. Both he and my mom chose the same pair. I still wanted one more vote, so I drove to Sally's and tried them on for her. She chose the same ones...so they're ordered and I should be getting them this week. I really can't wait. I feel like a little child before Christmas!

CARS...The garage finally told us what we knew was coming. We needed to get rid of our Honda Odyssey. Although we had replaced the transmission just a few years ago, it was still experiencing problems. Matt and I spent all last weekend car shopping (with both children!) and test drove a couple of vans. On our way home from Northern Virginia on Sunday, we stopped at a dealer in Stafford, VA because we had seen two vans there on the internet. Only one of the vans was left, so we test drove it. Meanwhile, the salesman shared with us that there was a family who had made an appointment to come see the van and were on their way from Maryland at that moment. They were not normally open on Sundays. What luck. Just after we pulled in from our test-drive, the family pulled in and began their inspection of the van. The poor salesman was very uncomfortable but didn't share with the family that we were both interested in the same van. They also test drove it and, while they were gone, we spoke with the salesman, got all of the details, and informed him that we were very interested in the van. They had just gotten the van in the day before and we knew it would not last long at the asking price. As luck would have it, the other family said that they wanted a vibration issue to be fixed before they purchased it (because they were paying cash) and would be back the following day (Monday) to drive it once more. Since we already discussed this issue with the salesman and knew that he was going to have the vibration taken care of, we jumped on it and bought it! So...we have a new van. A pearl white (not my first choice) Toyota Sienna XLE. I'm still getting used to the differences between this one and our Honda...but it's been fun. No more transmission issues...Now we officially belong to the "White Car Club."

OH MY...