Seeing Blue, Scarlet & Just Plain Clearer

After Alex's family came down from Cleveland to visit it really started to feel like fall around here. The leaves starting falling and the temperatures started dropping {although it seems to have bounced back a little bit}. I raked leaves in our front yard a few times because I remembered how awful it was last year doing it all at once. Unfortunately my efforts didn't go too far; our street is named Oak Place Ct for a reason...

Our efforts from this past weekend

The leaves I can definitely do without, but it wouldn't be fall without football and tailgating. Alex's co-worker invited us to his UK tailgate a few weekends ago. It's fun to be in that atmosphere with the beautiful weather and all the delicious food and drinks {that's why I really go of course}, but I have to say it's very strange to look around and only see bright blue. I still haven't gotten used to that. I also haven't gotten used to all of the SEC talk. Not much Big Ten love down here.

Commonwealth Stadium

The tickets he gave us ended up being in an amazing spot. The first time I went to Commonwealth Stadium it felt like a high school stadium in comparison to The Shoe, but this time I could appreciate it's size because it meant no nosebleed seats! For me, that does make it a little more enjoyable because I can actually see what's going on down on the field and the players don't look like ants.

Karleya and I at The Rossi in Columbus

The next weekend we headed up to Columbus to Buckeye land. We stayed with my friend Karleya and her husband and had a little reunion with some of our out of town friends, Bri, Pete & Chrissy, who also happened to be Alex's former co-workers from Eaton {also known as the LDP {Leadership Development Program} group}. This time we only admired the stadium from afar, which was fine with me because the weather did not cooperate. It was cold and rainy the majority of the day. We did a little bar hopping and managed to stay warm enough to enjoy ourselves! I felt at home because everywhere I looked there was Scarlet and Gray with no blue in sight!

Me, Alex and Chrissy

Chrissy, Bri and I

Pete & Bri

Pete & Chrissy

Alex and I

After the game ended we had to walk our way through campus back to our car. It's strange to walk around campus because part of me feels like it was so long enough that I attended OSU, but the other part of me still remembers walking those routes like it was yesterday. Of course, in honor of reliving our college days we had to stop by the RPAC {the rec facility} to visit Alex's youngest brother Ethan who was working. Both Alex and I worked there in different departments.

After finally getting back to our car we watched a little more football and then retired. I am definitely getting "old" {in comparison to college} because my body cannot handle all day marathons like that anymore. I get more excited by the prospect of going to bed early than staying out late and partying. In the morning we packed up and had breakfast with Ethan, his girlfriend Anna and the LDP crew, Bri, Pete & Chrissy. It was a fitting end to our weekend of shenanigans.

The following weekend we went to a Halloween party hosted by some friends of our friends. It got the creative juices flowing to plan some Halloween costumes and it was nice to get out and meet some new people. Right before the party while we were getting ready we had a little candy incident that I wish I had caught on camera.

Rewind a couple days... while I was at the grocery I picked up some Halloween candy. I was attempting to hide it from Alex since he is a candy monster and I specifically did not mention to him that I had gotten it, until plans changed. I knew once he found out he would have to find it.

Well it turned out my LASIK surgery was scheduled for the morning of Halloween. I wouldn't be in any shape to hand out candy and Alex would be at class so I mentioned this conundrum to him. Fast forward to the day of the party... know that he had known about the candy for a couple of days he couldn't resist temptation any longer, so he went on a scavenger hunt around the house until he found the stash.

I attempted to hide it again until I could get it safely out of the house the next day {I donated it to my neighbors who hadn't picked theirs up yet}. I choose to put it in the dryer with some of my clothes thinking Alex wouldn't find it. Well, apparently it was so well hidden that when he put his Halloween costume in the dryer to de-wrinkle it he didn't see the bright green bag and he hit start. A few seconds later all of the candy was dumped out everywhere{because of course we had snitched from each bag since they were different varieties}.

I wish I had gotten a picture because it was a priceless scene. Alex was on his hands and knees scooping candy out of the dryer. Luckily the candy was not injured in the process and went to our neighbors the next day.

Later that week came the actually day of Halloween. Early in the morning Alex and I got ourselves together to head to the surgery center. My first treat on Halloween was a valium. Then before I knew it, it was already time to get situated for the light show. The procedure itself went pretty quickly and was painless. Mostly it was just a little uncomfortable at times and there were a lot of bright blinking lights. Afterwards I got my second treat of the day, a painkiller and some pretty goggles.

My stylish LASIK goggles

The drive home via the pharmacy was a little rough because my numbing drops had worn off and it didn't feel like my painkiller had kicked in. To top it all off I had goggles on my eyes and couldn't open them so I felt helpless, which freaked me out a little bit {I'm a little bit of a control freak}!

After 30 minutes, which seemed like forever, we got back home and I took some more medication to help me sleep. After four hours I woke up and the pain was gone just like they promised. I rested the remainder of the day and "listened" to a couple of my favorite movies on my laptop while Alex was at class {I could not fathom napping any more}.

Meanwhile, I received a text from my neighbor telling me trick-or-treating had been reschedule to Friday and that I could have my candy back. So it turns out I didn't miss handing out candy after all, and the best part was that Alex was able to join me too!

My eyes feel great and I have just been keeping up on all my drops. The results of my post-op appt were that I now have 20/20 vision! {I'm not exactly sure what it was before, I know my contact prescription was -4.0 and when I didn't wear them pretty much everything was blurry and I would get a headache within 5 minutes}. I still have a little blurriness, but that will gradually fade over the next week. I don't think it's completely set in just yet about the implications of this surgery.

I started wearing glasses when I was in 4th grade and got contacts the following year. They have been such an integral part of my life that during my LASIK consultation I literally asked... "So, how long after the surgery until I can start wearing my contacts again?" As soon as the words tumbled out of my mouth I realized what I was saying and I started laughing. I haven't known anything else for a very long time {16 years, or almost half of my life}, but I am already finding out and let me tell you, it's totally worth it.