9 Days Out
It just hit me the other day that I’ll be in Vegas in less than 2 weeks. The excitement from when we booked the trip has returned, and it brought friends.
This weekend I crossed a pretty big item off the vacation planning and personal health To Do list, I went and got a full check up for my eyes, which my mom will probably be glad to hear, and ordered new glasses which should be ready for pick up in a day or two. The good news is my eyes are perfectly fine and while I don’t remember exactly what my old prescription of 6-9 years ago was it doesn’t sound like it’s gotten any worse. In fact everyone was commenting on how light the prescription is. I did a lot of shopping around for my glasses to make sure I got the best pair at the best deal, Mindi was very patient with me and my brand-whore and yet still cheap-ass ways. I somewhat had my heart set on getting some Kenneth Coles just because I never felt particularly good wearing glasses no matter what anyone told me but it’s hard not to fell like, a Vic would say, a million bucks when you’re wearing Kenneth Cole but in the end a CK pair looked much more appealing at a slightly more reasonable price and then at the last minute Mindi found an even better pair at about half the price of the CKs. In the end after medical reimbursements I should be out just $70 for the whole episode – not bad at all.
Unfortunately today somewhat marks the beginning of Grey Mode for me. For those of you not in the know Grey Mode is when my hours at work get reduced so I have to become much more frugal and ultra-efficient with my money. Part of why I went a little spend crazy this weekend was because I knew this was coming; I got PJs, slippers, and glasses for myself plus a bunch of stuff for the kid like sweaters, slippers, and PJs. I had hoped I could get a little something for Mindi too before I had to tighten my belt but it just wasn’t in the cards.
Now the confusing thing is that I get about a week and change of Grey Mode, and then I go into Vacation Mode which is nearly the exact opposite. I believe that while you need not be frivolous I also believe that being a little stupid with your money is part of being on vacation. Now granted my American funds aren’t part of the household budget so I don’t really need to feel guilty about spending that but I do plan on using the credit card a little bit to stretch that money a little further. I’m not really concerned though, if anyone can help me shake off a case of the frugals, or indeed a case of most anything, it’s Jon.
Jon really is great for making you forget your troubles and jumpstart Vacation Mode. I remember one road trip awhile back (as sadly none of them were recent) where I was telling him a story about some stressful situation I had to deal with at work – crazy customer service story, that sort of thing. Anyways near the end of the story Jon told me I was yelling; now in my defense I WAS trying to talk over some rather loud music and the sounds of the car but it made me realize that I was a little more worked up than I needed to be and with that realization, and perhaps more than just a bit of embarrassment, I left all of my work stress behind me completely forgotten.
Unfortunately one thing on my shopping list for the weekend didn’t go as well as the glasses. I’ve been meaning to pick up a copy of James Darren’s CD This One’s From The Heart with the faint hope that I might be able to get him to sign it but I’ve been putting it off largely because I’ve been sick or busy with work or family but when I finally put a little time into my quest, admittedly just stopping by 2 HMVs I found it to be much more challenging than I first expected. In retrospect I think I had been picturing music stores of several years ago, in my defense the last time I actually bought a CD, rather than the stores of today that have less CD selection in favour of DVDs and video games – first time that’s been a bad thing for me. Near as I figure my only chance, given that it’s now too late to order online and expect to receive it before I leave, is to hit the Virgin Megastore downtown or luck out at a used place. Maybe James will have a merch table set up at the show…
Some good news though, it looks like Jon will be coming over to the mainland earlier than expected so he’ll be joining us for Election Night. I was toying with the idea of firing a confetti cannon every time a state gets called for Obama but that could get expensive and messy in my small place so I’m trying to think of alternative fanfare – suggestions are welcome.
