Buying Rx Glasses Online

I do it. You can too!

 *This collection cost me $117 for the three pair including shipping.

In July of 2007, I discovered buying prescription eyeglasses online. I've never even entertained the idea of ever buying from an optical store again! Since July 07, I bet I've purchased ten pair of glasses online, and I've never paid over $40 for a pair.

GlassyEyes blog is where I got my start with buying glasses online. This guy is amazing! He knows all the deals and has links to the best online glasses shopping sites.  He reviews them too. Have a look.

I get single-vision lenses with a different prescription for each eye, frames, UV coating, anti-scratch coating, tint in the sunglasses, and shipping. All for $40 or less, and I'm splurging. 

It's easy to do and it's cheap! And, Yes, they are real glasses. In fact, they are the exact same thing you would be buying at the optical store. Exactly!  They aren't dollar store glasses, they aren't "fake", they aren't anything but what they claim to be. Prescription glasses. They just aren't screwing you like the optical store will.

I'll tell ya what, it isn't nearly as heartbreaking when  your kid breaks your glasses when you've only paid $40 and you have an extra pair than it is when you pay $400 and you have no spare. Ok, I'll fess up, I've broken my own glasses too, but I live with toddlers who like to bend things and they've broken my glasses more often than I've done it to myself.  When you buy online, you can afford more than one pair and sometimes you can get a "Buy one get one free" deal.  Owning one pair of glasses is a thing of the past!
 
Now if the toddlers in this house would stop twisting my glasses into a knot, I'm sure they'd last longer. The last time I purchased glasses was in March 2010 and I still have them. They are just fine. If I need new ones, I'll order more online, but until then these are great!

To order your eyeglasses online, you first need to understand your prescription and your head measurements.

Of course, you need to know how big your head is and how that converts to what size frame you will be buying. Easy enough. Just measure your current pair of glasses. Even if they are broken, you can measure the length of the bow and the width of the frame. Get a ruler, that is easy enough. You can also go try on new frames and write down the numbers on the frame or sales tag. That is another good way to learn what fits you best and how that translates to ordering frames.

Don't worry, the cheap frames you order online are the same quality as the optical store. You can find the same brands. They are cheap in price, but otherwise the same. There are plastic frames, wire frames, titanium, metal, rimless, full frames, half frames, designer, vintage, flexlite, sports glasses and more options. They aren't the clearance frames left over from the 80s that have been sitting in a warehouse for 30 years. Although, if that's what  you want, I'm sure you could click around until you find it.

Your prescription is where it gets tricky. And if I can figure this out, rest assured that it isn't all that tricky. Get your eyes checked by your optometrist and ask the doctor to write out the Rx for you. This is important!  Many times they won't do this for you because they expect you to buy your glasses on the spot from them. If you get your eyes examined, you do not have to buy your glasses from that doctor. They cannot force you to make a purchase. By law, they have to give you your prescription.

When getting your Rx in writing, make sure ALL of the numbers are there. They'll give you an Rx paper with numbers for each eye; mine has three numbers for one eye and one number for the other eye.  If you have an added prism, you need all of those numbers as well (should be four numbers per prism).

They also need to give you a PD number. This means Pupillary Distance. It is the measurement between the centers of your pupils, and it is part of your prescription. If they give you flack about this, then flip 'em the bird and measure it yourself.

Looking in the mirror, hold a ruler up to your eyes and find the measurement in millimeters. It's probably 58mm or something like that.

Be very careful to type your prescription in correctly. Some numbers are negative, some involve decimal points, it needs to be precise. One time I got my decimal point in the wrong spot and wow - I got some thick glasses! It was fun for a few minutes to look through them when they arrived in the mail but after a good giggle,  I boxed them back up and sent them back along with a copy of my Rx. I got my corrected pair of glasses and they were just right! It was my mistake and they sent me a new pair without charging me twice. Sweet!

As far as ordering a lens, you can get the standard single vision lens, bifocals, trifocals, a polycarbonite lens, thin and lite, super thin, ultra thin, or as thin as possible.  There may be extra charges for the lenses that are not standard.  I always get the free standard single vision lens.

You can order coatings too: anti-scratch, anti-glare, UV, color, and photochromic. There's even an option to stick a jewel on your lens; this is called "Party Glasses". You can choose the jewel and add that price to your order.

I like to buy my glasses at EyebuyDirect.com, but there are several places that sell prescription glasses and sunglasses. You can order prescription glasses CHEAP! And then, mail your receipt in to your vision insurance as an out-of-plan expense. The coverage isn't as good, but if you get 40% back from them for the lenses only or whatever your insurance does for  you, then hey, you'll get enough back to buy an ice cream cone. And you'll be able to read the ice cream menu! Bonus!

I hope you'll try buying your prescription glasses and/or sunglasses online. It won't cost you more than a small bag of groceries, about the same as a cheap pair of sandals, or the same as a movie with a big bucket of popcorn. Try it. If you aren't satisfied, send 'em back. I'd like to hear about it if you have purchased glasses online, or even thought about it. Happy Shopping!

Little Red Wagon

I had the pleasure of welcoming my little grandson into the world and seeing his parents lives change right there in the delivery room. The first thing I remember my son-in-law saying to his new son was, "I can't wait to buy you a little red wagon."

For years, I've wanted to buy my kids a red wagon and it just never was on the top of my shopping list. But the day my grandson was born the wagon shot right up toward the top of my list - for my kids.  That was almost year ago! The little girls have bikes, big wheels, scooters and lots of strollers so I couldn't really justify it in my mind to buy another big toy with wheels. Unless.... hmmm... maybe I could...

Yes, the wagon is an American classic. The kids must have one. I decided I would get them one if I got rid  of the double stroller. I wasn't using it much anymore, just a bit here and there. Gracie is 6 years old now and over the weight limit for the stroller so it isn't much use to me unless I use it for Libby and a grandson, or Libby and a friend. This wasn't happening very often. The double was taking up space more than it was being  used lately.

I bought my double stroller, a 2007 chocolate mint Graco Quatro Duo, used off of Craigslist back in 2008. It was in excellent condition, and the seller told me she owned it for a few months. They were still selling the same model at Babies R Us, not even a discontinued stroller. Nice!  Rather than spending $250 for it at the store I picked it up for $100. I used it extensively from 2008 until recently and it is 2012 already. Three and a half years and a lot of miles went into that used stroller.  It served us well. I sold it on Craigslist for $80 to a lady with a toddler and a newborn.  I hope it serves them well too.

Since I ditched the double stroller, I promised myself that wagon!  It took me a few months, but I finally came through with my shopping promise and went out on a wagon shopping spree. I've been looking at them online for a long time trying to decide which model to get and I've perused Craigslist too.  The  used wagons on Craigslist are worn, broken, and rusty. I want a new one. I had the hardest time deciding between a solid plastic body with seats and straps and cupholders or the foldable cloth wagon.  The one with seats and cupholders resembles a double stroller that you pull instead of push, the foldable wagon seems to have more interior room in the bed of the wagon. hmmmm.

I went with the foldy wagon based solely on the fact that it will fit in the trunk better making it easier to take with us. I decided to just go buy it before I changed my mind. Off we went to Sams Club where the wagon was $54.  Bam! We own an American Classic!

I love it! The kids love it too!  It weighs a lot less than the double stroller and it is much more compact when folded than the double ever was. It holds 150 pounds too! The double stroller held 100 pounds (40 lbs in each seat and 20 in the basket).  All in all, it's a great trade!

Now, I just have to figure out how to pull it.  I know how to pull, but pulling and walking at the same time is a skill I have yet to master.  Pulling the kids in the wagon, I cannot see them.  That's kind of annoying, I will need to make sure Charlie doesn't climb out while we're walking along. What if Libby drops her blanket? Guess we'll get used to the new lineup. 

The handle is not attached to the wheels in any way so there is no way to steer the wagon. How do you steer this thing? It wanders left and right behind me and I am sure to drop the kids right off the curb if the sidewalk isn't wide enough. Yikes. Maybe they should wear helmets. There is a steep learning curve to becoming a wagon puller. Who knew!

We're all pretty excited about our upgrade from the stroller to the wagon even if I don't have my wagon driver's license yet. Just takes practice I guess. Question of the day: Which park should we take it to so I can practice my wagon driving skills?

Caller ID Is Not Specific Enough

I live in a state of confusion. So, this little anecdote should come as no surprise. I was confused.  I think I'm straightened out now, but one never knows. There are always twists and surprises for me in my day.


Our beach day was planned like so:  I am driving to the beach with the little girls. Just me and them. Fenna is going to the same beach but riding with another exchange student and her host family.  They will put in a longer day but since I have the little ones, I am driving separately and not going to stay as long. I'm bringing boogie boards and a skim board and lots of towels. We'll all hang out together and that's pretty much the plan.  Easy and simple.

Yesterday, I posted on facebook in a private group of mom friends (from all over the country but a few that are in So Cal) that I would be going to the beach today. Yay! One friend responded "Which beach?" and I took that to mean she was interested in where I was going. She's sort of local.

Later in the day, after I'd completely forgotten about my facebook post and all responses, I got a text on my phone. The caller id just showed a number, but it was a local area code. I assumed it was the family of Fenna's friends, I think the mom's name is Rachel. She looks like a Rachel, that name really does fit her nicely. My text said "Hi This is Rachel. What time do you want to leave tomorrow?"  See, her name must be Rachel. It said so in the text.

I replied "I will leave mid-morning and meet you there. Fenna wants to ride with you."  She didn't reply via text again. She probably thought I was drunk.

Later, again, I'd moved on in my mind, my phone was ringing and caller ID showed the same number as before. Once again, I think it is the mom of the two teenage girls we are meeting up with at the beach. No, it's not. But, since I assumed incorrectly I carry on as if my friend is this other lady.

Have you ever had a phone conversation with someone and you completely thought it was a different  person?  Yeah... embarrassing!

Here I was talking with my friend who has a four month old baby and no teenagers and I thought I was talking to the woman who organized a big teen outing.

Rachel said very confusing things to me such as, "Which beach are you going to?", "What time do you want to leave?", "Should we meet up at your house and ride together?", "Are you bringing anything?" and other completely mind bending  thoughts. The conversation was so bizarre until I heard her say "Luka (her baby) and I are excited to tag along".  Whoa, I've been talking to my friend Rachel this whole time?  Luka's mom? By this time in the conversation, I was way too embarrassed to admit that I thought she was someone else even though she's just the sort of person who would enjoy the humor of the situation. Plus, I was super happy that she was coming along! Yippee!

I admitted to Fenna and Keith that I had this crazy phone conversation which left me feeling stupid and they both got a good laugh at my expense. It really was funny. I couldn't  help but laugh at myself by now. I asked Fenna to find out what her friends' mom's name is and text it to me so that I could discreetly find out; I wonder if her name is Rachel also or if I just decided "Rachel" was a good fit.

When I dropped Fenna off at her friend's house, Fenna ran up to the mama and said "What's your name?" and she replied "Lori".  Fenna turns to me and yells "Her name is LORI!"  Great, thanks for that, kiddo. I apologized for forgetting her first name, and she chuckled and said "Most people just call me 'Amber's mom'".  Ahh, I understand that one!

The next day at the beach I was sitting with my friend Rachel and I confessed that I was confused during our phone conversation the day before. But, I wasn't drunk. Just confused. She laughed and said she thought maybe I was distracted by the kids and she didn't think I was drunk or stupid or confused. Much. It was all so very funny! I'm going to laugh about this for a good long time!

This whole incident could have been avoided if caller id would  just give me the caller's name, number and whose mom it is. Life would be easier that way. 

Las Vegas with the Little Kids

We've driven right through Las Vegas many times, usually in the middle of the night. The desert is too hot so we plan our roadtrip so that we pass through the high desert during the coldest part of the night; in August that means 90 degrees at 3am. The kids are usually passed out in their carseats while we ooooo and ahhhh over the sight of the lights. And, we just keep going.

This trip, I decided we would stop and really see Las Vegas.  I wanted to see it, Fenna wants to see it (again - she was there 2 years ago), and the kids are too small to understand that it isn't a kids' place. If I am ever going to see Las Vegas, now is the time.

 I found a great deal on a room at Circus Circus for $24 per night plus a $9 facility fee. They had cheaper rooms in their little side motel but didn't know how "ghetto" that would be since I couldn't find a good review for it online.  At $24 per night, the upgrade would probably be worth it, my prediction was spot on! The room was actually very nice.

Everyone I know seems to love a nice soft mattress with a pillow top. This is what they had at Circus Circus. While I appreciate a newer bed that isn't permanently body-dented and doesn't look like a teacup, I'm not a big fan of soft mattresses.  Sure enough, it felt great at first. Ahhhh, but then as I sunk in, I felt like I was drowning in the mattress. It wrapped around me and I couldn't roll over. I kept waking up fighting to get myself out of my hole so I could turn this way or that.

I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's first discuss our arrival:

Driving from California to Las Vegas on a Sunday afternoon, the westbound side of the freeway was clogged and barely moving from Victorville all the way into Las Vegas. Crazy! And yet, good for us. Everyone is leaving Las Vegas and we won't have to battle a crowd. Score!

We got off of the freeway and rounded the corner to find the hotel just fine. First thing I saw was the "Motel Manor" which is where the cheapest rooms are. Really glad I upgraded. The manor did not look appealing in any way! Parking was easy enough too. The parking garage was ugly and the spaces were pretty tight, but I squeezed my big fat van into a spot.

By the way, the super filthy parking garage floor is not the ideal place to rearrange your packed bags. Just saying....

We went down an old filthy elevator where I suddenly found religion. I prayed with all my might that it worked and we'd land safely on the ground floor. And I prayed the rest of the hotel was in better condition.

Arriving in the lobby, we discovered we had to wait in a really really really really long line just to check in to the hotel. I've never seen such a thing! The line went all the way from the check-in desk all across the lobby. We got in line and it immediately filled in behind us. There were a lot of families with children so I guess I'm not the only one who thought Las Vegas was doable with children. It took us 55 minutes to get from the back of the line to the check-in desk. With kids who have been strapped down all day long and they have to go potty, it was a long hour.  We had no trouble checking in but we had a long walk to our room. We had to take one set of elevators up to the Adventuredome floor, walk a long way and then took another set of elevators to the floor where our room was. Felt like a mile.

That evening  we needed a place to have dinner. My brother who lives in Las Vegas met up with us for dinner. The restaurants in the hotel were full and there was a 45 minute wait for a table at the restaurant that we had a coupon for, Rock and Rita's. We decided we'd just eat at the buffet. No waiting and food for any mood. The only thing I don't like about buffet dinners is that I have to be the waitress. I was so tired at this point in the day that I decided to stack the plates on my arm just like I did in my old waitressing days. My arms are fatter and softer now, you'd think I could stack more plates on, but no, three plates is my arm balancing limit. That's ok though, saved me a few trips to the buffet and back. Just proves that when I could stack three hot plates on my skinny little arm way back in the day, I rocked! Another thought, why did they seat us so far away from the food?

Since we  had the buffet, we had to have three deserts each. It's like a buffet rule. Even though we were tired, we had to walk off some of the billions of calories, or at least shake 'em down in a bit more. We wandered through the Adventuredome in the hotel. All we did was wander, there were plenty of rides and games for the kids but Fenna didn't want to ride the roller coaster alone (I am not a roller coaster girl) so we didn't end up doing anything beyond wandering and looking. That was enough fun for me at the end of a long day, but Fenna is a teenager and there is no such thing as "done" when it comes to having fun.

The next day was our only full day in Las Vegas. Whatever we are going to do, we're doing it today! We showered and put on fresh clothes and fresh smiles and went out into the stinky air of Las Vegas. You know, the city really smells awful. People smoking, body odor of the all night party crowd lingers in the air, greasy fast food, car exhaust all amplified by the  heat. I'd sure hate to smell this place in the summer.

We started by trying to find the amazing Circus acts that the hotel boasts. After a big long search, we found it and we arrived just as it ended. It didn't look like much though; I don't think we missed much of anything spectacular.  Fenna and I decided it didn't look like it would be worth waiting around for the next show time. We had lunch at McDonald's in the hotel before we set off to see the sights. Yes, McDonald's again. Blech. This is where the people who do not win big eat.

We got a map of the strip and realized we were at the far end and it would be quite a long hike to walk, although it didn't look too bad. We got the van out of the parking garage and drove about halfway down the strip. Oh my goodness, it is a long way!  The street was closed so we had to turn around and since we didn't find a place to park we ended right back in the Circus Circus parking garage. Got a better parking spot this time. Well, that was not what I had in mind when I thought we'd go see the strip. A better idea: let's ride the public transportation and then we can ride it back again. Why didn't we think of that before?

Once we finally got to the strip where you could see some sights, we walked.  And walked and walked and walked. We wandered through a mall. It was beautiful!

After that we wandered outside, walking further south along the sidewalk. We saw beautiful buildings and were grateful for the nice sidewalk bridges.

 

Much to Gracie's delight we saw the Eiffel Tower. She was very excited! She wants to go to Paris France to see the real one, but this fake one was good enough to satisfy her. And, this is the only thing she told her school teacher about when we got back after a 10 day trip.

Walking along we intermittently went through beautiful and ugly. I couldn't wait to get off that sidewalk and away from the crowd! Fenna and Gracie were whining about it being too far and too hot and too disgusting.  Agreed. It was. There were people openly drinking and smoking everywhere, and this wasn't even the nightlife crowd. Yuck. On every corner there were at least three or four people handing out pornography advertising. Luckily, they didn't try to hand it to the kids but they did try to hand it to Fenna. She just walked on by and didn't take anything.  There was a lot of these advertising cards on the ground on every corner, so if the kids looked down they saw the pornography. There was also a lot of advertising on signs and on passing trucks. Gracie is just learning to read and she could read the words "Hot Babes". Guess we should have made this trip last year before she could read short words. We saw lots of scantily clad people, plenty of ugly tattoos, and a variety of people dressed as characters. The characters were not the type you'd want your children to go near. This sure wasn't Disneyland. 

My brother met up with us again and he walked with us to M&M World and the Coke store. Those were nice! We had a lot of fun looking at all of the M&M and Coke merchandise. In the M&M store we saw a 3D m&m movie which was very cute. We bought some m&ms and had a variety tray of Coke afterward. Lots of sugary sweet fun!

We caught the bus back to the hotel and Fenna thought maybe we could come back out after dark to see the lights and hopefully see a free pirate show at Treasure Island. I told her no, we aren't going out on the street after dark. I didn't want the little kids out in the sunset crowd. The daytime crowd was bad enough.

That evening my brother's roommate invited us to dinner at the restaurant where she works so we drove across town and had a nice dinner with him and his friend and her little boy. We ate at Chili's. Good food, good company and the residential side of Las Vegas is clean and nice!  It was great!  

This ended our tour of Las Vegas. In the morning we loaded up, checked out and hit the road. Off like a herd of turtles!

I am glad I got to see a little bit of Las Vegas. Now I can truly say "I've been there".  But, I think I only experienced a taste of sin city, and that's all I need to experience. I told the kids to say good bye to Las Vegas because they won't be back for another 20 years, at least they won't be stopping. We're going right back to just driving right on through on the interstate in the middle of the night. Smelly Las Vegas is not a place for little kids.

Keeping Secrets

Shhh! Don't tell on me!  I have secrets. I go secret places, do secret things, and I can't tell my kindergartener.

While she is at school, she's so afraid that we are going to do something without her. What if she misses something? I always promise that we will just wait until school is done, that's all we will do. Just wait. We won't go anywhere, we won't have playdates, we won't eat cookies, we won't see any of our friends, we won't watch any good movies, we won't read any good stories, we won't play, we won't have any fun. Promise.

It's a promise I cannot keep, but it makes her feel better to know she's not missing out on any of the fun.

Sometimes she'll ask me what we did while she was at school and I reply with some truth and some things that I just wish I would have accomplished:  grocery shopping (she hates to tag along for that), laundry, mopped the floor, cleaned the toilets, and watched the news. 

Yesterday, I went to the zoo. Shhhh!  Today, I went shopping and we ate at Shakey's Pizza. Shhh!  It's a secret! At least once a week my three year old and I go to a park. Sometimes we take the dog too. We'll never tell!

Funny, but I keep these same secrets from my teenager too. She is exactly the same as my kindergartener! When I pick her up from school and she says "What did you do today?" sometimes my brain freezes for a moment and I leave out a few details of my day.  Umm.... nothing special. Tee hee hee.  Shhh!

Daddy's Shirt

Daddy's shirt might make a nice play dress. Hmmm...

Why, yes, it certainly does!

She said it's like Daddy is hugging her all day long!

Daddy said his shirt looks even better then it ever has!

Meanwhile Back at the Ranch...

Years and years ago, my mom bought adorable Tshirts for the entire family. She got them at "The Merc" which no longer exists as a store; it is now an empty building.  We all wore our ferret Tshirts and they've long been forgotten. This must have been 10 - 15 years ago, I don't even remember.

A few years ago, my mom sent me a Lucille's Cafe Tshirt to make a dress for the girls. I made one, but didn't have another shirt for a dress for the other kid.  I promptly put the second shirt away where I wouldn't lose it and I can't recall where that special place is. Which means I never did turn it into a dress.

I figured I would look around and see if I could find that Lucille's Cafe shirt before we left for our spring break roadtrip. No such luck. But, in looking, I came across two ferret Tshirts!  Now those would be really cute dresses!

I ran to Walmart to buy up some bandanas and use them as ruffles. See how the little ferrets are wearing bandanas? Well, the bandanas were too red, too bold, and too thin. I didn't think I liked them, but I might have to get them since we were running short on time.  Lucky for me, I also found this cute print in the fabric section! It's a softer red and has a bandanaish print; it's called "Farmer Boy" and it's the perfect print to match the ferrets! Bold bandanas went back on the shelf. Done!

Most of the Tshirt dress was sewn in white thread, but the ruffle really needed to be done in red. I finished everything in white except the hem of the ruffles and then I prayed over the serger and the red thread and swore I'd be eternally grateful if the red thread would just go through and the machine would still work.  It did!  Wooo Hoooo!

I finished off the ruffles with a red rolled hem on the serger and the Tshirts were now little dresses.  The little girls should find them quite comfortable and the Grandmas hopefully will notice.  They turned out so cute! I'm happy with them and I promised the girls they could wear them while we were on vacation. I dubbed them the "Saturday dresses" and told the girls they had to wait until the day we go to Wyoming.

The day finally came when we were to go to Wyoming and Gracie changed her mind. She wanted to wear her new jeans I just bought for her the day before. There was no talking her into wearing her Saturday ferret dress. Sigh. Libby wanted to wear her dress, at least one kid will show off for me.

The little girls split up and arrived at Grandma's house at different times. Gracie arrived first and she had time to climb the hill and visit with the Grandmas for a few hours before Libby did. Libby was with me, and I stopped for a long lunch before going to the Grandma's. I met up with them at a restaurant and when we came in and said hello, they were all eating around a big table in the back. Libby took off her jacket and my mom leaped out of her chair and squealed. She loved that little dress!  She tried to take Libby around the restaurant to show people she knew the Tshirt dress, but Libby didn't feel like modeling for strangers.  The other people said they recognized the Tshirt and they all had a nice little moment remembering shopping in The Merc.

Libby was happy that Grandma liked her dress. I was thrilled that Grandma liked her dress!  Libby wore it again on Sunday night and again for the trip home on Monday. Silly me, I thought she would wear it once. Gracie finally wore her dress on Monday and the Grandmas got to see both girls in their matching ferret Tshirt dresses. Now, that was cute!

The Long Road

We made it there and back again! Again. The road is a long one, but we've traveled it many times and we know it well.

From Southern California to Wyotana and home again. My brother dubbed it "Wyotana" and the name fits. "Home" is both Montana and Wyoming.

This trip we took will take several blog posts to tell all of the tales from the road, so I will just summarize it here for you.  We, and by "we" I mean myself, Fenna (our exchange student), the little girls Gracie (6) and Libby (3.5) and my brother Ed, traveled 2400 miles in my sexy mini-van. We visited the states of California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming in nine days.  We saw friends, relatives and mules, toured historic places and quirky places too. We drove and ate and slept all together listening to each other dream out loud, snore, and kick in the night. We swam in the pool and threw snowballs at each other.  It was a fabulous vacation!

I am still worn out from the long road, but the mountain of vacation laundry is all done and put away. Hundreds of photos are posted online. We can start our days fresh and look back on this vacation with plenty of good memories because this time, the long road was very kind to us. So glad to be home again, but sad that the trip is over.

Soon, we'll travel on the same long road again.