astigma-whaat?

after what seemed like a million rescheduled visits, i finally got to see my opthamologist. i always feel like such an annoying patient whenever i go, and this is why:

following normal protocol, the eye doctor turns off the light, and the projector projects the eyechart onto the wall. the weird little viewfinder thing with all the different lenses is placed in front of my eyes, and he switches the lenses into place. "does this look better? or.... this?" (asking me to compare two different lenses) and this is where i have trouble. by the time he shows me the 2nd lens, i've already forgotten what the first was like. add to that, i've got astigmatism that's never been corrected, so the light from the projector really just makes everything look screwy, no matter how strong the lenses may be.

after several frustrating attempts to select lenses, i finally decided to ask to have my astigmatism corrected. he flipped on some different lenses and i can not tell you... how amazingly clear the world was. now, get this.. previously, when we first found out i've got astigmatism, we didn't bother to correct it because the eye doctor said that my vision wasnt "horribly" affected by it, and if i chose to correct, it would make my contacts a lot more expensive. this time, i found out, to get lenses which correct astigmatism is not at all expensive. it was only $50 more. so, duh, being the working girl i now am, i opted to see the world in sharp focus.

a hop, skip, and jump later, my dad and i had gone from one eyeglass store to the next, when finally exasperated and overheated, i decided to purchase a pair of gucci frames. excited!! they are exactly as in the picture, with a beautiful horsebit hinge, sprinkled with crystals. can't wait to pick them up on thursday!!