Glasses

Friday:

I took Jasmine to get an eye test today because she's been getting tired eyes at school and is finding the board a bit blurry. It turns out she does need glasses, so she picked out frames and we've ordered them. I remember when I found I needed glasses, a couple of years younger than Jasmine, I was very stressed at first (thinking I was going blind!) but once I got them I was amazed at how clear the world was. Trees with individual leaves not just a clump of green! Do you mean everyone else could read the board all along? I'd had no idea there was anything wrong with my sight, I thought it was normal. Jasmine's is less dramatic I think. And she doesn't seem bothered by needing glasses, several of her friends wear glasses in class.

I ended up getting LASIK surgery in my twenties and that lasted 20 years, I've only started needing glasses again recently.

I've been a bit unwell all week, two different things. Firstly bad headaches like a clamp on my temples, my left eyebrow is very sore to touch which makes me think it's a sinus problem (the tubes run just under there) and today my neck and shoulders ached and my legs were weak and I was so tired. Luckily it was an at-home day and I even got an afternoon nap.

The other thing, well that operation I had last November did "fix" my periods in that they are no longer so heavy and go for weeks. So that is good. But I still get other symptoms around that time of the month, as bad as ever. PMS that left me miserable and grumpy so that the safest thing was just to sit in a corner and not speak to anyone in case I said something I would regret or burst into tears. Pelvic pain (it comes and goes, seems worse at that time of the month but never completely gone, not helped by the operation unfortunately) teamed with backache.

But once the PMS misery was over I've felt quite happy this week.

On Wednesday I had an unfortunate day with the trains. In the morning I caught an express which was good except it went to an unfamiliar end of the city station (huge station with at least 26 platforms, some underground) and in trying to get to my exit I found myself emerging way over on the wrong side. That added a lot of walking to get back (and I wasn't feeling well). Then in the afternoon coming home I was trying to get on my train with a crowd of people (but the train wasn't full or anything) and they closed the doors in my face! I stood there with my hands on the doors saying "Hey!!" in disbelief. I looked down the platform and the employee with the whistle signalled them to open the doors again and let me in. I felt quite rejected! But at least they did let me on.

Excursion

Monday:

I've been needed to go into the city for a while to lodge some forms in person regarding our home purchase (the lawyers would have done it, for a fee! Tim works over the other side of the harbour, so it wasn't practical for him) but have delayed due to the heat, it is going to be cooler this week but also raining so I decided that heat was the lesser evil and went today before the storms started (and not a moment too soon, the clouds rolled in before I'd been back home an hour). I don't mind a bit of rain, but didn't relish the idea of walking around the city in storms and maybe hail.

At that time of morning (after getting the kids to school) there was no parking near the station so I had a bit of a walk, then a train ride of nearly an hour. Australian trains are pretty good, and air conditioned! And it was after peak hour so there was plenty of seats.

My excursion took me to the older part of the city which is rather attractive. Hyde Park:

St Mary's Cathedral (Gothic Architecture was all the rage in Sydney a couple of hundred years ago, I love it):

This is the building I had to go to, quite attractive for a government office:

It took nearly an hour of waiting my turn, but was otherwise easy. I then went to a rather more modern building and had lunch. This was my view upwards through the glass ceiling:

I chose Chinese food, as I often do, and quite often I'm disappointed! I really need to stop thinking it's the easy safe option. It was pretty bad, very greasy and I mainly ate the rice on the side. This seemed to justify trying - as I've wanted to since I heard of them - a cronut! This is a cross between a croissant and a donut. Mine had chocolate cream inside and a macaron on top. OMG it was great. The best pastry I've ever had. Flaky and fluffy and chocolately. Some things are just worth the calories (and the $8.50 price tag).

I did a bit of shopping - it's Tim's birthday next weekend and my sister-in-law Ping AND my niece! But didn't get much. I found the enormous shopping centre - 5 floors over two city blocks - rather overwhelming and I didn't know where anything was or what I wanted to buy anyway. I was tired and hot and wanted to go home. And I had to be home in time for the kids getting home from school.

Here is our Town Hall - more Gothic:

Some river or other we crossed on the train.

Then a hot trudge back to the car with a heavy bag - 10,000 steps today! And back home to collapse. I grew up here in Sydney but in the suburbs, I'm not really a city girl. But it's fun to visit sometimes.