Glasses!

This will seem familiar to those of you I just emailed this too, but I feel so strongly about it I had to blog it as well.

All you glasses wearers and parents of children with glasses I HIGHLY recommend you read this article Chris found on Slate.com.

This is seriously the best deal EVER on glasses. No America's Best or Standard Optical sale can beat this. I just went through the process and purchased myself glasses online. I paid a grand total of $20.95 for the two pairs of glasses you see me wearing in the pictures. That includes the $4.95 shipping that is standard no matter how many pairs you order.

I used Zenni Optical and they arrived at our house in glasses cases with a little glass cleaner rag 9 business days after I ordered. I didn't get anything fancy like transition lenses or special coatings because these were mostly just for fashion and fun. I had a slight headache for the first hour after wearing them, but I think that was due to them being new. The rest of the night I was fine and I'm wearing them again today just to make sure. I drove Chris to the Path station in the rain wearing them this morning and didn't kill anyone so they seem to be working alright.

It seems kind of complicated, but it really isn't. Your eye doctor by law has to give you your full prescription, including pupillary distance, you own that and they can't keep it from you. Once you have all the numbers just plug them in. My prescription didn't have my pupillary distance and I just called the doctor's office and they gave it to me over the phone. I've also included a link as to how to do it yourself. If you need glasses I cannot tell you, nor do I need to, how much money these can save you. They're real glasses, they're not just reading glasses. This company and the others mentioned in the article have been vetted by many people (including me) and online forums who have had great success. No, they don't call your optometrist to check the prescription, so if you screw up it's your fault, but hey, that $8 glasses section is pretty big so I figured I could afford trial and error.

In case you missed those hyperlinks:

Slate article: http://www.slate.com/id/2198746/

This where I got my glasses, Zenni Opitcal: http://zennioptical.com/cart/home.php

How to determine your own pupillary distance: http://glassyeyes.blogspot.com/2007/09/illusive-pd-and-how-to-wrangle-yours.html

Good luck, and happy glass buying. I'm going for green and blue pairs next. I may never wear contacts again!

New Baby Burrell

My friend Sara had her baby last Tuesday. Here is little Owen Porter Burrell.

This picture of her formerly youngest son Grant cracks me up. He looks so happy.

Coming soon....pictures of Thomas Huckleberry Wilson.

First Lehman Bros., then this

The other day we went to this store in the mall. As you can see, it appears to be your run of the mill "Dollar Store." Not my style usually, but we noticed a posted sign that indicates the owners probably don't understand what it means to own a dollar store...



By this rather inclusive definition Target and Walmart are both dollar stores. Of course, so is Nordstrom's, and Macy's, and etc. etc. etc.

The #1 Reason to Love Westchester County

Alright, so I just saw this post on my igoogle home page (yes, I have my own blog on an RSS feed, sue me) entitled "One more reason to love Westchester County." (it's the post directly below this one). But how many of you, upon reading that post, were confused by the phrase "once we make our move?"

Well, I guess that's pretty much an announcement. We are leaving Jersey City at the end of the month and moving to Westchester County. The Village of Mamaroneck, to be exact. We're really excited to have more space, to have a front yard, and for Beckett to have his own bedroom.

Beckett even got a new fancy crib in anticipation of the move. No more perpetual pack and play for you my son! Only a crib with the finest Ikea accessories will do. These pictures were taken pre-haircut for all of you who miss the curls. While lower car insurance may be a great advantage, I think Beckett living there is the #1 reason to love Westchester.

So feel free to visit us sometime, we'll even have a finished basement with separate bathroom to accommodate those who need Beckett interaction in person and not just via blog.

One more reason to love Westchester County

I called our insurance company today. Once we make our move our car insurance will literally be half of what we were paying in New Jersey. Cha ching!!

ANTM Recap

I'm from Alaska.
I'm from the Bronx.
I'm a lesbian.
I'm a former Mormon.
I'm a fighter.
I'm French.
I'm Brittany.
I'm Brittany.
I'm Brittany.
I'm a man.
I'm America's Next Top Model.
No. You are not.

Somehow I got through 10 cycles, but I think I'm sitting this one out. We miss you Shandi, Yoanna, and April. Their cycle 2 awesomeness just seemed a bit less fake and a little more high fashion. This may be the first time I fast forward through a show so that I can see the commercials, as the highlight of last night was Whitney's commercials. See, she won last cycle, but she's hideously fat, as should be apparent from this picture:

See ya girl hair!

Today we finally got Beckett's first hair cut. Perhaps people will stop mistaking him for a girl now. All his curls are gone and we don't know if it will come back curly or not, but at least he doesn't have side mullets or Hasidic ear locks any more.

Here is a picture of his curls I took a couple of weeks ago.

Here is the hair right before the chop.

He sat in the chair but he was too low and he hated the booster seat so I had to hold him. He also didn't want to have a towel around him so he had to go shirtless.

Bye bye womb hair.

Do I look like an executive?

Hello handsome man child.

Seeing Eye Dad

This video clip, starring Dawnell's father and our brother in law Patrick, was shown on the KUTV local news last night in Salt Lake. As you can see, Patrick is one of those special folks that we like to call "Bart's People." Seriously though, we're very proud of the courage shown by Patrick and the example of service set by Dawnell's father, a.k.a. the Seeing Eye Dad.

P.S.- Bart's People, of course, being a gratuitous Simpsons reference, as it is Patrick's favorite television show.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girly_Edition

Cracker!

Last week Beckett and I were in the pet store in the mall. He walked around looking at the animals and noticed the fish tanks. They had some on shelves that were right on the floor so he could see them really well. Then I noticed that the tops were open and of course he noticed too and wanted to stick his hands in the tank. He went to a tank with the tiny goldfish in it and started to try and stick his hand in. I pulled it away and he looked at the tank and looked back and me and yelled, "Cracker!" and clapped his hands. Indeed, they do look like your favorite crackers, but I think you'd find the taste rather disappointing.

My life just got a little easier

Thanks new maid!