Signs of Aging 7.

It wasn't too long ago that I was talking about my impulse buy of the $55 tower fan. Within the three week span, I also bought a new pair of eyeglasses (ridiculously expensive designer; too embarrassed to say how much publicly) and a $65 blender.

I was at the optometrist looking around the optician's area for a new pair. This is what I do: I find 3-5 that I like. Then, I narrow it down to 2-3. I put them in order by price then buy the cheaper one. Is this a Japanese American thing? Probably. My parents have never bought the top of the line anything.

This time, I bought the most flattering pair. Price be damned! This is the one I want! How much are they? Unfortunately, they were the most expensive of the three. I have a difficult nose--small bridge--typical of a Japanese American face. "Some JAs have no bridge," my optician tells me, "You're lucky." She would know, she's Japanese American, so is my optometrist, all the patients in the other rooms, and while we're on this so is my hair stylist, my medical doctor, and pretty much anyone I'd get professional services from. Another JA thing.

While I'm in-office, they check my blood pressure. My guy is one from a school that believes everything is connected. Sure enough, he finds something wrong with my left eye and quickly attributes it to my insanely high blood pressure. He freaks out a little which freaks me out a lot. We all suspect it's due to a prescription medicine I'm on that is driving my numbers up. I have to work that much harder at getting my numbers under control.

I leave his office completely terrified. I need to make more changes. Too much salt? Perhaps I need to eat more fruit where I might have had chips. But, I hate eating fruit. I like fruit prepared into other things but I'm not one to pick a piece of the counter and bite into it. This fact drives the idea that I need to buy a blender. I try not to let the fact that I've made a month of large-ish purchases further drive my blood up. I have. The fan, the blender, the glasses (and some other things I haven't even mentioned here yet) were all the most expensive options and I just went for it. Where is this coming from?

Not looking forward to that next credit card statement.