Update time! Perhaps premature, but perhaps not.

For the Irlen project, I'm going to have to wait. The closest Irlen center is five hours away from where I live, plus the fees for screening, evaluation, and the tinting. Altogether, according to the info I got from their office, it would be over $1000 plus travel expenses. I'm planning to try the overlays on my own to get a feel for it, and if those are helpful, I'll have to start saving.

Driving is getting easier. I now chew gum lightly as I drive and either press my ring on my finger or do compressions. Man, head compressions have been crazy good! I like them almost as much as I like pulling my hair now. And they're really helping the drive, esp. if I use them at all stop lights. Helps with the stop/go problem for me.

This morning, I got ear plugs. Oh. My. Goodness. I've had them in for 2 hours, and I don't know if I ever want to take them out. I was afraid at first that I wouldn't be able to hear well enough to work in the office with them, and that has not been the case at all. Once my ears were used to them, I could easily hear spoken conversation with my boss. I can't hear the ticking clock or the overhead lights, but other than that, I can hear everything else easily enough to not feel uncomfortable or worried that I'll miss something. So so awesome! I cannot remember a time I've had my jaw unclenched for such a long period of time prior to this.

I still have a long way to go, but I feel like I'm making progress.