Hiatus...

Soooooo... nothing too exciting to update, because I have been sidelined with a really wicked case of poison ivy.  I mention this not only to whine a bit in a fruitless effort to feel better, but also to do a little PSA and say that after gardening or major outdoorsiness you should wipe down with soap and water.  This attack of poison ivy took almost a week and a half to bloom, but was apparently the result of the previously blogged about yard work blitz.  I pulled bags and bags of vines, some of which were apparently poison ivy or sumac.  I would have never guessed it could lay in wait that way and take a week or more to appear, but it can.  I was also surprised to learn about a few other ivy myths:

• You can't spread it to others or from yourself to another place on yourself.  It is really a matter of direct contact with the oil that is omnipresent on the various poison plants.
• The reaction is actually an allergic reaction which is why not everybody is susceptible, or why you may not have reacted before and are only reacting now, as in my case.  
• Don't burn it; the oil can become airborne in the soot and get into your eyes and nose and lungs.  Sounds miserable.
• Even though it is not spreadable, it may seem as though it is spreading because it takes time to "bloom" and you may have a dot or two that later turns into 12 dots conspiring to drive you crazy.
• You should still not scratch it, because you can easily develop a secondary infection (like staph or strep...) or it can cause scarring.
• And lastly, my doctor said that you should never use bleach or alcohol or whatever, because although they dry out the skin they are doing damage and not really drying up the allergic reaction.  Also, she said calamine doesn't really work... who knew?

So, thus completes my public service announcement and my summer warning to all of you.  I am too grumpy and pumped on steroids to tackle my projects, so they are just laying in wait.  I have not been able to sleep at all between the itch and the side-effects of the treatment, so I am just not a happy camper right now.  Hopefully this weekend I can get back on target.  I really am dying to paint that office, but I can't say that I mind putting it off until the days when the weather drops out of the 100 degree range and back into the (relatively) comfortable low 90s before I get back to the sweaty labor.  In the meantime, I am wishing you all ice cold beverages and cool evenings...