Catching Up...

Since my last poost, we have

1. Journeyed to Maine and back

• beautiful scenery
• adventurous hiking
• delicious seafood
• wild blueberries
• Martha Stewart sighting
  

2. Survived Hurricane Ike

• the most horrendous winds I have ever seen/heard
• power outages
• flooding
• trees down everywhere
• "PODs" = "Points of Distribution" becoming a key word
• new meaning to waiting in a "long line" for gas (Nate waited in line for almost 2 hours one morning)
• grocery stores with empty produce sections, scarcity of bread, milk, and other frozen or refrigerated items (I was really craving bananas and milk for several days and could find it no where)
  

Thankfully we only had a brief power outage and no damage to our property. Please pray for the many others who are still without power and who are facing substantial damage.

p.s.

I'm going public again.

And I'm going to start referring to Nate as "Nate" instead of "The Husband," and Cheyenne as "Cheyenne," instead of "The Cat."

It's good to be done

That's all I have to say about that!

eeeek!

For the first time since our wedding, I momentarily misplaced my wedding ring.

Last night we were at TCBY for 99 cent waffle cone Wednesday (thanks to Lisa B, who enlightened me about this spectacular special offer). I was wiping some fro yo mess off of my fingers which had dribbled out of the bottom of the cone when my heart skipped a beat. My left ring finger was bare. Where was my wedding ring?? The Husband, being of a calmer nature than me, smiled and explained to me that since the ring does not come off of my finger easily, I must have left it in the bathroom after I took a shower, shortly before we left the house. Right. Even though this made sense, I couldn't figure out why it would have taken me this long to have realized it was missing. I was still a nervous wreck. Not only was it my wedding ring, but it was an heirloom. I wanted to call The Cat and ask her to check in the bathroom to see if my ring was there, but obviously that wasn't going to fly.

Needless to say, we raced back home (well, at least The Husband describes my driving as so) and found it sitting on the bathroom counter, right where I always put it after showers in order to put on lotion. What a relief!

Pesky Skeeters

It never fails that in outdoor gatherings, I am either the only person to get bitten by mosquitoes, or, I get the most bites out of everyone. Unfortunately, I have a strong reaction to mosquito bites, which makes it difficult for me to enjoy the great outdoors as much as I would love to. My bites have swelled up to a range from about an inch in diameter (never smaller) to probably four inches in diameter (not an exaggeration). In addition to the massive swelling, the area(s) turn pink/red, get very warm, and if I have enough bites on my body at once (8 or more?), I feel dizzy and lightheaded (these symptoms are not to be confused with my unfortunate drinking allergy). To prevent such reactions, I've tried insect repellent, but the mosquitoes have braved the scent and bitten me anyway. I've tried wearing long sleeves and jeans, but the mosquitoes have bitten me through my jeans on many occasions. I've also tried constant movement at outdoor gatherings, where I look like I may have tourette syndrome. Nothing is fool-proof.

I don't know why the mosquitoes can smell my blood from miles away, or why they single me out, or why I have such extreme reactions. Perhaps it is my type O blood. Whatever the reason, it's really an annoyance that I could do without. I would love to have the mild (or nonexistent) reaction that most people have to mosquitoes.

Change

We cleaned the house yesterday and in the process I somehow swapped the placement of our toothbrushes in the toothbrush holder. After brushing my teeth last night, I realized that I had blindly taken "my" toothbrush from it's usual location and used it, without first looking at it. Can you see where this is going? Yep. I used The Husband's toothbrush. I guess things like this happen in marriage. You accidently use your spouse's toothbrush, acknowledge the mistake, panic for a brief moment, then move on. Now, had it been one of my brother's toothbrushes, I am sure I would have thrown a fit.

"At least I can adapt to change," The Husband said to me. Contrary to my lack of attention to the toothbrush I was using, he had actually looked and used his own toothbrush, despite its swapped location in the toothbrush holder.

Whoever said I always pay careful attention to details better think again.

Allergies/Quirks

I'm not allergic to much (that I know of). Of course, I sneeze a lot when I encounter dust, but I'm not exactly sure I would define that as an allergic reaction.

When I was young, I would break out in hives every time I ate a peanut butter & jelly sandwich. I could eat a jelly sandwich (which I often had packed in my lunch) or a peanut butter sandwich, but not the combination. To this day, I do not eat PB&J sandwiches, for fear that I will break out in horrible hives. My friends like to tease me about experimenting with a jelly sandwich followed by a peanut butter sandwich. I'm too scared even to do that.

Aside from PB&J sandwiches, I am apparently allergic to alcohol. In other words, my body is unable to break down alcohol appropriately. This means that after even just one drink, I turn bright red, and can sometimes become dizzy, warm, and lightheaded. It's pretty embarrassing, actually, and people often assume that it's because I'm a lightweight. But the truth is, I'm allergic to alcohol. This makes some social situations a bit awkward.