When last we met, Janie had poison ivy... and a fire story

Although itchy spots are still being dealt with, I think I'm FINALLY healed up. All ivy in the yard will be KILLED in the near future. That's a promise. The only way around that would be for us to move to a (nicer) house in the next couple of months.

I have survived several days at home with three children. My parents visited for a few days. On Saturday, I took Mom with me as we ran an errand and I almost ended up running off the road.

As we traveled down a local road, we passed the scene of a fire, the remains still smoking. Our hair dresser and gun shop had burned down, along with the other four businesses on that side. I felt sick. All those people (50+) out of a job less than a week before Christmas! Middlest was in the back seat, trying mightily not to cry. Mom recalled an incident when Middlest was just a bun in the oven. Oldest had been collecting gravel from their parking lot. Mom told her, "They have all those rocks numbered. They'll miss them if you take any." Oldest listened and put the rocks back.

On Monday prior to Christmas, my parents headed home. I took the girls and went to the scene of the fire, excuse being we were going to see the chiropractor. I had called the chiropractic office early that morning and was relieved to hear the receptionist's voice on their machine. When business hours had started, I called again and spoke to the doctor. "Yes, we're open. And thankful!!!"

I was overwhelmingly happy when we ran into our hairdresser, the Wonderful Karen, just out front of the chiropractor's office. We had panned to get Oldest's hair cut that day, but the fire ruined everything. Wonderful Karen was there attempting to meet clients and make other arrangements for future appointments. I got her cell number, then went to talk to the gun shop owner. I gave a hug and told her when/if she got back into business, I'd be happy to order a gun from her. I guess my procrastination was a good thing this time. I had not placed my order (or gave money) for a weapon yet. It will be awhile now.

Apparently ATF agents were notified by the fire department and arrived on scene while the fire was still being fought. While ammunition was going off in the heat, the ATF agents pulled out all the records that they could get. At that time it was unknown if the fire had been set to cover a burglary, so they needed all the serial numbers they could find. It is believed LOTS of guns were destroyed in the fire. If any show up later, we'll know different.

Today I took The Boy Child to see the fire scene. We met one of the business owners. He showed us the melted tail lights on his company truck. This older gentleman tried very hard to not cry as he told me "Everything happens for a purpose, even if we don't know what it is. I lost my faith for a little bit there, but I'm getting it back." He also said it looked like the fire had started in our hair salon. That would make sense. As I had discussed with the chiropractor's receptionist: there were two hair shops, a gun shop, and a nail school all on that side. Those chemicals all burn with a passion. Maybe sprinklers would be an excellent idea when they rebuild?

You all take care. Don't leave any appliances plugged in that don't need to be.

Alive and Itchy

Actually, I'm much better now. I should be considering it has been two freaking weeks since I did battle with the ivy.

The ivy won, in case you were wondering.

Black Friday while everyone else was out shopping, I stayed home and did yard work. I had both girls fetching and carrying garbage bags. I can get SO much more accomplished if I don't have to break stride to carry bags to the curb. I had on long sleeves and gloves. I only handled the vines with the gloved hands.

I still got poison ivy. Or oak. Whatever.

The retired pediatrician says Viriginia Creeper looks a whole bunch like one of the ivys. That's got to be the case, as I only saw Virginia Creeper and English Ivy.

I stripped off my work clothes by the washer and walked upstairs to wait for The Boy Child to get out the tub. (He had been in charge of Earthworm Relocation... and played more than worked, as goes his usual help with yard work.) I was standing with my hands on my hips, contemplating Life In General, when it occurred to me that I had not scrubbed up with Dawn dish detergent yet. (Side note: my hips are one of the places I DO NOT have ivy rash. Go figure.) I hopped in the shower and scrubbed all body parts several times. I noticed a bug bite on my right calf.

For about one day I was fine. Then all hell broke loose. As usual, I had managed to get scraped in two places by the ivy on one arm. The scrapes began to get histamine bumps around them. A rash appeared on my left shin. Apparently I scratched the bug bite in my sleep. The bug bite area started looking like poison ivy rash. After that I dressed up to go to bed so I wouldn't spread it any further. I was a mess. Long pajamas, gauze, and various creams were my nightly routine.

I gave it a week to get better, then dragged myself in to see a doctor. I wore shorts and a short-sleeve shirt (under my regular clothes) to show off my boo-boos better without needing to undress. It was still dang cold in the exam room. The doc prescribed prednisone and sulfur-drug antibiotics. The spot on my leg (the original bug bite) continued to get worse. I began to wonder if some bad spider had gotten me.

Finally, Hubby (My Hero!) handed me the cream he had been prescribed for ivy rash. In one night my leg went from bright, angry red to a healing pink.

My arms still itch. It was too hot yesterday to be wearing long-sleeves, but I did anyway. Applying that cream to my arms seems to have helped them a bit, too. But I still itch.

I'm tired of itching.

I need another new group like another hole in the head. So here's two.

Today I signed up for www.shirespace.com and www.renspace.com . If you happen to be involved in either of those groups, feel free to friend me:

Gwendolyn_Fitch

I might send you a polite (or depending upon my mood, not so polite) message asking, "Who the hay are you?" I know the squire brothers will recognize my SCA name, but most of my yahoo pals know me as Janie. I've already recieved my first "Um, who are you again?" response. I hope I didn't scare the poor lady.