I don’t feel so good.

There are many poison ivy treatments; steroids, creams, antihistamines. But even with the marvels of modern medicne I wound up in the ER a few years ago because I scratched my arm so much it became infected.

Of course, I already blogged about Tecnu Extreme, and it really does work. But what if it’s too late? What if you wake one morning to find your arm swollen and red, little bubbles of fluid already formed, like I did yesterday morning?

Heat is a treatment that you won’t find many places. I’d heard years ago that extreme cold or heat could chase the histamines back from the skin, thus easing the pain and itching. Cold, even ice cube cold, doesn’t do it for me; I need heat. So I stick the offending appendage under the hottest running water I can stand for a minute, and there is no itching for up to 8 hours.

This particular treatment has worked the last few times the ivy’s jumped on me, and saved my sanity.

Disclaimer: If you try it, I am not responsible for the temperature of your water. You are the best judge of how much heat your skin can take before burning occurs.

I’m not this far along yet, but a couple of years ago:

It’s Arthur’s fault that I now have poison ivy all over my arms.

I had someone lined up to do the hedge on Monday, but he decided that we couldn’t afford that and went out to cut it himself Sunday. Well, it’s hot out, being July. And he’s not in the best of shape right now…. so only about half got trimmed.
I went out later on when it cooled off to help him pick up the clippings… and I should have known to use Tecnu Extreme when I got back to the house, because that hedge is rife with PI… but I didn’t. OK, so it comes down to personal responsibility; I should have remembered to use it.

The guys didn’t show up yesterday to do the rest of the hedge, so it’s just sitting there looking stupid. I’m waiting for code enforcement to show up at my door. Whether or not their absence had anything to do with the hedge being half done, I guess we’ll never know.

Poison Ivy can easily freak me out.. the same way that a plane at 37,000 feet, a sub a mile down or a rush hour parking lot with me in the center lane. Loss of control escalates quickly to panic spirals into a mini meltdown.
Unless I remember that I’m not in control of… anything. Ever. OK, now I can breathe again. See how easy that was?

Sorry that I blamed you, honey. ;^)

Don’t expect me to stop writing about 51 until it passes; it has something to do with shock, and disbelief.

In preparation for my new ‘50 something’ life I’ve begun to work out again. I was in such bad shape that I couldn’t do a sit up! Lucky for me muscles have memory and though mine are in a terrible mood, they know what I ask of them is not beyond their abilities.

The Bowflex pictured above is the same model I have sitting in my Florida room. Know which part of it I use the most?? The bench. I’ve found that weight benches and a few free weights are more useful than the machine I spent $1,000 on.

Of course, I love the pulldowns on the Bowflex… but other than that have stopped using it and am actually thinking of putting it on Craig’s List.

Here’s the thing you should know if you’re thinking of buying a Bowflex, at least my model: all resistance is not the same. These rods provide a different kind of resistance than free weights and the machines at the gym.
Also, it sometimes takes more time and effort than one is willing to give to unhook, turn, restring, etc… things together to do different exercises.

Someone who is dedicated can take the time, though, since virtually every part of the body can be worked using one of these suckers. No, I’m not backpedaling, since I used to take the time…

I’ve been primarily using Principal Secret’s Reclaim line, and really love it, especially the night cream and eye serum… but it was time for an avocado mask. It’s a cheap freeman product, but I still like it.

Thankfully my recent weight gain doesn’t show too much in my face. It does, as my face is usually very angular and the added padding sort of softens it… but I’m seriously thinking about diet pills. Really. At this point, anything that helps will be welcome.
Maybe someone with knowledge of sewing could stitch my lips together?