Dedication to my dear friend, Erick Gene

I wish I could go back in time to when this picture was taken. It was a simpler time...

Later that night I let Erick draw on my tongue with the same green sharpie used for this tat

Oh 2007 Elizabeth... you have no idea how crazy your life is truly about to get!

Also, why didn't you get picked to be a model after this photo went public? It's crazy!

Thank you ERICK GENE for making my life funnier and more colorful than I could have ever made it on my own :) I lerve ya!

Bite Watch: 2012

I went to the doctor yesterday and she confirmed that they are most likely bug bites and not some sort of hives. But the reaction to the bites is obviously more severe than what normal people get. So I was prescribed some STEROIDS.

ROID RAGE!!!!

Me

Actually that picture is more accurate to how I feel when I DON'T have any meds to help me stop feeling the itch that those bites so urgently make me scratch.

So here's my drug cocktail for the past few days:

• Oral Steroids (makes me awake)
• Topical Steroids
• Benadryl (makes me sleepy)
• Sleeping pill (to knock me out so I don't feel like itching anything in the middle of the night!

I think the most helpful drug has been the benadryl. The topical steroid ointment doesn't really reduce the itch, but rather it reduces the swelling, which is what I think the oral steroid does as well. This morning those dots were looking more pink than red, and I'm happy to report that I didn't get the urge to scratch my bites all night!

Tip Of The Day... if you are like me and get up in the middle of the night to go the the bathroom, have a benedryl ready for you (if you have bites like mine, not if you're just having a normal day or something) and take it in the middle of the night. That way you still have some of the 'dryl in your system when you wake up and you're not as prone to the shock of the itching sensation again!

Am I the only one that misses these commercials?

Hives or Mosquito Bites?

Lets play a game called count the dots.

I'm almost embarrassed to post this... Hairy legs... hives or mosquito bites, swollen pink feet :(

I'm not really sure if they're bug bites or if they're hives on my legs right now. I can confirm that they itch like crazy and that they appeared to start on my feet in the middle of Saturday night.

Yes, those are bites on my toes and some even travel to the bottom(ish) of my feet. This is unbelievable.

They LOOK like mosquito bites to me. Yes, they are really big, but I think my reaction to mosquitos is pretty much just like this... there are a few that look plenty bigger than they ought to be. But typically I do get those big poofy bites.

They are primarily on my knees and below with it's concentration on my feet. I woke up in the middle of the night scratching and scratching. The hubs just kept saying "you need to stop scratching them, they will get worse if you scratch them."

To which I replied with an elbow to his eye.

Just kidding. But I felt like doing that.

When you have an itchy skin irritation, you can't sleep... you can't focus... it's just freaking annoying!

I'm going to see the doctor in about an hour and a half and see what she can come up with. I'm hoping for some of the good stuff... it's getting a little unbearable right now!

Saving the Planet - One Book At A Time

It was about a month ago when I was asked to help clean out the office of a former faculty in my building. He left, literally, at least 100 textbooks for us to clean up.

First of all: What an @$$ for making someone else clean up after you.
Second of all: They were going to THROW THE BOOKS AWAY!

Since I'm a green, earth loving awesome person, I told them NOT to throw away the books and that I would hold onto them until the next semester's book drive. Quietly, I've offered to take on the books of faculty that are leaving... so my pile went from this:

Hidden neatly behind my file cabinet.

To this:

Close up... they look scary!

This is what my office looks like...

 So when people pass me by right now and ask me why I have so many books I'm just telling them, "I read a lot."

If I can't donate them, I'd like to have an in home library like in Beauty and the Beast. I think I'm about halfway there!

Like this, but without the stockholm syndrome.

Niche Markets

ERRRRRRCH

Switching gears from my touchy-feely posts which you have all known to grow and love...

I took a little walk down memory lane just now. At my previous job I worked with very unique niche markets:

• Nuns
• Firefighters/Policemen

The differences between the two weren't as big as you'd think. And I think it's important to share...

Firefighters/Policemen are typically men... like MEN-men. Drinking SCOTCH and WHISKEY and swearing up a storm. Telling stories that are so depraved that they make me blush! Nothing out of the ordinary here, just your stereotypical man.

Now before I worked at my last job I wouldn't have ever thought this... but nuns/sisters or whatever you call them... well they like to drink too. I'm serious. We would host large LARGE receptions annually for these women and they would certainly rack up a bar tab that rivals that of the firefighters and policemen. Nuns do drink scotch. Straight up. This happened. I saw it with my own two eyes.

But what really makes me chuckle is how much they'll eat dessert.

There is nothing wrong with a woman enjoying a little chocolate, or some sweets. But these women would pick up 3-4 servings of dessert. And it only recently occured to me that the reason for this is obvious.

Maybe this indulgence makes up for a lack of other indulgences...

Think about it.