Cleaning the closet

You might be wondering how I could make a long post from cleaning out my closet?  Have ya'll MET me?!  C'mon...

Our closet was a mess.  It's a small walk in & I had a 3 section hamper in there too.  In the past, I didn't want to put it in the laundry 'room' (& I use that term very loosely) because we don't really have a 'room'.  The washer & dryer is right inside the back door so that's the first thing people see when they walk in. (Because in the country people don't use the front door.  EVER.)  However, I decided that I don't really care if people see our HAMPER when they walk in.  I mean - it's a hamper, people - so I moved it out there to make more room in the closet.  

Hanging in our closet are mainly 'good' clothes.  And by 'good' clothes I mean stuff you'd wear to church.  B-rad's work clothes also live in there but not hanging up.  His clothes sit on the shelf.   WELL.  He works in a shop that isn't heated very well in the winter AND when he works at the farm the barn isn't heated either so he has to layer.  I'm talking short sleeve shirt, long sleeve shirt & hooded sweatshirt.  All those items were stacked in piles on the shelf.  It was getting to the point when I did laundry, I was too short to stack his clothes, plus I was afraid there would be an avalanche & I would die. 

 I got the bright idea of getting some sort of shelving unit for our closet.  I didn't want it to take up too much room (which would defeat the whole purpose of having a 'walk in' closet) but would allow me to stack his work clothes easier.  Our hamper was that meshy type material with holes in it so you could see the dirty clothes inside.  I have no problem with people seeing my hamper when they walk in the door but my underwear is a different story.  I bought a new 3 section hamper that you can't see through PLUS it has a piece of material that you can use to 'close' the hamper so you can't see the clothes.  Perfection.

 B-rad's been working 16 hours days the last couple of weeks so I decided it probably wasn't the BEST time to ask him to put together that hamper.  I was sure I could do it.  I mean, it had a disclaimer RIGHT.ON.THE.BOX 'easy, no tool install!'  Well...I got it put together...alone...but it wasn't really that easy.  I did have to take it apart a couple of times because well, I'm a girl & not good at stuff like that.  I was feeling pretty good about myself - I put a hamper together with NO help from B-rad.  None.  So I got a little cocky & decided to put together the shelving unit for the closet.  

I started working on the shelves & suddenly our power went out.  I thought to myself how weird that was because there weren't any storms or anything.  And then I felt something in my gut... B-rad was in the field next to the house planting...& I just knew something had happened... I texted him, "Our power just went out."  And my phone rang.  He said, "The power is out?  Yea, it's me...I hit an electrical line with the marker arm."  UH YEA.  I asked him if he was ok & he was - he was still in the cab of the tractor.  He was sure he had 'only' hit the ground wire & not the actual hot wire.  I called the power company & they instructed him to NOT get out of the tractor until they showed up.   2 hours & $350 later (yea, they billed us $350 for his little 'mishap') the power was back on & I had to get back to work on those damn shelves.  

In the spirit of full disclosure, I couldn't put the shelves together all by myself.  I was following the directions but they weren't going together right.  B-rad had to come by the house to do a software update for the planter after the power company freed him got the line fixed & he saw I had everything laying there.  It took him literally 1.2 seconds to show me what I was doing wrong.  Sometimes I hate him.  

He left, I finished the shelves & it was time to start the closet exorcism.  Unfortunately for you, I didn't take pics of the before...but here is the during.  The closet is towards the bottom left of the pic...I was standing in it (on a stool) & throwing everything into the bedroom. There's your visual...

B-rad's work clothes all have their own spot on the shelves that I can reach without fear of an avalanche.

It freed up a ton of room in the closet so now I can hang more than just 'good' clothes.  I have that whole huge shelf to start stacking stuff on utilize. What to do, what to do?  

A random, exciting note

Wednesday night when B-rad came home from planting, he said, "Look what I found in the field!  You should send this back to them."  It was a note from some elementary aged kiddos in Illinois.

I thought the whole idea was really fun & we were excited about sending it back to the students!  B-rad said he would like to send a Google Earth map picture of where he found it & I thought it would be cool to send pictures of the tractor.  You know, at my leisure....

Well.

I put a picture of the note on Facebook & it was all over from there.  Everyone was VERY excited about it which made me feel less lame about being so excited.  I heard from many people that they had done this as teachers or as students & most the time never heard anything back.   They were UBER excited that I was going to send the note back.  And since I have no tiny humans that attend school I didn't even think about it being the end of the year.  Luckily, I have a teacher friend (Hi Alicia!) that promptly reminded me of this fact.  Suddenly it was a flurry of activity... I had a friend on Facebook who posted their website info (including email address).  I texted B-rad to have him draw a map of the field to email me.  His friend, Brian, was sending me facts about how far away it was so I enlisted him to get a Map quest picture to send along.  My contribution was finding pictures & composing the letter... (hey, we all do our part...)

A mere 6 hours after I posted that picture to Facebook, I had written an email to the principal, Mrs. Wenthe, including pics.

I decided to keep it short (lets face it - it's really difficult for me to go on & on & on about something) because small children have no attention span.  I tried to keep the writing simple so they could understand it but still make it fun for them.

Behold...my email to the tiny humans:

Hello St. Thomas students!  We were VERY excited to find a note from your class in our field on Wednesday, May 15, 2013!  I wanted to be sure that you knew we found it before summer break so I am emailing your principal, Mrs. Wenthe!

 

 We live in Southern Indiana and are located about 20 miles northwest of Louisville, Kentucky.  Louisville is famous for a very special horse race called the Kentucky Derby! 

 

My husband is a farmer and he was planting corn in our field when he came across your note!  This is a picture of his tractor and planter.

The red line outlines the field and he marked for you where the note landed!

     

I told many of our friends about you all and they thought it was really cool that you released balloons with notes inside!  It is neat to see how far your balloon traveled!   Your school is around 141 miles from us and it would take a little over 3 hours to get here by car.

I do not know the date of your 100th day of school (my teacher friend told me it was probably in January), nor do I know how long it has laid in our field!  I’m not sure how long it took your balloon to travel here!   

I hope you enjoyed hearing from us! I would love to hear back from you about the balloon release date!

 

Have a great summer!

 

Brad & Jaime McAfee 

Epic, right?  I think so.  I envisioned the class room of tiny, rambuncious 6-8 year old children being mesmerized while the teacher read my letter (...with pictures!).  They would be so excited at the end they would jump up & down & cheer loudly.  They would write on poster board 'thank you Mr. & Mrs. McAfee.  We love you.  You made our whole school year.  AND you're so pretty!' & pose calmly while the principal took a picture of them to send me.  

Yea, that didn't happen...  

I had hoped they would tell us a little something about the balloon release.  But this is what the principal emailed me:

THANK YOU! I am getting to have the students view this now! Today is our last day of school so perfect time.

Vicki Wenthe, Principal

St. Thomas School in Newton, IL

(618) 783-3517

Ok-so I should be happy with that I suppose.   At least she acknowledged that she heard from me & the all caps 'THANK YOU!' gives the impression of excitement.  I am believing instead that all the stuff above actually happened...I just didn't hear about it...

My life is officially over

So I've had this 'spot' on my middle finger for a few years.  Whenever I would wear a ring on my right hand, it would break out with a rash or bumps & the skin would crack open (lovely) so I figured I was allergic to nickel & just wrote it off that that was the cause. Beauty is pain, right?!

HOWEVER, the rash started to spread up onto my hand.  

THEN it spread to my left hand.  When we were in Vegas in was so bad I could hardly stand it.  So I called a dermatologist.  She decided that I was definitely having a SEVERE allergic reaction to something & she needed to do a 'patch test' to determine what it was.

Here's a little history on me:  I'm allergic to almost everything in the air.  Grass, pollen, mold, dust, cats, dogs...I know other people suffer with allergies too, however my allergies were so severe that I would get allergy symptoms & then get sick.  Like bronchitis sick.  Butterfly & I had to allergy shots when we were little & eventually we stopped them.  (You only do a rotation for so long & you're done.)  As an adult my doctor suggested getting tested again.... so I did.  The results showed I was allergic to all kinds of stuff & I started shots again probably 7 years ago. I'm done with my rotation & the doctor says it should last me the rest of my life.  I'm not sick hardly at all now & I don't suffer much from what's in the air when others are suffering. 

I don't know if you know what they do to you when they test your for 'regular' allergies, but they take a sharp object & 'scratch' your back with all kinds of irritants.  You have to sit for like 10 minutes to see what you have a 'reaction' too...meaning what makes you itch!  The doctor comes in & looks at the bumps (they look like mosquito bites) & if they're over a certain size, they consider you allergic to THAT.  

Patch testing for skin allergies is similar...but much more miserable.  You have around 80 discs full of creams taped to your back for 2 days.  You can't shower...for 2 days.  You can't really move...for 2 days... When you DO move, you feel your skin pull...for 2 days.  You can't really sleep...for 2 days.  You can't scratch...for 2 days.  You can't touch your back...for 2 days.  Definition of misery...

After the 2 miserable days, you go back to the doctor.  They make an outline (in Sharpie) on your back where the patches were.   The doctor reads the bumps to see what you're allergic to.  They ruin your life give you the preliminary results & educate you on those things.  You CAN shower after this, HOWEVER - you can't scrub your back...you can let water run down your back, but you can't let the water beat on your back...you still can't scratch.  Because you gotta go back the very next day.   

The chemicals on the discs are being absorbed by your body while they're on your back.  You have to go back the next day to see if anything else shows up.  And yes, I had more stuff show up.  (I'm getting to that part, promise...)

After this appointment, your back is your own again.  You can let water beat you until your back is red...you can try to scrub all the sharpie off...YOU CAN SCRATCH.  Thank you, Lord.

These pics are from Saturday...3 days after they took my patches off.  I'm a scratching machine, people.  (yes I know I still have sharpie on my back...it's a bitch to get off!)

So what am I allergic too you might be wondering?  Oh, that's the very, VERY best part.  The day they took my patches off, this is what I was hit with:  nickel.  Like I said - I've known this forever.  I cannot wear 'cheap' earrings or my ears itch horribly.  I also know that ALL jewelry is made of nickel (because it is one of the strongest metals) but most are coated with something else. There are lots of other metals I'm allergic too including cobalt & palladium.  Does anyone know what Palladium is used for?  I DO!  I DO!  It's commonly used in the coating on white gold.  UHM....shit...guess whose wedding ring is white gold??? 

So to recap, I'm allergic to jewelry.  JEWELRY, PEOPLE....

Next was something fun called balsam.  I'v never heard of it so it shouldn't be a big deal, right?  UHM WRONG.  VERY VERY WRONG.  It's a chemical found in fragrance.  Is anyone else freaking the hell out like I was?!  No... just me?  Mmmmm kay... 

If the word fragrance is in the label...I cannot use it.  This calls for major cuss words people.  Like seriously.  

I'm a girl...we like to look pretty & SMELL pretty.  I told the nurse, "You're cutting me off at the knees!"  After my stupid 'education' session she asked, "Do you have any questions?"  I said, "Are you going to tell me anything else to ruin my life?!"   I am allergic to everything that makes me a GIRL.

Needless to say, I was really upset when I left there.  I'm still upset about it, but now I'm trying to educate myself on what I can & can't use.  I use Clinique 'Happy' perfume.  I love that shit.  I get so many compliments on how I smell so good & well, I love compliments.  I was devastated that I would not be able to use that perfume anymore.  That very afternoon I started to scour the internet to see if Clinique made a 'fragrance' free version...of a uhm, er, uh fragrance?!

(When you hear fragrance, you think 'smell', right?  Yep, me too.  However that's not always the case I've learned...)

So I pull up Clinique's website & to my complete joy, it says right at the top "Allergy tested, 100% Fragrance Free".  Thank you 6 lb 5 oz baby Jesus.  I can still smell like 'Happy'.  I nearly cried.

That night I went home & had to read all the labels on ALL my stuff.  EVERYTHING I OWN HAS FRAGRANCE IN IT.  I have had to buy:  detergent, fabric softener, shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, hand & body soaps & I'm still on the hunt for hair styling products with no fragrance.  I had to buy much of it online as normal stores don't carry it.  Even if it says for sensitive skin, some products still have fragrance.  This weekend I started to wash everything we own in 'fragrance free' detergent.  It's clear & smells like nothing....very weird...

When I went back to the doctor the day after the patch removal, I did not think there was anything else they could hit me with...I was mistaken.  I am also allergic to Gold (like the real thing) & another chemical that goes along with fragrance called, 'methyldibromo glutaronitrile'.  Even if a product doesn't contain fragrance, I have to look for those big ass words.  I can't possibly remember all that so I just remember 'bromo'....

What's next for poor, sad, nothing to live for, allergic to being a girl Jaime Mac?   For the next 6 weeks, I can wear NO jewelry. I can wear nothing that has fragrance in it. I cannot use candles, Scentsy wax thingies or air fresheners.  I AM allowed to wear small, post earrings so my holes don't close, but I have to either buy platinum or sterling silver AND I have to wash my hands after I put them in. (With fragrance free soap, of course!)  I also have to be mindful to not 'play' with my earrings & then touch another part of my body.  Hmph.   (I am currently on the prowl for a large bubble to live in if anyone knows where I can get one?!)  

After the 6 weeks, I go back to the doctor & then she will allow me to 're-introduce' one thing at a time.  Example: I can start using my awesome fragrance filled shampoo for one week.  Not conditioner too, only shampoo to see how I do.  If I'm ok, the next week I can use my awesome shampoo and add my big ass diamond wedding ring (priorities, people...) & so on until we find which 'thing' makes me break out.  

It's torture, truly...

Disclaimer:  I did ask the doctor how I would avoid fragrances when I wash my hands at a friends house or public restroom because I'm sure THEIR soap will have fragrance.  She explained, "You must cut them out totally at home but no, you can't help using them outside your environment.  Just try to limit them the best you can."  Great.

 Since my wedding ring that I love more than my husband is not allowed on my hand for at least 6 weeks...

I put it in a freaking ziploc baggie in our safe.... I mean, really...??  OH THE HUMANITY.

Let me say that I fully realize this is NOT that big of a deal in the scheme of things.  There are tons of people suffering from WAY worse than not being able to use or wear 'things' that bring them joy & happiness & give them a reason to wake up every morning.  It's not like I have a fatal disease or anything.  This is just the worst thing to ever happen to me & I like to be dramatic... (But I dare you to find something in your home that you use on your hair or body that doesn't contain fragrance.  I DARE YOU.  And if ya do, let me know what it is! The products I had to buy are seriously ghetto, people.  I wouldn't even use the shampoo on a dog.  UGH.  I still need help finding volumizing mousse & something to protect my hair from the flat iron!)

B-rad had some encouraging words & reminded me just why I love him.  He said, "Well - it could be worse - you could be allergic to Reese cups."  So true...  

You better act fast

So I told ya'll I'm making the blog private (read the previous post if this is news to you) & that is happening like soon - like tomorrow soon (which is Wednesday, May 8th.).

I have acknowledged everyone who has commented or emailed me.  So, if you THINK you emailed me & you haven't heard anything, that only means one thing:  You didn't take my advice, you spelled my name wrong & you are banned for life.  Sorry 'bout your luck.

I am ITCHING (literally) to tell you about my patch testing for skin allergies last week.  If you wanna see the pics (oh yes, there.are.pictures!) & hear the sordid tale - you know what to do... (unless you spelled my name wrong.  And in that case, don't bother...)

Expiration date

The time has come to make this blog private.  I've been thinking & thinking about it & decided now is the time.  For the 7 of you that I KNOW read on a regular basis, I have sent you a message to confirm your email address... (Alicia I've got you - no message sent.)

SO-if you have been stalking in the shadows - it's time to reveal yourself... & if you don't - you won't get to see what I post next.  (It's gonna be good is all I can tell ya.)  Please comment here with who the hell you are,  how I may know you (or who you know that I know) & your email address.  I'll decide through an extensive screening process (meaning I will tweet, facebook or text the people you say you know that I know to make sure you're legit) & send you an invite.

If you are not comfortable commenting here - shoot me an email at jaimemcafee@hotmail.com.  I suggest you copy & paste that because if you spell it wrong, it won't come to me.  Then you will have misspelled my name & we all know how that pisses me off.  No invite for you for SURE. 

Amanda Brady - I need your email please!  I know you're out there!

Taylor Swift annoys me but puts on a great show

I like Taylor Swift music.  THERE - I said it.  I make no apologies.  The chick writes good songs.  Period.  If you don't live under a rock, you know that she famously writes mostly about her break ups.  Listen - when I was 22 years old -if I could have written & sung about MY love life & had someone pay me for all the bullshit I ever endured, I would  totally do it.  Don't hate the player people, hate the game.

With that being said, YES she gets on my nerves.  I'm sure it's partly the fact that she's 22 & just acts goofy. (Because that's what 22 year olds DO....)  I don't do goofy.  

Any who - Shauna's daughter (who is 9) wanted to go see Taylor Swift.  Shauna asked me to tag along & even though she annoys me (Taylor Swift, not Shauna), I do like her songs & I'm up for pretty much anything so I said 'SURE!'  She's coming to Louisville soon, but it's on a week night & late school nights & little kids sometimes don't mix.  Hell, late week nights for me are rough.  Through the wonder that is the internet (God bless it...) we found she was also going to be in Lexington at Rupp Arena on a Saturday night.  We found tickets, got a hotel room & we were all set.

According to Miss Swift's banter during the concert, the '17,000 people that are in this arena sold it out in a matter of minutes.'   And we didn't get our tickets until like a few months ago so we had 'not the best seats'.  

Ed Sheeran opened for her. Do ya'll know who HE is?  He sings "The A Team" & "Lego House".  Youtube or look them up on iTunes...you've heard them.  He's like this messy haired guy & the girls went bonkers for him.  Like, I was mesmerized at the screaming that took place for this guy. 

Finally it was time for Miss Taylor.  She started out with a couple of songs I don't know.  She had dancers & costumes changes.  It was quite the production.

She told a 'story' about writing some of her more famous songs before she sang them. 

There was also a stage in the back of the arena.  That was awesome.  During '22', her dancers carried her back there.  She stayed there for 4 or 5 songs.

 And if you're wondering how she was going to get back to the main stage?  Oh, she had a plan for that...  By a little basket thingie that carried her over the crowd while she sang, 'Sparks Fly'.  VERY COOL.

I don't want to give all her tricks away in case anyone is seeing her this week in Louisville, but she had an awesome show.  I had a great time & it was very entertaining.  She is a helluva performer.

While we sat in the parking garage for 45 minutes (uh yea...) Shauna took a pic of all of us.  Ally had a friend come too.  The concert was a little late for the girls (Taylor Swift didn't start until 8:30) & they got really, really tired during the concert.  Surprisingly they caught a second wind while we were in the car sitting in traffic.  That was great timing!