Rain, rain don't go away...

Ok, ya'll know I never ever curse the rain.  EVER.  I know it can be depressing... I know it can totally put a cramp in your style when you have outdoor plans.  I KNOW.  But I don't care....The corn that B-rad spent 4,342 hours planting NEEDS RAIN.  The beans that Brady spent 4,342 hours planting NEEDS RAIN.  No rain, no corn, no money.  Boo on that.  

Last Wednesday (oh look, I'm a week behind - AGAIN!) night I had plans to help Shauna clean out her closet. Wednesday was the day last week that it rained like a freakin' monsoon.  Before I left work, it had gotten so dark that the street lights came on.  It poured & lightning & thundered.  I even got an 'emergency alert' on my phone about flooding.  Eh, they ALWAYS make mountains out of mole hills when it comes to the weather so I didn't think much else about it.  I hopped in my car & headed to Shauna's.

There was a lot of water standing in places it usually doesn't but still, I drove on.  I stopped at Highlander Point & the road was flooded.  Like flooded so much you couldn't see it but still, I drove on... I got to Shauna's, the sun came out, we ate dinner & cleaned the closet. 

 Later in the evening it got pretty dark & the thunder started again.  Then I got this pic from B-rad...

Please note that we do NOT typically have a small creek running through our backyard.

Insert here a 30 minute text argument between him & I about how I was NOT coming home.  The back roads are not straight & flat so water standing is a real concern.  Plus I HAD to get  have a teeny tiny car that sits pretty low to the ground.  I thought he was joking...yea, he wasn't.  At one point he told me, 'Do not even F***ING attempt it.'  Uhm, ok he was serious.  So the planner in me started to have anxiety:  'How will I store my contacts for the night?; (I can't sleep in mine)  'How in the HELL will I see if I can take them out?'  'How will I get to work tomorrow if I can't go home?'  'I can't go to work in the SAME clothes I wore today & will apparently have to sleep in!'    Of course, it was no problem with Shauna if I crashed at her house, but 'planning' a sleepover is much different than having it dropped into our laps.  

B-rad decided to go out & drive the roads (he has a pick up truck) to see if any of the routes would be safe for me to use & around 9:15 he gave me the all clear to come home.  He told me about a few trouble spots where driveways were washed into the road & I was on my way.

Our driveway was not immune to the washing away.  We have huge ruts now where the gravel is gone. (And guess whose teeny tiny car scrapes when she drives over them if she's not careful?)

The only difference in our driveway is that is washes into our yard...not the road.  Happy day.

We got over 5" of rain in maybe 2 hours.  You guys are always asking me questions about the farm & I do love to hear myself type,but if you really stop to think about it - you can figure out why rain really is important. 

When it rains, obviously it provides water... & who DOESN'T need water?  Animals need it to drink, WE need it to drink & plants & grass need it to live.  Think back to the last couple of summers that have been super dry- ponds dried up & in some cases they were urging people not to fill up pools or water their gardens because water supplies get really low.  On the flip side, too much of a good thing is also bad!  Getting that much rain that quickly is not ideal.  The ground can't absorb it so it 'stands' in places it normally doesn't.  When the water is standing over the corn or beans & floods it-one of two things can happen... #1-it stays flooded & kills the plant.  #2-when the water recedes & the leaves are covered with mud it will kill the plant.  The mud doesn't allow photosynthesis to take place (how ya like that word, Alicia?!)  B-rad explained that with mud on the leaves, it's like the plant is in shade all.the.time.  (And that concludes the science segment of this post...)

Of course it's horrible when the rain is so extreme that people get flooded out of their homes & lose everything they've worked so hard for.  I don't 'like' the rain when that happens, but I still try really hard not to complain about it.  God giveth rain & God taketh away rain. 

My attitude is that we lose a lot less of our crop when it rains that hard that fast then we would if we had no rain for the whole summer.  Just imagine looking out over hundred of acres that you invested your time & money into & it was literally burning to a crisp.  It's quite depressing... 

Soooo-Who's up for rain on 4th of July?  ME!  ME!  Woo hoo!

'Weekend' in Nashville

Last week (Yea, I'm behind...don't act like you're shocked...) I took a short trip to Nashville, TN.  It was in the middle of the week (Tues & Wed) which REALLY screwed us up for the rest of the week.  I kept saying, 'last weekend' or 'last week'.  Sigh.

I've told ya'll about our Summer concert tour this year & this was the 4th stop!  This trip was to see 'The Package Tour' which consisted of Boyz II Men, 98degrees & New Kids on the Block.  Swoon.  

Now, you may know some people who went to see this tour when it was in Louisville MONDAY night.  WELL...Shauna & I decided to go when they FIRST announced tour dates.  Cincinnati was closest but they sold out FAST.  (I'm assuming because 98degrees is from there.) & Nashville was the next closest place.  We bought the tickets the morning they went on sale & voila, it was done.  

THEN like 3 weeks later they the bastards announced they were coming to Louisville.  Boo hiss on them.

The concert was on a Tuesday night so we decided to make a 2 day trip of it.  We drove down on Tuesday morning & went to the Opry Mills Mall.  We ate lunch in the restaurant that has an aquarium in the middle.

Me, Shauna & her friend, Jessica

 It kind of freaked me out to see this kind of thing swimming by while I was trying to eat....so I sat with my back to the aquarium.

We spent like 5 hours in the Opry Mills Mall.  It is huge!  Shauna & I were SO excited about going to the Coach store!  We got there, bought our stuff & were on our merry way.  I saw the Vera Bradley outlet across the way from Coach & figured we'd hit that on our way back.  I must tell you - we lost our freaking minds in the Vera Bradley outlet.  We had a REALLY nice gal helping us.  Her name was Jenny & she was so friendly.  Shauna & I were going bonkers over all the fun bags & prints & the SALE!  You guys are gonna die when you hear this - but we took our purchases BACK to the Coach store to spend that money on Vera Bradley stuff.  I know, I know...  

That night we got dressed up & ate dinner at a local bar before the concert. You will notice my BORING post only earrings because of my stupid allergy nonsense so I tried to jazz up my outfit with a fun scarf & a glittery head band.  

You may not remember because I've only mentioned it MAYBE once or twice that I'm also allergic to my wedding ring so I wasn't wearing it.  There were 2 older guys sitting next to me at the bar & they didn't say or do anything - they were just kinda creepy, ya know?  They were friendly enough & even took our picture. They knew where Louisville is & talked to us about Derby & suddenly I became VERY aware of the fact that I was not wearing my big ass diamond ring.  It made me a bit uneasy.

 Next stop was Bridgestone Arena to see my man, Jordan Knight.

 We had incredible seats.  And the only reason they were incredible was because the stage was in the middle of the arena.  NO LIE.  They had a stage in front for the band & they did go to that stage for a couple of songs but that was it.  

The bar was super busy so we were going to get to the concert late anyway.  Ya'll know how I am about promptness so I tried to justify being late to myself because I'm crazy by saying, "oh, it's no big deal-we'll just miss the opening band.  No one cares about them!"  We got drinks, stood in line for the bathroom...no biggie...we had PLENTY of time.
We walked in about 20 minutes late & the opening act was singing.  UHM the opening act was Boyz II Men.  Gulp.  We got to hear maybe 3 songs from them & that was it.  WHOOPS.

 98 degrees.  Told you our seats were awesome.  Look at the yummy goodness that is Nick Lachey on the left.

 Then it was time for the main attraction.  They kept talking about how its been 25 years since they became a band.  That seems like SUCH a long time...but sadly it's not now that I'm old...

 Yea - incredible seats.

 The middle stage had like 5 cat walks coming out from it.  Towards the end, they walked out onto them kept coming out into the crowd.  We were in the section between the floor & the upper seats.  They came up probably 5' in front of us.  I swear to all that is good & Holy if this has been Jordan Knight I would've tackled him.  Not wearing a big ass diamond ring would've come in REAL handy then.  As is my luck, Jordan was over with some other stupid chicks...I don't even remember this dudes name.  Hmph.

 They let off a TON of confetti!  It was so fun & pretty to watch...

 until I realized it was collecting in my water!  Good thing it was almost empty.

The concert was great! We had SO much fun dancing, singing & screaming our heads off when the hot, middle aged men on stage took off their shirts.  Holy moly!

Nashville reminds me a lot of Vegas but on a much smaller scale. Nothing opens until like 10am their time which is 11 our time.  Shauna & I were up bright & early (like 6 am) & Jessica was still sleeping so we walked around to find something open but nothing was.  We walked past the Ryman & stopped to take a pic.  This is the back, that's why you may not recognize it as what you see on tv.

 We also got to see the CMT building.  There was a guard inside & we tried to be all nice & ask if there was anything inside we could go see.  He simply said 'no.  These are private offices.'  Geez man, cool your jets. He wasn't very friendly.  

 Shauna LOVES the show Nashville & she wanted to find the Blue Bird Cafe.  If we hadn't know what we were looking for we would've missed it.  It is not much to look at sitting in the middle of a strip mall!

On our way back into town we saw a sign that said 'Music Row'.  I'm sure ya'll have heard of music row.  I was expecting to see fancy schmancy buildings with ALL KINDS of country music stars milling about.  UHM NO.  Not at all...

It was like ghetto recording studios in HOUSES.

We felt like we were in the right 'area' when we saw banners telling artist 'congrats' on #1 records... but still saw no singers milling about.

Finally at one point I saw a name I recognized... Curb.  Tim McGraw is on the Curb label.  And that got me thinking... Reba McEntire has a record company called Starstruck.   So I googled the address!  

WELL.   This was comical.  There was nothing on the building to say this was Starstruck.  NOTHING.  

We pulled around the back & there was a parking garage under the building.  We sat & watched as several vehicles used a key card swipie thing to make the door go up.  When it went up, it would stay up for a bit after they pulled in.  Shauna wanted to pull in after one of them...but I wouldn't let her.  I'm boring & chicken like that. 

 As we were leaving the alley we were parked in, we saw this gate to a parking lot.  This was the ONE & ONLY sign that we were MAYBE at Starstruck.  I find that so strange.  (Maybe they don't label the buildings so crazy tourists don't drive up & down the streets waiting for singers to be milling about?  Blasphemy...)

Shauna really wanted to get a new pair of new boots while we were there.  We found this pair & she fell in love!  They are the cutest boots I've ever seen.    

 After Jessica woke up & we checked out of the hotel we stopped at the Country Music Hall of fame.  

 It was ok.  I'm not really a 'stop & read every exhibit to learn about history' kinda gal.  I was more interested in the newer country stuff.  Carrie Underwoods outfits from her tour were in an exhibit.   Shauna & I still aren't sure of how we missed her coming to town last year?  I've gotta start being more 'up' on that kind of stuff.  We do love ourselves some concerts.

 I was happy when I found one of Faith Hill's outfits!  
(please note my SUPER CUTE new Vera Bradley bag!)

They had a HUGE wall covered in records that I was very impressed with.  The girls asked if I wanted my picture taken in front of them & I said, "No, not really.  Now - if I found a Faith Hill record it'd be a different story."  AND GUESS WHAT?  I found one!!!!! It's above where my finger is pointing!

 The last room we visited was where the inductees to the Hall of Fame's plaques are hung.   

 We headed home when we left there.  It was a great time!  I'm so thankful I have a friend who is willing to go & do crazy things with me!  Next concert tour stop is Jason Aldean in July!  

I love my husband but also want to kill him...

So yesterday was our 14 year anniversary.  GULP.  Where has the time gone?  I was like JUST 25 a minute ago...

Ya'll know I have an empty cavity where the heart normally resides, so when my hubby wrote THIS on Facebook...I nearly died...

Yes, it's sweet.  Yes, it's nice.  Yes, yes yes.  But it's soooo not me.  And of course, he knows this...he married THIS for crying out loud... 

I responded to him the best I could think at 6:31 am..."Love you...but you know I hate the mushy stuff..." to which HE responded "It's only once a year sooooo STFU."  (Which for those of you who don't know is 'shut the f*** up'.)  You will notice 8 people liked that...I am one of those 8.  THAT IS ME.

For the most part, we are sarcastic together like this.  I certainly understand that some couples enjoy the mushiness...we are not one of those couples.  But if that works for you, by all means - go be mushy... 

We spent our anniversary like any ole' normal couple...he was in a tractor putting down nitrogen & I went to Shauna's to hang out with her & Dylan.  We went to check out the NEW McDonald's at Highlander Point AND she even paid for my dinner & dessert!   That was very nice of her!  She said, "I'm sorry you have to spend your anniversary with me!"  I had more fun with them than I would have sitting at home.  

B-rad got home around 10:15pm to eat a gourmet meal of chicken tenders.  Isn't he the luckiest guy ever?!  Listen, here's the thing...it doesn't bode well for B-rad that I be a mushy, clingy, romantic kinda girl.  Because if I was, this is what he would've been bothered with heard:  'But it's our ANNIVERSARY!  You HAVE to take me out to dinner & on a date.  We HAVE to be together on the day we got married!"   (I understand things like this may have more importance when you have kids & need any excuse to escape their tiny clutches, alas that's not an issue for us.)  And if you do act like this & it works for you, that's ok- I mean NO disrespect... & if it works for your 'significant other' that's also ok.  This doesn't work for US.  Different strokes for different folks is my motto!

Very bluntly & simply - I don't care that we didn't spend our anniversary together.  I know he loves me. (I mean - I'm crazy & he puts up with me!)  I know I love him.   I know if he could take me out to dinner every night of the week - he would especially since he knows I hate to cook.... but he can't.  This time of year he's focused on the farm.  He's investing in OUR future together.  I can't begrudge him that.  Now - that's not to say I don't have my moments... I do!  There are times we miss doing things because he's busy.  Yes, that sucks & sometimes I get mad & stomp & throw myself on the ground but that doesn't solve anything.  It only makes him feel worse.  I married a farmer...I knew what I was signing up for...

I have had people ask, "How did you manage to get him to marry you in June?  That's a busy time for farmers!"  My defense to that is back then they didn't farm as much land & their dad was still helping so by mid-June things were starting to wind down.  No worries though - I caught grief for it for sure!  (My birthday is in May when B-rad is UBER busy...he always tells me I was born in the wrong time of the year.  THAT-my dear stalkers- is why I love him!)  The boys have picked up several hundred more acres than they did 14 years ago & their dad no longer helps with the farm...at all...

June 12, 1999

Here's a teeny tiny itty bitty piece of mush for you softies out there (ahem, Ginmommy...) (besides the whole 'he's working for our future' bit.)  There are SO many things I've gotten to do & places I've traveled that would NOT have been possible without Brad McAfee.  He's always game for any stupid idea I come up with & he's there to protect me from myself.  (Like the time he yanked me out of the street in Vegas when a cab was heading right for me because I walked out in front of it.)  He did a lot of things as a kid with his family & his sense of adventure has been a REAL learning experience for this home body.  (He still gets irritated at me when we travel & I'm ready to come home & he wants to stay for another 2 weeks!)

A year & a half ago we were in Hawaii & watched the sunset on top of a dormant volcano.

4 months ago we took our 3rd (!) trip to Vegas so I could sit 15' from Faith Hil & cry when I saw her...

I find it ironic & funny that on our anniversary I was unable to wear my thing I love more than my husband wedding ring because I'm allergic to it.  Go figure.  

Since sharing pics of my gorgeous ring never gets old for me... this is what it would've looked like on my hand...

and this is what it looks like locked in my safe until we meet again... Pitiful I tell ya...

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...