poison ivy sucks, but there's a silver lining

okay. i thought i was being a great neighbor by trimming some overgrown weeds from a row of monkey grass that grows on the property line of my neighbors, who are renters. i figured they didn't have the tools to do it themselves so I quickly trimmed the most overgrown parts. didn't even break a sweat. i should have, because then i would have taken a shower that night. but, i didn't. 24 hours later, i noticed splotchy rashes all over my body. i had showered by this point, but it was too late. the poison ivy had settled into my skin and my body had a severe allergic reaction.

it is now day 8 with this horrible skin condition and the weather in memphis couldn't be more disagreeable. yesterday it reached 100 degrees. fortunately, the lord has shown favor on our household and has kept our a.c. working, despite a hundred thousand households in memphis who went without power last week. even friday night, about 1:30 am, the power on our entire block went out, except at our house. freaky.

saturday, i finally went to the doctor who almost panicked when she saw me and told me to go to the e.r. she did a complete exam and ended up giving me alot of drugs and said to watch for improvements, or go to the e.r. the drugs have been good. but we've been cautious too, since i'm still nursing micah.

what amazes me about all of this, is my attitude has been so positive. which isn't really in my character when it comes to times like this! last week, even with all the itching and discomfort, i kept thinking "thank God it's me and not the boys. I don't think i'd have the patience." or "thank God it's this week, when I have nothing really important to do, than last week when we had both boys' birthday parties." that positive outlook made me so much happier. I also had a great support of friends who were checking in on me and offering to help and who were praying for me. I never felt helpless. this is somewhat new because i have memories of the not-so-distant past when my feelings would have been much different. life is good. it will be better when the poison ivy is gone. but it's still good!