Thankful Thursday | an itchy week

This week, I am thankful:

that I only got stung by one yellow jacket

Do you remember last fall when I got multiple yellow jacket stings, and my foot swelled up like I had a bad case of edema?

That time, I had to go to the doctor and get some oral steroids to bring the swelling down.

Well, last Saturday near the Sam’s Club parking lot, I got a yellow jacket sting on the top of my ankle.

I immediately flashed back to last fall and felt pretty disgruntled at the prospect of reliving that whole mess again.

But my experience this time has not been quite as bad, probably owing to the fact that I got stung just once.

I used my prescription anti-itch cream (left from last time!), did faithful icing, took Benadryl, elevated it, and still it was fairly swollen and VERY itchy.

Just not as bad as last time.

I have survived this round without going to the doctor for steroids, but I think if I get another yellow jacket sting in the future, I am just going to go to the doctor and beg for mercy straight away (armed with pictures of my previously swollen feet!)

that I still have the ice packs and wrap from Zoe’s wisdom teeth removal

I used these like crazy when I last had the yellow jacket stings, and they’ve been helpful this time around too.

The cold definitely helps to provide some itching relief; when you’re numb, you can’t really be itchy. 😉

that my poison ivy is getting better

I got my very first poison ivy rash ever so now I know: I am definitely sensitive to it. Oh well.

This has been uncomfortable, but not nearly as uncomfortable as my yellow jacket sting.

And while my arm looks disgusting (I will spare you the photo), the itching is subsiding.

It has been an itchy week for me!

What a good reminder to be compassionate when my future patients have itching problems; itching sounds like such a small inconvenience, but it’s actually kind of awful to deal with.

for mulberries

Suddenly, they are all ripe. There are two varieties on my usual walking route, so these days I have a little snack as I walk.

that my forecast for tomorrow says, “less humid”

There’s an outdoor symphony I want to go to tomorrow night, so I have been keeping an eye on the weather, and it looks like tomorrow will be more pleasant. Yay!

Maybe I will wear my blue striped dress this time.

It’s a free concert, so if the weather was going to be miserably humid, I would probably just choose to stay home. 😉 No harm in losing a free ticket.

for the beautiful green in the world right now

for time to catch up on things

I did a really good job of focusing on school this past semester, but that meant that I didn’t get a whole lot else done besides the necessities.

Now that school is out for the summer, though, I have started to catch up on the eleventy billion things I had put into the, “I’ll do this after school” category.

And it is crazy how much stuff I can get done when I am not doing nursing school. 😉

that my workouts have felt easier this week

You know how I’m doing that month of online personal training with Ben?

Well, my first full week of workouts was a little…WHOA. I was definitely riding the struggle bus on day three.

 

 

But this week, I can already tell that I am a little stronger.

And I’m getting into the groove of the dietary adjustments too; after some analysis, we figured out that my carb intake is good, but I need to swap some of my fat calories for some protein calories.

So, I am eating less heavy cream and more cottage cheese. 😉 In fact, I ate an entire Sam’s Club container of cottage cheese, on my own, over the course of a few days.

for Zoe’s thoughtfulness

Yesterday, a friend of hers was having a tough time, so she dropped everything to go spend time with her friend.

And I can’t remember if I told you this or not, but Zoe took an ASL class last semester so that she could learn to chat with her deaf co-worker.

It makes my heart so happy to see her thoughtfulness.

for free calls to Hawaii

I continue to be so thankful for the way long-distance calling has changed because I get to talk to Lisey all the time, and neither of us has to spend a bunch of money to do so.

We regularly have hour-long phone conversations and that would have been prohibitively expensive in the past!

What are you thankful for this week?