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May 31, 2006 - Wednesday | 8:44 AM, CST
I had an interesting weekend... filled with both excitement and discontent. I started the weekend off by paintballing out at William's grandma's. It was wonderful to be paintballing again after nearly two years. I can remember when Keith, Russell, and I played paintball every weekend. Ahh, the days of youth... when money was freely spent on whatever frivolous interest your heart desired. Sometimes I wish I still lived with my Mom.
Unfortunately, the paintballing wasn't all fun. Hopefully, Zach will e-mail me soon with the picture, but I got shot from very close distance, in the neck. It was without a doubt the worst paintball hit I've ever had. My neck instantly went numb and into a Charlie horse. The wound itself bled for about fifteen minutes. Just wait until you see the picture. Time to turn down that velocity, Adam...
And to top it off, I picked up some poison ivy while I was out. Poison ivy affects me strangely. It usually won't show up until two or three days after the event. I'll usually just brush it off, and a few days after that, its spread to just about every part of my body. This time, I didn't screw around. Unfortunately the doctor's office was closed, so I went straight to the emergency room. And we all know what kind of experience that becomes. I find that ER nurses are either quick to point out that you've said something wrong, or to state the obvious.
Me: I came in as soon as I noticed the rash, because I'm very allergic.
Nurse: Well, you must not be that allergic if you just now notice it!
Later on...
Me: Is it ok to use some benadryl lotion on this? I'm using benadryl occasionally as a sleep aid.
Nurse: Yes, thats fine! And you also need to wash the clothes you were wearing when you got the poison ivy to prevent reinfection.
So that's the secret!
I also had the pleasure of fixing my lawnmower over the weekend. I broke the drive belt a few days ago, which means no transmission. Now, go figure, but Wal-Mart (the store the mower was purchased), didn't have the replacement. The John Deere dealer had one close to a match, so I gave it a try. Several dents and a little less blood later, the mower and I still had not reached an agreement to end its strike. It was necessary to purchase a different belt at Big R, who actually had the correct replacement part. But as can be guessed, something else broke when I finished installing the new belt: now the motor won't turn over. Blown fuse? Maybe. I haven't had time yet to figure it out. In the meantime, the grass will continue to grow.
Speaking of growing, my garden is coming along very nicely. I transplanted some baby toads I caught near the Light Swamp to assist in insect control. That was a few days ago, and I noticed this morning that a few of them were hopping around the perimeter of the garden. Apparantly the transplant was successful. Below are some pictures from the homestead.
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My peas. They're starting to climb onto the trellis. Soon they will be unstoppable.
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The onions. I have two and a half rows of these. These are good for warding off Kelly's poisonous kisses.
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My taters! My favorite crop. I was worried these wouldn't grow.
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Corn even a hero like Mark could take pride in... I planted two rows, but I will have to replant some... only about half sprouted.
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Broccoli, filled with fiber and cancer fighting goodness.
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The carrots. I didn't think these were going to sprout, but a trip to the garden this morning told me they were just taking their sweet time.
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Here is my cat, hoping that a tree frog on the other side of the bay window will decide to come in and play.
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Thats all for now.
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