Where have I been?

If you've noticed I haven't posted anything for a while, well... you're right. I haven't. (Astute observation, by the way.)

It's been really crazy since we got back from vacation, trying to get ready for the kids to go back to school on Monday. And how I am LONGING for that day...

Also I'm having the same problem I had last summer when we first moved to Hawaii; it appears I am allergic to the Hawaiin summer. Last summer it was worse; my eyes swelled shut, my face puffed up, and I had an itchy scaly rash on my face and arms.

I have a photographic memorial of that look too, since my ID expired that week and I had to take a new picture. It now sits in my wallet, ready to mock me at every purchase. So sad.

Last year I ended up in the ER with this allergic reaction, where they gave me helpful suggestions like: "Wow, looks like you're REALLY allergic to something," and "Better take a Benadryl!" Thank you, medical professionals.

After some researching on our own, my husband and I decided it was the mangos. Apparently there's something in the skin of a mango that is the same irritant as the one in poison ivy. And we have a huge mango tree in our yard that produces a lot of fruit in the summer. Every morning there are a bunch of mangos on the ground, and of course they are ripening all the time in the tree. So the air is full of mango here.

Another funny thing about having a mango tree in the yard is how many people it seems to attract. About once or twice a week I'll find some passerby in the yard waving a stick at the tree or throwing his shoes at it, trying to knock down ripe mangos to eat. Locals LOVE their mangos! Apparently I'm the only one who is poisoned by them.

By the mangos, not the locals.

So anyways, this year I knew enough not to peel or eat the mangos, but apparently just picking them up out of the YARD is enough to set my histamines on red alert. As of  a couple of weeks ago, I stopped touching them altogether, but I guess the damage was already done.

I've been popping Benadryl around the clock since the rash showed up two weeks ago, and may I point out that antihistimines DO fog the brain a bit.

And I feel bad every time I see the mangos rotting on ground because I'm not picking them up anymore. But I resist. I know the EVIL that lurks in their lovely golden skins for me.

All this is to say, the reason I haven't written for a little while is that my brain doesn't seem to be quite up to par, what with the Benadryl, and the kids being at home 24 hours a day. Things are a little hectic.

Hopefully I'll perk up by Monday. Unless a mango comes after me.....