Mmmm... bitter
About that last post: in my defense (because it was crankier and more profane than most posts), I want to point out that it's been 100F on a daily basis for most of the month of August AND BabyGirl has had no school for three and a half weeks now. With two weeks to go. So I'm expected to entertain an active, smart toddler without being able to go outside for more than a few minutes for most of the day. Every day, for more than a month. Yikes!
A few lifesaving forms of assistance have made a huge difference: I have a neighbor who's happy to look after Dada now and then, though I gather that she requires a nap aferward and I completely understand. Also, Hubby has been taking Fridays off AND heading home earlier in the evenings, so the weeks and days are a bit shorter. Mom visited for a few days and we all appreciated a break in the monotony.
There are other things that have made a big difference: I've been making sherbet from a recipe in Cook's Illustrated that's incredibly tasty and refreshing; we've been going to Deep Eddy pool, a miraculous delight--it's a spring-fed, non-chlorinated pool that stays about 68F year round. I cannot rave about that pool enough: there's nothing like a shock of cold water to take the edge off the endless heat and on brutally hot days, standing in waist-deep cold water with the hot sun beating down on your upper torso is like being in a sauna and cold plunge at the same time.
Downside: everytime I go to the pool with Dada around lunchtime I get a sunburn on some vulnerable spot, either the exact center of my back, or the backs of my shoulders, or the upper part of my thighs--areas that either get the sunscreen rubbed off or that I tend to miss, even with the spray-on SPF 30.
Upside: in addition to the pure physical pleasure of the cool water, it makes Dada exquisitely happy to be there, especially with both Mom and Dad. She just radiates joy--yesterday she bounced up and down in the water chanting happy-happy-happy.
Between the sherbet and the pool, plus occasional breaks from toddler managment, I'm doing ok, if kinda cranky.
Did I mention that I seem to have developed a food allergy? The vomiting was the first clue, followed by the maddeningly-itchy rash. And what am I allergic to? If I'm unlucky: eggs. If I'm lucky: just duck eggs.
When we found a source for duck eggs, I was intrigued--it turns out that duck eggs are like organically-raised chicken eggs, but with all the eggy goodness dialed up to 11. I'll be bummed if I'm allergic to duck eggs, because they're WAY tasty (well, going down--not so much the other direction). I've avoided eggs since the rash appeared. (Oh, and having a rash in nasty hot weather? Is bad. Because sweat irritates it even more, in a burny-itchy kind of way.) I'd really hate to be allergic to all eggs, since not only do I love all sorts of eggy stuff like French Toast and migas but also because I like to bake eggy breads, cakes, cookies and stuff like that.
But lately, not such a big problem because baking? No way, Jose, not in this heat, aside from a throw-in-the-oven-and-flee frozen pizza now and then. Is it too disgusting to mention that I've contemplated how refreshing it would feel to somehow apply a frozen pizza to my sunburned back like a poultice? Yeah, I suppose so.
A few lifesaving forms of assistance have made a huge difference: I have a neighbor who's happy to look after Dada now and then, though I gather that she requires a nap aferward and I completely understand. Also, Hubby has been taking Fridays off AND heading home earlier in the evenings, so the weeks and days are a bit shorter. Mom visited for a few days and we all appreciated a break in the monotony.
There are other things that have made a big difference: I've been making sherbet from a recipe in Cook's Illustrated that's incredibly tasty and refreshing; we've been going to Deep Eddy pool, a miraculous delight--it's a spring-fed, non-chlorinated pool that stays about 68F year round. I cannot rave about that pool enough: there's nothing like a shock of cold water to take the edge off the endless heat and on brutally hot days, standing in waist-deep cold water with the hot sun beating down on your upper torso is like being in a sauna and cold plunge at the same time.
Downside: everytime I go to the pool with Dada around lunchtime I get a sunburn on some vulnerable spot, either the exact center of my back, or the backs of my shoulders, or the upper part of my thighs--areas that either get the sunscreen rubbed off or that I tend to miss, even with the spray-on SPF 30.
Upside: in addition to the pure physical pleasure of the cool water, it makes Dada exquisitely happy to be there, especially with both Mom and Dad. She just radiates joy--yesterday she bounced up and down in the water chanting happy-happy-happy.
Between the sherbet and the pool, plus occasional breaks from toddler managment, I'm doing ok, if kinda cranky.
Did I mention that I seem to have developed a food allergy? The vomiting was the first clue, followed by the maddeningly-itchy rash. And what am I allergic to? If I'm unlucky: eggs. If I'm lucky: just duck eggs.
When we found a source for duck eggs, I was intrigued--it turns out that duck eggs are like organically-raised chicken eggs, but with all the eggy goodness dialed up to 11. I'll be bummed if I'm allergic to duck eggs, because they're WAY tasty (well, going down--not so much the other direction). I've avoided eggs since the rash appeared. (Oh, and having a rash in nasty hot weather? Is bad. Because sweat irritates it even more, in a burny-itchy kind of way.) I'd really hate to be allergic to all eggs, since not only do I love all sorts of eggy stuff like French Toast and migas but also because I like to bake eggy breads, cakes, cookies and stuff like that.
But lately, not such a big problem because baking? No way, Jose, not in this heat, aside from a throw-in-the-oven-and-flee frozen pizza now and then. Is it too disgusting to mention that I've contemplated how refreshing it would feel to somehow apply a frozen pizza to my sunburned back like a poultice? Yeah, I suppose so.
posted by jwoods at 8:40 AM
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