Sorry to be graphic, but my sister wanted to know what hives look like. This was my foot on a good day. Happy me, they have since left. Now I just itch a bit at night and that's even diminishing as well. After bloodwork and doctor appointments, they said that yes, we're sure you're allergic to something, and we think it's the Nexium I was taking for acid reflux. So I'm off the Nexium but am now popping Pepcid and staying away from soda and spicy foods.



One day two weeks ago I stayed home from school when the hives returned. I had the front door open for a breeze and heard clanking outside. I looked out and saw these vulture-like birds on the garbage cans! All the more reason to wash our hands early and often. I've never seen birds like these-- kind of like a cross between ducks, turkeys, and what I think vultures look like. Ugly.


Two Saturdays ago Brad and I got to use our tools and make a furniture dolly. We brought out the sawhorses, miter saw, drill and supplies into the driveway and had a great time constructing the dolly. Before we left Chicago we bought a set of lockers from a demolition sale and we've been wanting to sand them down and paint them. However, they're so heavy we can't just pick them up and move them around so the dolly helped us swing them into the front yard. I got two sides of them sanded and repainted-- I'll take pictures of those sometime for you.