BEDA 10: Updates

If I decide to do this in August, I'd like someone to punch me.

Moving on! As usual there is not much going on in Small Town, USA. I've been on this work, read, sleep, repeat routine for weeks now. Work is the same as always. We just finished up all of the Mock Standardized Testing last week, and we will start actual testing on May 1. I'm so glad I'm not a kid. I mean, I'm completely burned out and I haven't even had to take any tests! Massive testing means boring work days filled with too quiet hallways and large amounts of paperwork catch-up. The bright side is that as of tomorrow there are only five weeks of school left! FIVE WEEKS! I'm so excited I can't stand it! I've been reviewing my finances and my Summer To Do List in preparation of my free summer. I worked in my herb bed yesterday and checked the mini-composting I've been doing. The rate of decay seems spot on, and I added some extra coffee grounds and egg shells to the mix and then turned the top layer of soil over, burying the compost. I'll turn everything again next weekend to continue to mix the compost into my soil and it won't be long before I'm planting herbs and trying fancy pants recipes with tasty fresh herbs! Unfortunately I discovered that a colony of ants have moved into one corner of the bed. I'm a bit worried about what to do with them, because I'm so anti-pesticides but I need to find a way to get rid of them. An article I read online suggested sprinkling cinnamon around the hill because the ants hate it and will leave. This seemed to be working yesterday, but it rained for most of the afternoon and I'm not sure that it actually worked. It's supposed to snow tonight though, so that will probably take care of the ant issue.

While we're on the subject, SNOW?!?!? Really? It's almost MAY and for the first time in recent memory school will actually be over before mid June. I'd prefer it to stay warm and slightly rainy. We don't really need winter weather at this point! I'm ready for lazy days in the hammock, swim session with The Cousins, soaking up warm rays of sun,* and mornings in the garden. So I'm hoping that the weather doesn't get too wintery and that spring reemerges SOON!

I'm going to try to finish strong with BEDA, since I got more than a little lost in the middle of the month. I have no real excuses, except for massive allergy attacks and large bouts of sleeping off the associated pain. Hopefully silver lining of the imminent snowfall is that it will reduce the pollen counts and I won't be quiet so miserable.



*After lathering myself full of sunscreen. I'm also anti-tanning. Skin cancer is a MAJOR fear and I am as safe as possible while in the sun.

BEDA 3: I have never been punched in the face...

...but I can certainly sympathize with those who have had that experience. As I told the 7th grade math teacher today, I believe I may be allergic to someone in the first period class I have to attend. His suggestion that I'm probably allergic to ALL of the children was hilarious, but seriously unhelpful. Although, word on the street is that laughter is the best medicine. If this is the case then I should never be ill. Between BBF2 and several of the teachers I work with, my work days usually involve massive amounts of laughter.* And I suppose, if I'm honest, I don't usually get sick. Well, if you discount stress related illnesses and general allergy ickiness then I'm never sick. I guess you could say I'm always sick, but only if you're a "glass half empty" kind of person. Today just for laughs I looked at a map detailing pollen counts. Our county was a BLAZING red, which caused BFF2 to burst into hysterical laughter when she saw it. Today wasn't really terrible though because only tree pollen counts were up. Grass and weed pollen counts were LOW!!!** My favorite days are uwhen all three counts are BLAZING red on their respective maps. Those are the days that I cry or just stay in bed all day.

I realize that I've written two blog posts in a row about my allergy woes. I promise that every BEDA blog will NOT consist of a detailed account of my allergy struggles, unless you like that sort of thing! =D



*They also include large amounts of stress, tension headaches, and occasional panic attacks.
**YAY for low pollen count days!

BEDA 2: Allergy Woes

There are many things I love about Spring. Flowers blooming, warm weather, driving with the windows rolled down, sitting outside when it rains, etc. But I hate what Spring does to my allergies! I deal with them year round, but this time of year is THE WORST! Today I've been plagued with a headache, terrible itchy and runny eyes, and random pains shooting through my ears! Consistent pain makes it difficult to really enjoy the things I love about this season and t always makes me grumpy! I suppose I shouldn't complain, the past two winters have been very harsh and I've suffered a lot less than usual with m allergies. Even if I have a bad year with them this year at least there has been a small reprieve. The saddest thing is that it has been warm enough to sleep with my windows open* and I haven't been able to so far. I suppose it's time to buck up and plug in my air purifier if I want to enjoy open windows!

*Open windows are my absolute favorite thing about warm weather!