Itching for a Scratch

Argh! I can't stop scratching! What I thought were bug bites all over my arm courtesy of some unknown creature that feasted on me during my daylong excursion at the ball park (that's a whole other story) turns out not to be that at all. I woke up Sunday to little itchy red bumps scattered all over left arm, some solitary and some grouped together. Today I woke up to an itchy neck! CLH rarely gets worried about me so when he kept telling me to go to Solantic, I took heed. Maybe it really wasn't a mosquito or ants. That started me thinking -- maybe it's bed bugs. Oh, the horror!!!

I hate corner clinics -- the wait is the worse. I checked in, signed all the consents to have my medical status blabbed to the entire world and inquired about the wait . . . 45 minutes. The good news -- the receptionist said I could skedaddle and come back in the allotted time so I was able to stop by the tailor to get a couple of dresses altered. When I walked in the door 20 minutes later she says, "You've already been called." I held my tongue and to my relief, she said, "No big deal." Then I was whisked away to a small room, hopped on the table and in came a MALE nurse. I hate male nurses. I hate them taking my weight. I hate them asking me questions. Why can't they have a nice old lady nurse? In the end, I'm allergic to something but don't know what. It could be my mother-in-law visiting (just kidding, really), expired sunscreen or what I think is the most likely culprit, shrimp!

CLH and I went to a United Way event catered by Ruth Chris on Saturday night and I had one shrimp. Shrimp lovers? I'm sure you're thinking, "Who can have only ONE shrimp?!" Get this, we're all set to have some mouth-watering beef kabobs or sliced tenderloin, some creamed spinach or some potatoes au gratin. Every piece of food that they had was seafood . . . from Ruth Chris! I am seafood-phobic. I don't particularly like the taste. I like Japanese Hibachi shrimp but that's about it. And I've never had an adverse reaction to it. Maybe it was because it was boiled? I don't know, if you are allergic does it matter the way shellfish is cooked? If you're allergic, then you're allergic, right? Anyway, that's the only thing I can think of.

Even though I've been down on my luck today, some good has come out of it. I took a two-hour nap -- of course, I was doped up on Benadryl. And I got out of cooking dinner -- too tired and groggy to work the stove/oven. I may burn myself, right? La Nopalera, here we come!