Sunday, July 20, 2008

I'm a wuss...

A few years back when we were thinking of buying a house, I was wishing for at least 1/4 of an acre of land. Instead, we found a house that we really liked, in an area that we loved, but on a land that's only a tenth of that. It isn't big at all but today and every single day we do yard work, I thank God for knowing better and not granting me my wish. Horticulture is not a talent that God has granted me nor do I have much love for it, so it was extremely convenient that the lawn and backyard were already professionally landscaped and all we have to do is maintenance. Easy, right? Er...not so much.

Last week, after spending time under the sun pruning some plants and trees in the backyard, I started to feel nauseated. Being not the type at all to get dizzy, faint or throw up, I spoke to a friend who was a nurse practitioner. She said that I was having the symptoms of sun-poisoning which could lead to a sunstroke. WHAT?! I'm Asian, I grew up in the sunny island of the Philippines and I have sun-poisoning? I guess I've been living too long in New England. She told me to have an icy bath, and drink lots of water with ice throughout the day. I've turned into a wuss.

Today it was forecasted to be cloudy and rainy, so it was quite safe for me to do some more yardwork. So after the rain, I continued some of the work that was left off from last week. I did some crab grass and weed-pulling for a couple of hours just on the front lawn. I figured it would be easier to pull and uproot because the soil would be soft. Boy, did I underestimate how easy this work would be. My fingers are raw despite the soil and wearing gardening gloves. I can barely type without my fingers aching at the touch of the keyboard. I know, I'm a wimp.

I look at my fingertips and and they're all pink and raw - definitely no hint of green there, whatsoever. Maybe I should leave this to the experts...

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

sorry to hear about the sunpoisoning, usually I think you get that when you drink a certain medication? My hubby tries to get out of the sun because of that, i think. I love gardening specially when I know it is giving me a good work out. Don't think you are a wuzz, baka first time you did plant there..maybe next time wont be as bad..*Hugs*...hope you feel better, Angelita

MadMuse said...

Hi Angelita,

No, I'm not under any medication that would cause sun-poisoning, but thanks for mentioning it. The next time I actually made sure that I was out only before 11 am and after 2pm and made sure I had an iced drink periodically. Thanks! Hope you are doing okay!