Five Things NOT to do This Summer
1. Forget to reply sunscreen after a dip in the pool. Between the chlorine and the towel that you rub yourself dry with, you have less coverage than you think. Case in point, my daughter, who has received many a lecture on skin cancer prevention, didn’t reapply during a recent trip to the pool. Where did she burn in the two hours she spent at the pool? Nose, forehead, cheekbones, and a band of skin two inches above her bikini bottom, where I suspect she wrapped her towel. The burn could have been avoided by reapplication.
2. Use any soap product, body spray, or lotion that has the word “sugar” in its name, such as Sugar Cookie body spray or Evenly Gorgeous™ exfoliating beauty bar with Burnt Brown Sugar and Karite Butter. Of course, you might enjoy a good blood-letting and mosquito welts. Yup, I own up to doing this. By the way, the soap is fantastic as long as you stay inside.3. Slice your finger with hedge trimmers then refuse to go to the Emergency Room for stitches because a)you’re a man b)it’s a holiday weekend and c) you prefer to spend the rest of your weekend complaining that you cannot feel the end of said finger and that the jagged slice is oozing despite the glue you begged your wife to put on the torn flesh to avoid stitches. Can you tell my sympathy is spent? Yes, that was how my husband and I spent Fourth of July weekend.
4. Make plans for a family outing to the water park without checking the extended weather forecast. Guilty. Due to thunderstorms, my daughter and I went to a movie and dinner instead. My husband stayed home, nursing his sliced finger. Yes, also this year’s spectacular Fourth of July weekend.
5. Walk down the ice cream aisle at the grocery store if your clothes are a little tighter than you’d like. For some reason ( I suspect behavior that must be Pavlovian and ingrained in me as a child), summer is synonymous with ice cream. Do I need strawberry shortcake bars, fudgcicles, and ice cream sandwiches? No. But the will to keep them out of my shopping basket ebbs to its yearly low in July.
I’ve given you my list of what not to do in summer. Can you add to it? Or would you like to offer a “should” for our consideration?
Labels: emergency room, ice cream, sunburn, things not to do this summer
posted by Mo H @ 6:11 AM
13 Comments:
I'm so sorry for laughing, Maureen! What a rotten weekend!
Summer is SO totally predictable. It's going to be unbearably hot and humid. It's going to thunderstorm almost daily. My 'don't' list is pretty much -- don't leave the house unless you have to. And when you do, make sure it's first thing in the morning. Then come home and read and write.
MJ,
Glad you got a laugh about it! I think you'll find this amusing, too. You know how my husband refused to go to the ER last weekend? Well, guess where we were last night? Kidney stone. Luckily, his stone is small enough to pass on its own.
Yeesh, you know how to party, don't you? :) I think you need more ice cream!
Terry,
So true about getting things done in the morning if you have to go outside. Of course, I didn't do that today. I worked in the morning, and now that it's afternoon, I have to make the trek to the dreaded grocery store. I can already hear the siren call of those ice cream bars on aisle twelve.
Terry, I have to agree. We've been having 100 degree temps every day. I get home no later than 11. Naps are a good way to spend the hottest part of the day!
Oh, my goodness, Mo! You have way too much excitement of the unfavorable kind. I'd definitely be going for the ice cream, though I prefer a really good Rocky Road.
Speaking of thunderstorms: Do unplug your computer from the wall during a storm. Six years ago, the processor blew up all over the inside of my computer, that was plugged into a surge protector. My monitor survived, amazingly enough. My modem did not. When the repairman came to replace the modem he said that the only way so much damage could be done was by a lightening strike less than a half mile away. Lesson learned. I understand the new HD TV's can be just as sensitive. A little annoying to have to turn off the surge protector, unplug it from the wall (not easy as it's a close fit) and then restore everything, knowing I'll probably have to do it again the next evening, during the monsoon. That being said, it's a lot less stressful not wondering if lightening will strike twice. :-)
Judy,
Good reminder. I had an electrician tell me the same thing years ago when we had a lightning strike on a tree near the house and somehow came into the house through the watering system and cable line. The stove, TV, water system all fried. Luckily, the computer did not. We put a surge protector on the circuit breaker box, too. Every time it storms, we unplug every computer. I'm not so particular about my antiquated TV!
My reluctant don't - Don't stay up all night reading just because it's summer. Unfortunately, the dog still needs to go out early in the morning.
Sorry for your troubles, Mo.
I agree, naps are excellent, MJ.
Mary C,
Staying up all night watching the boxed set of Pride and Prejudice probably is a don't, too. But I have been known to do both that and stay up reading. And,yes, I pay for it big time the next day!!
Danger in unsuspected places! The very worst sunburn I ever got was on a full day rafting trip in sunny Central Oregon, on the one spot on my inner thighs where I missed with the sunscreen. Who knew the way I'd be sitting all day long while paddling would put that little three-inch triangle in full view of the sun the whole day?
I've got one for this summer! Don't travel anywhere, through any airport, without THOROUGHLY washing your hands, and not touching any handrails or sitting near any coughing person. H1N1 does not make an enjoyable vacation companion, and the incubation period is so short, it's very likely to hit before you can get back home!
Delle, Voice Of Experience Who Does Wash Her Hands
Oh, dear, Mary, reading all night is something I'm prone to do, especially if it's too warm, and I can't sleep.
Ack, Delle! How awful! The sunburn and the H1N1. Thanks for the reminder about hand washing at the airport. I hadn't even thought about that until you mentioned it.
Delle,
Your triangle of sunburn reminded me of a friend's honeymoon experience. She and her husband snorkled in the Carribean and unbeknownst to her, her bathing suit rode up her butt while she snorkled. Lesson learned: apply sunscreen to butt cheeks when snorkling! Especially if you're on a honeymoon.
I hear you on the handwashing. I keep hand gel in the car, too.
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