Weekly Update: June 29th to July 5th

Still pissed that I wasn’t able to go out on the water this previous weekend, I decided to say screw it and go out on a Monday. I got some good news earlier last week where I was cleared for a promotion and a change of departments in my company so I felt I should treat myself to a day on the lake. Checking the weather religiously over the weekend, every report says that Monday was going to be a bright sunny day in the high 70s so there was no better time than now.

The boat I was renting was in the Eastlake neighborhood in Seattle and I left the docks in a less than cheery mood. The weather report lied - it wasn’t bright and sunny, it was dark and stormy at 11am and I was fuming behind the wheel. The man I rented the boat from tried to reassure me that the weather should break to a warmer one later in the day but I didn’t believe him. As I passed through the Montlake cut and into the open waters of Lake Washington, I vented out my frustrations by gunning the engine and blasting through the water. I made it just north of Juanita Bay on the eastside when the first streaks of sunlight tore through the clouds and my moods only then started to lift. As my clouds began to evaporate, I realized that the weather may actually become sunny after all later in the day. 

I found a random spot in the middle of the lake to just drift and take a nap while more sun rays poke through the clouds until there were no traces of white in the sky. After an hour or so, I started the engine and headed to Bellevue to pick up my friend, Ms. Fox who agreed to spend the day on the boat with me. We primarily cruised through both lakes, ate white cheddar popcorn and caught up on what each other was doing in their lives since the quarantine. As the day turned to the evening, Ms. Fox had to leave for a dinner date and I needed to pick up Mr. Mustang on the other side of the lake. Mr. Mustang only got to enjoy being on the lake for a little over two hours before we had to return the boat back to the owner but overall it was a lovely day spent on the water. 

As we walked back to the car, Mr. Mustang expressed his concern on how red my back became...and my arms...and my face. I shrugged off the concern thinking it was just a mild sunburn and should go away in a day or so. It. Did. Not. 

Day 1 Of The Absolute Worst Sunburn Of My Life

From my waist up, I was more red than ripe cherry and my forehead was so burned that it was a shade of maroon. Throughout the day, I lathered myself in several coats of aloe lotion and took cold showers in an attempt to reduce the harmful effects of my burn. Moving around was difficult as well since my arms felt like it was wrapped in duct tape and any movement felt like someone slowly ripping the tape off. I ended up walking around the condo like a mannequin with my arms in a fixed position like I’m doing the robot in a dance club. 

Day 2

Boils. There are now boils forming on my skin and my forehead has swollen to the point that it felt I had several weights tied to my head. Afraid to put any more lotion on top of skin that looked so delicate I was in fear of tearing it, I decided it might be best to visit a hospital. Luckily there is an urgent care clinic a 10 minute walk away and as the nurse examined my skin they diagnosed that I got sun poisoning. Not a sunburn but poisoning which basically means I got second degree burns on 10% of my body. They reassured me that it wasn’t the worst case they’ve seen but since the burn had already set in the best they could do was prescribe a ‘special’ lotion and painkillers. In the end I declined because the nurses say to just let the body heal on its own but come back if I don’t improve in a few days. 

Day 3

I woke up with an odd sensation - I couldn’t open my right eye. Concerned, I waddled over to the bathroom to take a look and was horrified to see what stared back at me in the mirror. Half my face was swollen to the point where my eye was the size of a golf ball and I quite literally looked like Quasimodo, the hunchback of Notre Dame. Mr. Mustang, being the fantastic husband that he is, comforted me saying that I still looked as beautiful as the day he married me in an attempt to console me but it fell on deaf ears. For the remainder of the day, I was a ghost drifting through the halls of my home fearing that it was only going to get worse. Only good news is that the boils are shrinking so it didn’t feel like I have a few pounds of weights attached to my forehead. 

Day 4

Swelling in my eye went down as well as the liquid beneath my skin but I can feel the burns harden, turn a darker shade of a brownish red and become scaly - great, I now look like an evil witch in a Brother’s Grimm fairy tale. Thankfully by the evening, my eyes had shrunk back to their normal size but my skin still had the texture of a lizard. 

Day 5 

Independence Day is a time to celebrate America’s separation from colony rule with a show of explosive fireworks but not for me. No, instead it will be a day of me metamorphosing into a crab and molting out of my old shell. Mr. Mustang and I needed to drive down to his mother’s home (Mrs. Reindeer) to assist with a housing project she’s overseeing and during that time I got to experience first hand what a snake goes through when shedding its skin. It wasn’t all bad, during our time in Vancouver I insisted I make dinner that consisted of everything American made. For the 4th of July I made ground bison burgers with Idaho potato buns topped with caramelized Walla Walla onions and muenster cheese (the real american cheese). To drink, I brought a few bottles of Cab from the oddest named county in the country: Yolo County in California. Mr. Mustang didn’t believe that YOLO was a county and had to look it up while we were in the wine store to confirm. For dessert, I made the most american dessert possible - peanut butter mousse with Reese’s cups sprinkled on top. 

Entertainment on the 4th is typically fireworks however since most city/county firework displays have been cancelled, we opted to do the next best ‘Murica thing to watch: Hamilton the musical on Disney+. Despite my condition, it was a spectacular Independence Day. 

Day 6

I still was going through my molting phase as Mr. Mustang and his brother, Mr. Stag was doing some heavy lifting in Mrs. Reindeer’s home. She was getting new carpet installed and her two sons volunteered to relocate some furniture in preparation for the flooring. I elected to take on the role of ‘supervisor’ and observed their labor from afar with a glass of champagne in my hand and my switch in the other - after all, it is Sunday. 

Overall, this was not how I wanted to spend my last week before a new job but I learned a valuable lesson that I should have learned in my youth - where sunscreen. When you are outdoors, indoors, anywhere, doesn’t matter - always have sunscreen with you. Sunscreen forever.