August.

​So – I took a social media break for August because my social life was more virtual than physical.  Also because August is, according to Brother, when I go crazy.  I thought going social media free would be a step in the right direction to living a better, more creative life.
 
And, for the most part, it was.  I remembered that my free time used to be spent reading books and not down the time suck of someone else’s awesome or not so awesome life. And yes, I realize that reading is a time suck of a different kind but it felt a healthier choice for my soul.
 
Of course - because whoever is running things has a wicked sense of humor - it got interesting on day one of my self-imposed break; the allergist thought that my massive hives attack in July was likely due to alpha-gal, otherwise known as a meat allergy due to a bite from the Lone Star Tick.
 
Seriously. That is a thing, a meat allergy to anything with a hoof. 
 
Sooooo, I go on a social media break and I can’t talk about being possibly allergic to meat.  And that, if I were to test positive for alpha-gal, I would need to carry an EpiPen in case of an allergic attack because of accidental meat contact. 
 
Seriously! An EpiPen in case the knife that cuts my turkey meat first cut roast beef and the roast beef meat juice cooties got on my turkey meat and I swelled up like an itchy balloon...
 
Welp, turned out I am not allergic to meat. (PHEW!!!) Or Penicillin.  (DOUBLE PHEW!!!)  My hives were due to an autoimmune issue. (WHAT???) But the allergist only covers allergies so, not his department. What’s wrong with me is still a mystery…
 
Unless you ask Brother, because he’s sure it is because it’s August.
 
And that was week one of August; ticks, meat allergies and an unknown autoimmune issue. 

Of course, the rest of the month was just as random – I had a fascinating conversation with transgender country songwriter in short shorts, with a bad wig, an NFL ex-husband and major delusions. A mom I know was killed by logging truck, while jogging and now her 5yr old has to navigate life without her. I was cast in my forth ‘of color’ role ever. My Father-in-law is visiting. Again. A kitten decided the under carriage of Husband’s SUV was a perfect place to live.  It took him two days to get it out from under the SUV, two days to get it out from under his sports car, one to get it adopted before we got our cat pee smelling garage back - just in time for yesterday’s tornado warnings, flash floods and my near drowning on my way home in the Smart Car because the roads were mostly rivers...
 
Turns out a social media free August was as random as my life often can be, just not as creative as I’d hoped. September, you must do better.  Life is too short for anything less.

This is August: a work in progress