So much to say

I really truly wanted to have a post that remembered 9/11, although I wasn't there- it touched me the same ways it touched all Americans. I also wanted to create a post on Galveston/Houston and the impending hurricane, along with a few other things I have been meaning to get around to but still haven't! So, you may be asking- if I have all these things I want to say, why don't I? I mean I am sitting here typing....

Well, thing is my ECZEMA is DRIVING ME CRAZY. I get one area ALMOST completely healed and wham bam thank you m'am if I don't get another annoying area that sprouts up. Here's the deal- I usually get eczema in a variety of areas, usually all are manageable, except in between my fingers or say under my ring on my ring finger.

This location has officially prevented me from wearing my ring since I gave birth to Garrett. Before Garrett was born I had to stop wearing my rings because my hands were swollen. Sunday we took my wedding band in to be resized to see if this corrects the situation since my eczema in this locations has almost cleared up.

Now, if you know anything about this EVIL SKIN CONDITION, you would know that it is an immune disease, kinda like asthma (actually very very similar, as your immune system attacks your skin, rather than your lungs in this case). There are no known causes, it simply exists. A few theories link it to food, a lack of good bacteria (bifidus stuff) and stress. I think it has MANY triggers (an overabundance of perfumes, dyes, chemicals, lotions, plastics...yep you name it) yet it's primary cause is genetic and possibly related to chemicals found in one's life (environment, food, etc.), but again who really knows. It is obvious though, in my opinion that it is the body's response to pollutants or what it believes to be pollutants.

With all that said, I have suffered OFF and ON for oh ALL MY LIFE! I have years when it is dormant and everything is peachy, hunky dory and then there are times like NOW that are agony. And this go around it hasn't even been as bad as it CAN be. Yeah, you heard that correctly.

I have had it so bad that I wake myself up in the middle of the night scratching at my skin, so frantically that I feel a sensation like pin pricks/goose bumps upon my skin- only to find I have made myself bleed. The scratching is that intense. Luckily it has not gotten that bad since my college finals. (read stress) Now, I have learned to control it, with a few outbreaks here and there. I was dealing with it as best could be with only a heavier hydrocortisone when I felt it warranted getting a prescription of Elidel (the 2002 Drug of the Year). My regular doctor prescribed it without a whim and said use it sparingly. Oh ok. So, because I am anal about things, I look up some more information on it (I used this stuff like it was going out of style when it first came out, but no one had said use it sparingly.) I find out the FDA has now given it a BLACK BOX WARNING, meaning it MAY cause issues (as in skin cancer or lymphoma from prolonged use and too much use while in the sunlight). Ok, so now if I use it I have to be careful it isn't SUNNY out. Great.

I also have another ointment that is a pure steroid cream (another use sparingly product) that is awesome and I actually think has less bad effects (skin thinning and screws up your endocrine system- which indirectly effects my milk supply) vs. cancer. Anyway, I was using it as prescribed- and read up that Elidel could be used on the face, the other can't. Thing is I get dried cracks on the sides of my lips- I used it and it started clearing it up. Well, guess what....

It appears that I didn't wash my hands good enough after applying the ointment to my fingers or that I have overused the product because now I am plagued by Perioral Dermatitis. This can be caused by hydrocortisones/steroids! In this case, I am pretty sure it is. Lovely.

I am at my wit's end. The recommended course for treatment is bacterial creams. Well, as someone who already has had 3 course of antibiotics this year, I feel I really cannot succumb to anymore rounds of antibiotics and feel still feel safe. (A buildup of resistant bacteria can occur from overuse of antibiotics or by not completing your full dose of antibiotics.) I'm starting to think I am a worry wort.

I feel somewhat better now, if anything maybe I educated some folks on eczema and it's EVIL nature. I don't think I can take much more of this horrible disease. I am asking for any prayer, big or small. Thank you in advance.

In the meantime, I will be saying a silent prayer in remembrance of New York City and another that God looks over the Texas coast as Ike approaches.

I want a house upon the rock.

Obviously we made it through Hanna. She was definitely nothing that we needed to be overly worried about as we have thunderstorms much worse than Hanna. And for the record, she never jumped past those 45 mph gusts. Which I'm definitely not complaining about. I'm actually thanking the good Lord. See, that's the thing with hurricanes, one can never be sure on the destruction they may or may not bring. I definitely believe we dodged a bullet. Had Hanna landed here today, I think we would have had a much different system on our hands, as it was an extremely HUMID day. We also were spared a brutal hit because Hanna literally made a B-line through our yard. Our neighborhood or 'town' saw the most damages and power outages- (although they were few and far between) within the surrounding area. I can't say for sure what we would have done had it been a Category 3 storm hitting us, I wonder if our house would have withstood the possible damages from winds that high. I also think to myself, what would we have done in such a situation like that as Hugo, Andrew or Katrina. It has both of us thinking more and more about a future move back to our mountain hometown. So much for having a little beach bum as a baby. But, hey what's that song 'The wise man built his house upon the rock, house upon the rock...." There maybe more truth and wisdom in that song, if it was ever doubted before.

Who's Environment is this, Anyway?

I really can't take the Republican Convention, but I'm trying to get through it. I feel like their speech writers watched what worked for the Democratic convention and just changed it around for themselves. Let's not even talk about Palin...I mean, please a pit bull with lipstick? Too bad I'm not a fan of pit bulls. I would rather work for change than fight for change.

One of the blogs I follow, Crunchy Chicken brought up that she believed McCain and Palin were the biggest threat to the environment. Whoa...that's a big statement, but I do think it's a warranted one- I mean can we really live with another 4 years without agreeing on a Global Climate Policy? Shouldn't we be protecting the environment before caring to go back into a war? Or whether the woman next door is having an abortion? Or whether taxes get raised or not?

To me these things won't matter when our air and water isn't clean or when we have torrential storms, no Amazon or polar caps and more diseases to worry about.

Which leads me to another issue, another iceberg (this time the size of Manhattan has broken off). I hope everyone understands the impact this can have (it directly influences the way in which our whole world's climate works). In my opinion this really does matter.

I guess it boils down to whether or not we want to create a better place for our children to live in or if we want to leave the earth a better place than when we were here. I think those are important things in the eyes of God. No?

Maybe I have it all wrong, but I think we should be able to live and work together without war, be green, find spirituality, educate our children, have moral character, care for the greater good and still prosper as a people- all at the same time. Ok, so maybe I'm a transcendentalist.

This really wasn't intended to be about the election or the environment (it simply found its way out), so please forgive me. My real intentions were our anxiousness with wondering where Ike is heading. We have Hanna headed our way now, carrying not much of a threat- but, a pain as we wait to see what Ike might bring if it is to follow Hanna's footsteps. It's akin to hurricane Isabel in its track thus far. Likewise, it's a horrible Category 4 right now! Which could spell major trouble for anyone in its wake. What's even worse, it will be arriving to the U.S. at the peak of Hurricane season, September 10th.

We are prepared, however have decided to only stay if it is below a Category 2 Hurricane. Since both Bryan and I have been through hurricanes before, we know the impact they can bring. We won't be taking the same chances we once did as 'young adults'. It's funny, how bravery and reasoning evolve into cautious sanity once you have children. The bottomline is that we are privy to the environment and really should start respecting it.

Please say a small prayer for the Bahamas, the Gulf and the East coast this week. : )