I'm okay. I only appear diseased.

I knew exactly when I did it last Wednesday. It happened at the headmaster's house. You know how it is. You're pulling weeds, and you get in the groove: pull, pull, pull, and then... oops!

I didn't get back to the shop in enough time to wash the poison ivy from my hand. On Friday morning, I saw the first few bumps rising (and itching). On Saturday, there were more. (I tell myself not to scratch the poison ivy bumps, but their itches are so like regular itches, I usually forget.) On Sunday, there were more. In fact, there are a couple more this morning that weren't there yesterday.

I now have poison ivy rash on the inside of my left wrist, the inside of my left thumb, my left hip, my right shoulder, the (entire) inside of my right forearm, the back of my right hand, one on my left jaw, and one on the left side of my neck. (Yes, those two make it fun to shave in the morning.) The good news is that the one just on my right eye socket seems to have migrated down to below my eye. Yay.

It's really odd, trying to wash my hands and feeling bumps that normally aren't there. Then, am I allowed to dry my hands, or will the towel break open the bumps and spread the rash? Is my cotton towel at home any better than the paper towels at work, or vice versa? Maybe I should stop washing my hands at all. That would have the added benefit that I'd lose weight by not eating. After all, I wash my hands before fixing or eating food, and if I don't wash my hands after going to the bathroom, ick! I couldn't get any work done, since I don't want to contaminate my keyboard, my utility cart's steering wheel, or anything else with my germs, so I might as well just stay home, right? Oh, wait. Would I be allowed to touch my books with those hands? Maybe I'll still wash my hands and let them air dry.