Ack... Allergies...

    Oops...

    Yesterday was a great day here.  The sun was shining, the weather was unusually warm, and with no snow or rain in the forecast, I raced out of my house to enjoy some of the gorgeous weather. 

    I worked in the garden by moving some stuff around while cleaning up all the dead plants that were too damn weak to survive the winter.  I even took my chainsaw to the dwindling old apple tree and lopped off as many dead branches as I could find. 

    After that nonsense, I joined the neighborhood chorus of lawn mowers by yanking mine to life, and I took a quick walk around the yard as though I was pushing a baby stroller filled with a comically gassy little infant.  And, when everything was all said and done, I cracked open a beer and admired my handiwork. 

    Nice.

    Then, I took a shower and somewhere between toweling off and getting dressed, I suddenly began to feel as though I had just bathed myself with smallpox soap and bird flu shampoo as my eyes began to get watery and my brain seemed to be pouring out of my nose.

    One of these days, spring will come, and I will actually remember that I do, in fact, have allergies.  And, I'll try to be more prepared with Kleenex and Benadryl (which should make the chainsaw work a little more interesting, I think).

    As it stands, I'm still getting used to the fact that I am allergic to something.  Right now, I've only had this problem for the last two or three years.  It's weird; I know.  What kind of person develops allergies when they are in their thirties? 

    On the plus side, as a result of feeling as though I spent the weekend French kissing disease-laden poultry in Thailand, I think I can honestly say, without a doubt, that winter in Wisconsin is officially over.  Sure, it may snow one or two times between now and August, but by-the-by, I think we Cheeseheads have turned a corner.  Huzzah!

    In other news, it's Sunday.  It's a day of shameless laziness, and the only thing on my agenda is to grab a beer and a box of Kleenex and hit the patio to absorb some of the sun.  I'm hoping you all had a great weekend, and if you haven't, well, there's still a bit of time before it ends. 

-DP