I worship the sun…

…and I have been smote! I have a sunburn from going to the pool this morning. I am fair skinned and should always wear sunscreen but we don’t have any so I went without it. Luckily it isn’t too bad but my arms and legs are radiating some heat. I’m a rock lobster! At the beginning of each summer I get badly burned. Once. That’s all it takes for me to remember how stupid I am and how painful it is. I have missed school and work because of bad sunburns. I have had second and third degree burns. I have had blisters. I attended the last day of school my freshman year of high school without a bra on because I had a huge blister (quarter-sized and stuck out about half an inch) on my back. I have laid out in the sun without sunscreen on and then couldn’t move for a couple of days. When I worked at an amusement park when I was 20 I almost got fired because I had to miss three days of work because of a sunburn that was so painful I thought my skin was going to fall off. It itched and I cried and no amount of aloe vera was going to help me. The damn stuff just made me sticky.

I’d like to think that I’ve learned my lesson but it happens EVERY SINGLE SUMMER. I guess I’m not as smart as I pretend to be and even though being outside with a sunburn kind of hurts I still plan on going swimming again tomorrow. This time, though, I think I’ll wear some sunscreen. Maybe I can learn from my mistakes.

And don’t worry – Peanut didn’t get sunburned so don’t call Child Protective Services on me.