Not coping is so the correct step at times. Maybe check Angie's List to see if there's some sort of special on tree work?

Aww, Ginger, that's no fun to deal with. But good on you for doing it.

Those boots are almost too awesome for me to comprehend.

Are they not? And they're on sale. And in my size. And I have clothing budget at the moment. But the problem is, I really really need to spend the clothing budget on actual clothing, like, to wear this summer. Woes.

Oh, Liese, so close to being inevitable.

I forget how treacherous trees can be, Ginger. Glad it wasn't worse, and I hope it doesn't end up as bad as it could be.

I mean, just the other day, I was thinking about plaid Docs. And these are plaid with spikes! Come on!

Is your house going to lose shade for the summer, Ginger? That's what I always think about, especially in the south. I'm glad the fence and buildings were spared, and grateful for your neighbors, but I'm sorry about you having to get all the rest taken care of.

I seem to be maintaining with just a sudafed first thing in the AM, supplemented with two ibu and one tylenol, and slapping a hot compress on my face. I rarely need to take anything else, unless there's a swift barometric change later in the day. I can't think through allergy meds, but I can't think through allergy symptoms, either. So it's always a crapshoot.

If I ever get married again (no.chance.whatever), I'm stealing those vows, Tep.

Mmm, that might tip the scales, Liese.

(I hope by now we all now that I am not the voice of responsibly not buying things).

I get no side effects from the Nasalcrom or Nasacort, which is great because most allergy meds make me fuzzy-brained and/or super sleepy.

I added Nasalcort to my allergy arsenal this season, and I can't tell if it's actually helping, but I'm terrified to go without it in case things get worse. I wish I were independently wealthy so I could spend spring somewhere without trees or grass every year. (The moon? I don't think there's pollen there.)

Is your house going to lose shade for the summer, Ginger?

I have shade coming out of my bottom. What I'd like is more sun. I've gotten estimates over the years for taking out some trees, but they all gave me the vapors.

Now I have to decide to go with a cheaper tree service to deal with removing the tree alone or go with a more expensive one with an arborist and have the arborist also check out my other trees. I'm going to try to take advantage of the cooler weather over the next few days to clear stuff out of the way of the tree people, then decide.

Tough call, Ginger. Good luck.

Jess, my nephew was chagrined to find out that after spending most of his life in lush and green Portland, OR with no apparent allergies, he is allergic to every pollen there is in Flagstaff (My similar situation with Louisiana and California is similarly ironic, although I know that it's lawns and almond orchards (and, come to think of it, cow pastures that are no doubt full of ragweed) that are primarily to blame for my suffering). That's a not insignificant part of his decision to transfer to the Annapolis campus next year.

Which is to say, yeah, maybe the moon would work. Maybe.

I've been using flonase for me, nasalcort for Noah and Astelyne for Grace. Our meds are complicated.

The twins school had something called the Lincoln 500, where teams of 1, 2, 3rd graders worked with older kids on a tricycle race. The whole school was out watching, even though it's 96 degrees. Insane.