Aloe there!

It has been a long time, hasn't it. But time passing means I've actually done a few things that could actually warrant a post or two.

Recently, my husband got some local college football tickets for cheap. Someone at his work was trying to get rid of tickets for (now this past) weekend. While watching a football game without the benefits of commercial breaks or other stuff to do isn't usually my idea of a great Saturday, my husband loves college football, and one or two games a season I can handle. At that rate, it can even be a fun day out!

The game itself started out with an exciting rush (a kick off return for a touchdown! against an undefeated team!), but ended on a high-note for the visiting, still undefeated team.

It also ended with the left side of my face and neck a little sun-burnt! I had managed to save my ears from a similar fate by keeping my hair over them (score one for long hair!).

Months ago, my uncle gave us an aloe plant. He had several, and we were fortunate to get a very full pot of aloe. (I still need to split some of the little plants into separate pots!) When we got home, I picked off a leaf, and squeezed. I was there in our living room, slathering aloe-straight-from-the-plant all over my face and neck.

Gotta tell you, it felt great. The aloe was soothing, cooling, and moisturizing. It is working so well that I've been foregoing my jojoba oil as moisturizer after washing my face since Saturday. Pretty sure I'll return to jojoba and vitamin E oil once the sunburn fades; have to preserve the aloe plants!

All in all, it was a great day. Inexpensive tickets (that were in a great location!), overpriced-but-budgeted-for stadium concessions, and a free, as well as natural sunburn remedy.

Iron: 1 Emily: 0.5 A Minor Medical Follow Up

You may remember that I burned my hand on my iron recently. After a day or two of not paying the attention to it that I should I have, I finally realized my... stupidity, slathered it in vitamin E oil, and covered the cleaned and treated wound with a bandaid.

I've kept up the routine of thoroughly washing my hands and the wound every morning, and night, then applying the vitamin E oil, and covering with a bandaid. Of course, I wash my hands as needed throughout the day, but I don't replace the oil and bandaid every time.

Now, the burn looks like this. You can see that a blister had formed. Since I see it every day, I can tell that the redness has subsided, and that the visibly affected area has reduced. Really, it used to look angry, like, "Why didn't you treat me right away?!"

Again, I stress the importance of seeking professional medical care for serious injuries. Also, one should always take a burn seriously, and not essentially ignore it as I did initially.

Iron: 1 Emily: 0 A Minor Medical Post

**I am not a doctor, nor do I have any medical training at all. Please use common sense, and do not hesitate to seek medical treatment.**

I have long hated ironing. It always felt like...well, such a chore. My solution? Quite simple: avoid. I don't iron.

Never took an iron to college. Didn't register for one for my wedding. May have inherited an abandoned one from a roommate, but that quickly got shoved to the back of a closet, and eventually made it either to the dumpster (for shame, Emily!) or Goodwill (that's more like it).

To keep from sending either myself or my husband out of the house looking like a wrinkled mess, I was simply vigilant about removing clothes from the dryer promptly (a good thing to do when working with laundromats), and carefully shaking out/folding any should-be-ironed clothes. The seams of pant legs got quickly matched up, and smoothly folded, while button-down shirts were pulled from the pile before the crush of t-shirts and jeans could cause permanent wrinkles. After carefully hanging these clothes, I simply let gravity, and the weight of the rest of the closet take care of the rest.

For our clothes, this has been working well enough. But, it won't do for quilting.

As you may know, I've recently started my first full quilt. This requires a lot of measuring, cutting and piecing together of fabric, and in order to do this correctly, so that everything will match up in the end, the cloth needs to be washed, dried, and ironed before a single measure is taken or line drawn.

I needed an iron. *sigh... I tried to avoid this, but broke down, and got one. Also got a small, table-top ironing board, that is perfect for craft-ironing, but not for "real" ironing. I found this out the hard way.

In an attempt to iron my first shirt in years (promise that I know how to do it), I managed to maneuver the iron and myself so that I grazed the iron with my hand. There was a small flash of pain, just enough for me to realize what was happening, but not much. So, because of the apparent lack of searing, lingering pain or any visible damage, I simply continued on. Probably should not have done that.

I did wash my hands, and try jojoba oil on the burn, followed by my normal oatmeal-lotion. I used jojoba oil because that is what I had, but should have used vitamin E oil. I use an oatmeal-based lotion, like Aveeno, because I inherited dry skin from my mom.

So, here's the burn. According to the Mayo Clinic, it is probably a second degree burn, because of the lone, solitary blister. Also according to them, I should have immediately cooled the burn by running it under or immersing it in cool water, instead of continuing to iron. Next, I should have covered it with a sterile, lint-free bandage, such as gauze, instead of leaving it completely exposed. The Mayo Clinic site also lists some things not to do, like use butter. 

The Mayo Clinic did not specifically say to put on any creams or antibiotic ointments, but they do make burn ointment for a reason. A previously listed link includes vitamin E oil as an option for soothing minor burns and helping skin heal.

So, why vitamin E oil over a burn ointment? Well, because vitamin E oil is multi-purpose. It can be used as a body and face moisturizer alone, or even in conjunction with other lotions. It can be used to help reduce the appearance of scars and wrinkles. It can even be used in hair-care products. Since vitamin E oil has many purposes, using it means that you can reduce the number of other products you buy. 

It should be noted that the burn I sustained was minor. It was no more than an inch long, and scarcely a quarter of an inch wide. Regardless of the severity, my attitude toward the burn was really quite negligent, and I do stress that if you burn yourself, you should take it seriously, and determine that it is indeed a minor burn before you attempt to care for it yourself. It may be less expensive to slather on vitamin E oil or burn ointment, but in the long run, if the burn is serious, you will save yourself money, pain, and possibly more if you seek immediate medical attention.