March "Sadness"/March "Gladness"

College basketball conference play has begun and we're in the thick of "March Madness" around here.  But for the past couple of weeks I have experienced a little "March Sadness"...well on the trial-o-meter (minor inconvenience being on one end of the scale and tragedy being on the other)...my "sadness" is probably more on the painful inconvenience side than a true sadness...

Mother Nature has hit me every March with seasonal allergies.  Spring weather is welcomed and also makes me slightly anxious, because I never know what I will wake up to find.  But most of the time it is bearable.  There have been a couple memorable Springs.  Like the March after I returned home from my mission in California to SLC-the morning of my Bridal pictures...(yes, I said mission and marriage in the same sentence, that is a whole other blog entry!) I woke up with swollen eyes and lips.  I started frantically popping whatever we had in the medicine cabinet-benedryl, claritin, zyrtec, sudefed sinus...by that afternoon it had all gone down exept for a little puffiness that I am sure only I can see in my bridals.

Later that same month was Andy's birthday.  I'd planned some fun activities outdoors because the weather was so beautiful...well the Angelina Jolie lips returned and as sexy as they look on her...not so much on me when accompanied by swollen eyes and hives!!  The pill poppin didn't work and I ended up in the E.R. to get steroid injections.  (I'd like to think it was "a nice trip up to the hospital to let my dad and Andy become more aquainted".)

I'd honestly forgotten how cruel March could be to me, until Indiana. "Ah, Hoosierville-ya shouldn't have!"

I took a straight hit to the face yet again, but no "Jolie" lips-just painful, burning hives that started by my eyes.  It took me off guard because it is still freezing here! I thought, "hmm, maybe my mascara needs to be changed."  (Starts to spread)..."hmm, maybe it's that new detergent I just started using" (Keeps getting worse/can't cover it up because anything touching my face is too ouchy)..."hmm...I am having a hard time swallowing..." (I give in and start popping benedryl and get on a percription steroid pack.)

Allergies are a strategy game, but it is hard to fight back when you don't know who your enemies are! 

"I declare war on the month of March!"  (Doesn't really seem to have much bite behind it, huh?)

So, it is off to the allergists to see if I have some food allergies, in addition to the "usual seasonal stuff" and it is up to me to try and build up my immune system so I can fight the good fight. (this means cutting down on chocolate and late nights, right?!)

Sad that the weather that brings me such joy also causes such annoyances. 

But I did mention, there is also "March Gladness"!(No dad, I am not pregnant I know you are about to ask.)

I have just been trying to really focus on replacing negative things with positive in my life.  Red lights used to drive me crazy, "making me even later than I was to this place of that". Now the kids and I play "The Red Light Game" (shh, don't tell Jackson I told you, it is our secret game.)
The light changes, someone yells "RED LIGHT!" and you go around naming all the things you are grateful for, trying to rack up as many as you all can before the light changes and someon yells, "GREEN LIGHT!"

I know good always balances out the bad, but in the midst of a trial (whether trivial or tragic) it is really ahrd sometimes to see that scale evenly.  So my "March Gladness"-I am so so grateful that the boy who waited for me on my mission and took me to the ER the night of his birthday all those years ago, has stuck with me...allergy wierdness, girl hormones, busy schedule, crazy ideas, illnesses and all.  He is one of a kind, that Andy...so this is kind of an early Happy Birthday I guess! I love you, Lou!

So whether your March is filled with "Madness" or "Sadness" or both-make sure you take time to look for the "Gladness" it makes the rest oh so much more bearable.