THE BEST LAID PLANS...

On Friday, when I was putting the finishing touches on plans for our catechist meetings, I wrote...and...scheduled the blog that appeared yesterday.

In reality, the meetings never occurred because I spent the better part of the day in the Emergency Room.

The morning began like so many others...

I left the house at 8:56 AM...got in my car...buckled my seatbelt...and...left the driveway. By the time I reached the stop sign on the corner of my block...just one house away from mine...I felt what I thought was my seat belt, pinching my shoulder.

As I turned the corner, I reached over to rearrange the belt, and came away with a piece of fuzz in between my fingers. Still driving, I tried to flick the fuzz out of my hand, when I realized I had instead crushed a bug in my fingers!

At the same moment I realized that the pinching was getting worse. I stopped on the side of the road...to find...that I had been stung by a bee. In just those seconds there was an angry..swelling...red patch on my shoulder.

I turned back home, put an onion on the sting, and my son took me to the hospital. By the time I got there, my blood pressure was very high, and I could barely breathe.

In triage, there were two men ahead of me...each with a bee sting of their own.

Last week, my husband had been stung twice.

The week before that, the pastor had been stung.

The receptionist in the doctor's office said her husband had been stung last week.

And, when my younger son came home last night, he told me he too, had been stung...on his way to class...yesterday morning.

Thankfully, my son did not have the reaction I did to the assault.

Today, I am home from work still having difficulty breathing...itching all over...and...wondering what's up with the bees this year!?

Bee careful (sorry, in my weakened condition...I just couldn't resist) when you are outside...avoid perfumes, open food and beverage containers...and of course...hives and nests.

If you know you are deathly allergic to bee stings...make sure your Epi-pen is up-to-date!

Take care of Yourself and each other!