LONG time, no see

This year has been dreadful. Probably the worst year we've had in a long time, although maybe it just SEEMS that way because of how awesome the two years before it were. I don't know. We've been pretty effectively broke all year, which is no fun at all. I've been looking for a job for over a month now and no one has even offered me a job yet. It's hard to keep a positive outlook during all this.

As fall has settled in our area of the world (and winter is soon to follow), I have had to get ready for much colder temperatures. I am very nearly literally allergic to the cold. My skin breaks out in severely itchy hives and then it cracks like broken glass and I bleed a lot.

It's starting already!!

mini-hives on my hands

hives on my fingers

my knuckle splitting (painfully)

See the little red bumps?? They itch INSANELY. Also my very first crack.
So I have to get into the habit of wearing gloves no matter what, and using my super-lotion at least three times a day. The lotion doesn't prevent the hives, but instead of cracks that bleed my hands will just turn red.

I'm already looking forward to Spring.