Go ahead. Laugh.

On Wednesday, Eric and I started taking the dogs on walks since the weather has finally become nice (gee, it's only almost April). I noticed yesterday morning that my skin was a little blotchy on my face, but nothing too bad. I just figured it was from my MAC microdermabrasion scrub that I use in the shower or something. SO, yesterday evening, Eric and I went on another walk. Mind you, our house is near a wooded area with a canal..actually, several little wooded areas and athe same canal goes through different parts of the country side.

I wake up this morning and my face is completely inflamed. It's so swollen that there's no real ridge between my nose to my eyes...I essentially looked like a pink mashmellow head. I could barely open my eyes up enough to see my way through the house. It was VERY painful and extremely itchy! WTF happened to my face?!? Luckily, I had some awesome cortizone cream that one of the local Belgian quacks prescribed to me from last summer cause I was constantly getting bit by their psycho spiders and they itched like a mutha. I pretty much slathered that stuff ALL OVER my face and down my neck..it helped a lil, but not much. Taking a shower for work was fairly painful (felt like acid on my face)..put yet another layer of cream on my face..didn't bother wasting my makeup and went to work au' natural.

Once at work.. I was told (nicely) that I looked like hell (thaaaank you) and that I looked miserable. Thank you so very much, lol. I made my way over to the IDMT office considering I was, in fact, absolutely miserable. This is the SECOND time this has happened to me..but this time is far worse than the first. When I explained what was going on, the SSgt instantly told me it was due to this pesky lil guy:

I know you're probably thinking, "Erika, you're insane. A caterpillar? Really?"... it's ok, I thought the same thing when the SSgt told me. In fact, this lovely lil pain in the ass has toxic fur that it sheds on warm days (like the last few days) and tends to chill out in wooded areas and near canals. REALLY? You dont say! Those happen to be all around my neighborhood! OH THE JOY!

Basically, since it's now "officially" Spring..these lil buggers are gonna come out of the woodworks and share their fuzz with the world till they become something else in a prettier / less toxic form. Some people are allergic to 'em, some arent. Apparently, I'm one of those lucky peeps who IS allergic. All I can really do is continue to slather my face with cortizone as well as pop Benedryl as if it's Pez. 

I did a lil researching online and .... I kid you not.. the Belgian military had deal with 'em 3 years ago cause they were causing so many problems (and by the way, I live in the Limburg providence):

The Belgian army has declared war against … hairy caterpillar! Here’s the story:



 Belgian soldiers are to be deployed in the country's forests to combat the menace of hairy caterpillars, Reuters reports.

The procession caterpillars - so named because of their habit of marching in convoy - boast long hairs which provoke toxic dermatitis and respiratory problems in humans and account for around 80 per cent of doctor visits in their operational area in the eastern province of Limburg.

Accordingly, the authorities have ordered in the troops. Belgian military spokeswoman Ingrid Baeck said yesterday: "A bit less than a platoon, about 24 soldiers and airmen, will be deployed to help the fire brigade and civil protection authority combat the caterpillars."


Following the failure of previous weapons, including helicopter-sprayed pesticide, the grunts in the frontline will assault the insects with "super-size blowtorches" during a six-week campaign.



Baeck explained: "In teams of two people, they will go through the forests and burn the little animals off the trees. There have not been enough people to do this and I think we can make the difference." ®