Pride Goeth Before a . . . Rash?

The kids are having swimming lessons the next two weeks at school, and I was feeling self-conscious about the fact that my legs, which hardly ever see the sun, are blindingly white and would be on show for all to see in board shorts. So when I saw that my favourite body moisturiser (a cocoa butter) came in a gradual tanning version, I thought "what the heck, why not?" and went and got some. I used it all over my body except my face and back twice, then just on my legs once (the plan being to tan my legs more than the rest of me).

This morning, after three consecutive days of using the stuff, I woke up vaguely aware that I was itching something on my stomach. I thought it might be a mozzie bite but I realised almost immediately that it was more than one bump. That woke me up right and proper, and I discovered I had a rash EVERYWHERE I'd used the moisturiser. My back and face are fine but everywhere else is covered with little pale red dots.

In a word, BAW.

I'm not prone to coming up in rashes - not like my mother, who comes up in rashes to just about every skin product ever. This is highly unusual for me. I am NOT happy!

I got up and showered right away, and I've slathered myself in the ordinary cocoa butter which I've been using for years without any problems. Hopefully it'll die down quickly. But blech!

*

In other news, I think I need to stop reading Neil Gaiman's journal late at night, because when I do, that gentleman tends to pop up on the sidelines of my dreams, commenting on them. For example, last night's dream, which was FULL of weird, featured Mr Gaiman sitting casually on the edge of the action, remarking that if he found a species of spider that would only beat up on his daughters' enemies, he'd have a house full of them. Believe it or not, this was apropos to what was happening in the dream. It is quite odd to have an author popping in to remark on one's dreamscape!

If I had a dollar

For every time I've dreamt about my teeth falling out, I'd go and buy a book on dream interpretation. And I don't even believe in dream interpretation!

Last night's dream was impressive - an all-singing, all-dancing parade of classic dream symbolism. Alongside the falling-out teeth (two molars, which when returned to their sockets and kept under pressure, did stay in eventually), there was me in a nightie in a public place; friends who were oblivious to my presence and dressed in significant clothing (best friend from primary school in her wedding dress!); me digging through a box containing every pair of jeans I've ever owned, and trying to find my current ones; and a few other things from the early part of the dream that have now slipped my mind but that also made me wake up wondering what they meant.

There are two obvious interpretations: one, that it's a dream about change and fear of it, brought on by the imminent start of term; two, that it's my subconscious trying it on and waving every symbol it can think of in my face. :)

Some of it may have been brought on by what I did last night. I had to take back the DVDs I got out last week, and decided to get just one out to watch last night. I got out "Stardust", which I've been wanting to watch for a while. S introduced me to it last year, and after we watched it together he suggested that we use the end credits song for our wedding song. I loved movie, song and suggestion, and it became "our" song.

(Of course, I then bought it on iTunes so I could listen to it, occasioning a typically critical comment from S: "why did you do that? Now you'll listen to it over and over and get sick of it, and we won't be able to use it after all". There was, you understand, no precedent whatsoever for this comment. Git.)

So anyway, I watched Stardust. I wanted to see it without the filter of S's presence. I loved it still - funny, clever, great themes, etc - and even managed to sit through the song at the end, although part of me wanted to switch it off and make it go away. I didn't feel angry with S exactly (more frustrated with myself for having put up with so much crap) but I did feel sad and lonesome, somewhat aided and abetted by the two jewellery catalogues that came in the post yesterday, one containing a ring that was slightly similar to the ring that S had bought for me.

I guess after that it's not really surprising that I had bizarre dreams!