A Blister by Any Other Name Would Still be Herpes

Note to self:

Re:  The correct application of sunscreen

Please be advised that the next time you decide to spend 12 hours in the sun ensure that in addition to slathering your face and other body parts with sunscreen  you ALSO find an SPF protectant for your lips.  You will save yourself the resulting tumor that's now moving across your mouth.

Oh to be so sun sensitive!  I spent an entire day last weekend in the sun and while the rest of me was adequately protected, sadly I neglected to do the same for my lips and am I paying for it now.  I have three, yes THREE, full blown cold sores, two on my upper and one on my lower lip.

As soon as I got home I knew they were coming.  There's no mistaking that pre-cold-sore burn and sure enough, come Monday the blisters started rising.  In my vain attempt to ward off a full outbreak I broke out my Witch Hazel which is said to have healing elements to reduce or eliminate the full blown effects of a cold sore.    I was too late.  They had already set up shop complete with their own coffee makers and  internet accounts on my face.  

Rather than face the world with this seeping, oozing, blistering growth that is my mouth, I chose to hide out in the house the last couple of days.  First to save any shred of dignity I have and secondly to conserve gas.  But on Friday?  Friday I just had to go to town.

You miss a lot when you don't go to town on a regular basis.  Like for instance, the little house that sits beside the Oyster Bed Bridge store?  Yeah, they jacked it up and moved it two fields over and one field back.  Now there's just a hole where the foundation of the house sat.  Also?  The sweet little Cape Cod house that just sold last year is up for sale again!  In less than 6 months after it was sold the last time!  And another thing?  It's strawberry season here on the island and our neighbors down the road who have their own berry patch had the sandwich board up and were selling this year's crop.  Which - by the way - is delicious and so much better then last year.

So off to town I went.  I had errands to run in three different locations and while I know I'm overly self-conscious of this facial growth at the moment, I know with full certainty that not one of those customer service agents could look me in the eye.  No, they were transfixed on my lips.  With the oozing, seeping blisters that are so big, they flash their GPS coordinates in neon lights.  Oh sure, I tried to camouflage the wounds, but really, Chanel Roux Sienna Lip Pencil & Mac Nude Lip Glass can only hide so much.  Neither could hide the big red scab that is the area above my upper lip.  I'm so pretty, oh so pretty!

Thank God cold sores only last 10 days, which means I only have 5 more to go before I can leave the house again.