Things That Won’t Sooth Poison Oak

1. Hydrocortisone cream
2. A jump in the pool
3. Antibacterial hand lotion
4. Scratching it with a key
5. Alcohol-based first aid cleansing cloths
6. Hydrogen Peroxide

I know because I tried them all when I acquired poison oak yesterday, which has spread from my forearm to my legs. It itches real bad. And the only thing that seemed to help was a hot shower. I was thinking of posting a photo, but that might be too graphic. It’s not as crazy as some images you might find when you inevitably Google poison oak after reading this post, but it’s definitely uncomfortable.

On a positive note, my team just got their next project assignment! We’ll be in Marquette, Michigan working with kids at a YMCA from July 18th to September 9th. Maple 4 is pretty excited about this, as we’ve all been wanting to work with “shorties” as Greg calls them, for a while. I’m personally excited because my friend Lara spent 6 months working at the local Marquette news station after we graduated from college. Small world! What I didn’t know is that Marquette is in the “Upper Peninsula” whose existence I was oblivious to until NCCC. Lara is thinking of visiting me labor day weekend and whisking me a couple of hours away to Makinaw Island, a vacation town that was featured in one of my fave movies ever, “Somewhere in Time,” featuring Superman and Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman.

In other news, I was caught off-guard at a team meeting this Wednesday that involved my corps members “constructively criticizing” me for 90 minutes. Though I defended myself, about halfway through I had a meltdown and started crying, which was not pretty. I went back to my room, re-evaluated my life, called my unit leader, Jimmy, for some sage advice, and tried to re-group. Thoughts that ran through my mind included “I am the worst team leader ever!” and “Why don’t they appreciate all I do for them?!” Then I got a text message from one of my members to check on me, and 2 other individuals stopped by to talk as well, which helped to put a salve on my wounded ego. In the end, I’m glad that my team was able to come to me with their concerns and critiques of my leadership style, but I’m not sure any of them would have been able to deal with a similar meeting directed at them. Their initial intent was good, and there were definitely some points brought up that I can work on regarding professionalism among other things. I always feel like I have room for improvement, and it was good to address the issues now rather than let them fester and carry into our next round when we’ll be living in 1 room together on cots for 8 weeks. I also know that I’m not alone in this, as other team leaders have been subject to similar meetings with their teams. I really like Maple 4, so for the time being, my solution is to take it with a grain of salt. Work on the things that I think are reasonable complaints, and let the rest go. To dwell on it or over-analyze myself in the normal Darcy fashion will only result in more stress than I am already under, and make me less effective in my job. We’ll see how that works out. In the meantime, I’m going to go run my arms and legs under hot water.

Damn you, poison oak. Damn you to hell.