Letters to Lyla and Lottie

I've always had a warm tender place in my heart for animals of all kinds. As a child, I hated watching movies like Iron Will because I felt bad for the dogs! Just the other day, I felt bad for instinctively stepping on an ant that was walking around the back porch. It was just minding its own business in the outdoors and I felt bad for endings its life for no reason. I support the ASPCA and other programs. I even tried to volunteer at the local animal shelter but Todd kiboshed it bc he knew I would want/try/succeed at bringing most of them home. Despite this, I plan to be a foster pet parent when we get our own house. Why then, has the animal kingdom (meaning non-human animals) turned on me? Last Monday (Labor Day) we got back from being the mountains (where I only got two giant mosquito bites--which is good for me) and I got stung by a bee! I guess this is the first time I've been stung by an actual bee--just by wasps. SOOO, I got to find out the hard way (not that there's an easy way) that I am allergic to bee stings!! That night my ankle was just throbbing and swollen--what I thought was pretty typical. The next morning I woke up and my eyes were nearly swollen shut! My ankle was about 6X its original size (kinda like the Grinch's heart but less cool), really HOT and CRAZY itchy!! The swelling just got worse to the point that it barely fit in a shoe. I even got pressure blisters--my mom told me it's like a sunburn from the inside out. It was sooo uncomfortable- I had to drive to SLC with my foot on the dash. I guess it was good motivation to watch my weight bc I got to see what my ankles would look like if i were morbidly obese. Anywho, I'm told that bee stings get progressively more dangerous for people who are allergic to them. The next step for me was for my throat to close off. Thats the point of those big-a shot needles you see people caring around. Here's to praying I never get stung again! This picture really doesn't do it justice but it's an idea. I hope you all now believe in Karma for all species. Kill and ant--get a life threatening sting!!!!!!