Sunblock....check

I love sunblock. It helps me keep my beautiful translucent glow. Therefore, on my recent excursion to Hawaii I decided that I would buy some sunblock there and enjoy several hours of basking in the sun.

Day 2: I head to the little shop in the swanky hotel to make my sunblock purchase. It is a convenient store/gift shop so I'm planning on the block being pricey...$15.50 pricey was a shock to me though! Yikes. I had to do it. My fair skin cannot sit unshielded against those violent UV rays.

I took my computer out to the beach (hoping to pick up some WI-FI)and found myself a nice chair to relax on. I got all settled and found an internet connection. However, the glare of the sun was unavoidable and I could barely see the computer screen even with the umbrella up. Oh well, guess I'll have to work another time. So, I thoroughly sprayed myself down and laid in the sun for a bit.

I took inventory afterwards and found a handful of new freckles, but that was it. I knew that another sun session was going to be necessary in order to convince people that I had just spent a week in Hawaii.

Day 4: I had the afternoon off since I wasn't participating in the golf tournament. I put on my suit. Sprayed myself with the sunblock and headed down to the beach. This time I took a book. I wasn't making any pretenses to working today.

I fell asleep on my back. Rolled over and the fell asleep on my stomach. After a while I decided that I should probably hide in the shade to prevent burning. I was thinking that I'd been out long enough that a second layer of block was needed but had left it up in the room. I put the umbrella on the chair up, but didn't quite cover myself completely. Plus, I was really tired and hadn't gathered enough energy to go inside. It didn't matter though. The damage had already occurred. That's right. I got sunburned.

Why is it so embarrassing to get sunburned? It isn't embarrassing to lie down in a skimpy swimming suit on the beach but as soon as your skin goes pink, the humiliation is eminent. Maybe it is because I was totally remedial at applying the block. I'm not evenly sunburned. No, instead I've got a streak down one leg. A big blotch of sunburn on the other. A band of burn across my back. The best is my chest. I sprayed the block on when my swimsuit straps were tied behind my neck. While laying under the sun I wanted to avoid a v-shaped tan line across my chest so I untied across my neck and retied at the top of my suit. Irony of ironies: the complete opposite happened and now I have a v-shaped red mark across my chest where the block didn't penetrate the suit. I should take a picture, but I somehow feel odd about taking a picture of my chest and posting it on the internet. Just imagine a freckled background with two red lines meeting at a v. It's awesome. Plus, I managed to burn half of my face. This must have occurred during the laying on my stomach portion of the day.

Day 5: I went back to the hotel convenience store and spent $5.50 on a bottle of aloe vera gel.

So, lessons learned: bring sunblock to avoid the insane cost at the hotel store and be sure to completely cover your skin. I do have cute new freckles though.