Burned - also known as "learning to wear sunscreen the hard way"

Back to my normal, mundane irritations. Today I hurt like hell.

Yesterday I worked out at the Y for about an hour and a half, doing substantial amounts of cardio and increasing my weight load, which is always bound to hurt. Still - yay! I'm stronger!

Then I took the kids to the pool to meet up with a few of their friends and one of the moms, who I'm friends with. And, like an idiot, I forgot my sunscreen before taking my children to the pool. Keep in mind, my kids do not burn. It doesn't matter whether or not they wear sunscreen (though I make them anyway to avoid skin cancer and guilt) - since they were babies, I've never seen them develop even so much as a light blush across the bridge of their noses, whether we were at the beach in stinging hot sun or not. I, on the other hand, do not have the beautiful, rich tawny and latte skin they inherited - the best of both me and their father. Instead, I'm "blessed" with pinkish cream-colored, freckle-prone skin.

We were at the pool for almost three hours. As a result, last night I was so crispy I was feverish by bedtime. The fever seems to have gone away this morning, but my skin hurts today. It stings even when I don't move. That, combined with normal muscle soreness (which will be way worse tomorrow - usually takes me 48 hours to really hurt), has resulted in the consumption of lots of ibuprofen with my coffee.

But there are two bright sides to this stupidity: one, this will fade to a tan, a pretty decent one. Two, while we were at the pool, my daughter taught herself to swim without help! She has now earned her snorkel. That's what I use to bribe my kids to learn how to swim alone. Normally I refuse to bribe, but if it gives them incentive to either a) learn something scary that will ensure their future safety (learning to swim is not optional) or b) finally learn a difficult task that is developmentally appropriate (limited to potty training), I'm all about it.

Anyway, off to attempt a shower. Glad I took all that ibuprofen because I will surely need it.