Magical Tea Tree Oil

I finally made it to the gym again, although this week may become problematic with snow forecast for tomorrow, Thursday, and over the weekend. The Farmer's Almanac wasn't kidding when they said early winter would be mild, to be followed by a beast in late winter. It's February so I'd call this late winter. Every time it snows, we have to shovel. Then salt. Otherwise, it'd be impossible to get out of the driveway, not to mention walking the pups twice a day. The snow is so deep in unshoveled areas (the rest of the yard) that every step is a plunge into unknown depths. My Bogs only go to mid-calf so there's a real possibility of wet ankles and feet if I don't tread carefully. Mostly, I try to step into existing footprints.

Last week I realized, to my embarrassment, that I have no idea when the small wart on my face disappeared. I remember when it first made its appearance in 6th grade. All my school photos have this blemish on my cheek. I've had it for most of my adult life. It's probably in my wedding photos. And then, maybe a year ago or longer, I applied tea tree oil to it because I was using the pungent liquid to treat a worrisome thickening of one of my nostrils. I suspected a viral infection of some sort and applied tea tree oil with a cotton swab several times over a few weeks. I think I also dabbed anything and everything else worrisome on my face. The wart is gone. My nostril peeled and scabbed a tiny bit and then returned to its normal shape. I've read that tea tree oil applied to skin tags will dissolve them, but I have no actual experience with that. My husband uses it for athlete's foot. 

One major caveat though: don't use it in a diffuser if you have pets. The fumes are toxic to some dogs. It may also be poisonous if applied topically. Personally, I wouldn't use it in a diffuser. It's not pleasant like jasmine or myrrh but rather medicinal, akin to mentholated chest rubs. However, it is the only "common" solvent I know that works on removing Sharpie markers from plastic. That is a fact I know from experience!

I got to the gym well past noon and the only cardio machine available was the ClimbMill. I did 10 minutes on it and became breathless but not sweaty: it's decidedly not a good warmup for me. Core exercises were rote but the pushups felt weak. To cheer myself up, I wandered over to the Stretch Cage and did a few pull-ups. Then, I got on the elliptical (finally available) and did Program 1. When I was done, I felt instantly better. Awake. Alive. Also sweaty. 

I had a lot of errands to do afterward. Before the next bout of inclement weather. Especially, braving the line at the post office to ship boxes of books to veterans and active-duty soldiers. Operation Paperback, a division of United for the Troops, provides the lists of preferred subjects/genres, addresses, and useful tips. I send out 4 boxes today and have 2 more to ship later in the week. Using the Media Mail designation means that it's not prohibitively expensive. Since the local library is no longer accepting book donations, it's been difficult to find a place to recycle books in good condition. My husband has dozens of military history books spanning centuries, from the Hundred Years War through WW2. I tossed in a half dozen Carl Hiaasen novels because they're entertaining and also considered Young Adult. Some centers have book requests for the children of service members. 

8 February 2021
Bare Minimums

Matrix Step
Speed 7 (57-62 spm)
Min 10
HR 137
Cal 85
Steps 590
Floors 36
(Not warm enough)

Crunches x 60 x 2
Piriformis Stretch
Plank 60s
Fire Hydrants 25 x 2
Bird Dogs 60s x 2
Bent Knee Glute Kickbacks 25 x 2
Plank 60s
Pushups 50

Sneaky HGPU 12

Precor elliptical
35 min
Program 1
HR 91, 149-189
Cal 318
Distance 2.85