Allergy season.

For most people, the end of summer means state fairs, back-to-school and cooler weather.

For Otis and myself, it means allergy season.

And this week, allergy season has arrived in full force.

Poor Otis. He's given himself scabs on his eyebrows, ears and leg pits (I guess that's what you call where his front legs meet his torso.) He spends half the night scratching instead of sleeping. We're trying to help ease his discomfort as much as we can. We give him Benadryl and we've been giving him extra baths with anti-itch shampoo. This week I ordered him another shampoo and a leave-in conditioner to try that one of my co-workers recommended. He just looks sad and miserable. For those of you that know Otis, you know he is miserable when he doesn't even want to cuddle. That's right. He doesn't want to cuddle. He just lays on the cool tile floor. Thankfully, our efforts seem to provide him some relief and hopefully our new shampoo will arrive soon and will provide him with even more relief.

And yes, I'm dealing with allergies too. I knew this was going to happen. My third trimester and my allergy season were going to coincide. And here we are. For the first time this whole pregancy, I've had to break down and take medicine (doctor-approved, of course). But it just doesn't provide the same relief as my prescription allergy meds. Constant itchy eyes and a runny nose. The extra dander floating around the house from Otis' scratching doesn't help much either. But there isn't much I can do, but deal with it, keep tissues handy and pray for an early frost.

All right. Enough complaining. Happy Friday!

J.B.