I am, indeed, a girly girl.

I like the idea of being an outdoorsy girl, but the truth of the matter is, I am not.

This afternoon, I found a tick on my thigh. A tiny tick, probably a deer tick — yes, the ones that, with one bite, can infect a person with Lyme disease. I checked various other body parts and found no more ticks, so I proclaimed myself tick-free. Besides, I hadn’t been out tromping in, around or even near any woodsy areas today; my closest venture to nature was through a couple of vacant lots here in town, on my way to shoot pictures of a house fire.

This evening, I found a tick on my stomach, two more on my lower calves (damn tube socks) and one on my shoulder.

Can you say: EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!

Now, according to eMedicineHealth.com, I have to monitor myself over the next few days for any of the following symptoms:

• Feel as if you have the flu
• Fever
• Numbness
• Rash
• Confusion (hmm …)
• Weakness
• Pain and swelling in joints
• Palpitations (I’m having a few right now over the discovery of TICKS!)
• Shortness of breath
• Nausea and vomiting

If I’d found “lethargy” and “irritability” on that list, I’d have pronounced myself already stricken — before I had found any signs of ticks! (Damn flaky weather!)

Anyway, that’s it: I’m staying inside the rest of the year.