Little did I know that a one-night encounter would leave me flat on my back and helpless for a whole week.

It all began last weekend in Pennsylvania with a Friday night rope swing,

and continued onto Saturday at my friend's white wedding

which I suppose would be the goofy version of a P. Diddy party with everyone ending up in the pool.

All fun and games until... Sunday morning when I awoke and found that the encounter with my cousin's dog Navin had left me with a little patch of Poison Ivy.

At first it was kind of thrilling for a city girl to have Poison Ivy. I felt like a hip outdoorsy type. We were hanging out, watching the Tour De France and I had Poison Ivy. Cool. I dig it...even though it was from the dog and not a really cool hiking adventure... still a girl can dream.

Little did I know that an allergic reaction would leave this outdoorsy-wannabe immobile for five days.

Monday I was working and it seemed a little strange that every time I would get up, the patches would spread.

After some Ivy research, and a call to my doctor/ friend I found that the spreading was not an illusion, it was actually true? She instructed to lay still, keep the room dark & as cool as possible, oh and of course to stay calm because any movement or anxiety would cause body heat, which activates the poisonous stuff.

Aside from the scratching, I was as still as possible on Tuesday while listening to the 6 hour long audio book The Rainmaker by John Grisham... so much for the outdoors.

On Wednesday the Poison Ivy had made itself at home by spreading to my arms, legs, stomach and back. Fortunately I had the three-hour long audio book of Ken Follett's Lie Down With Lions.

Both Wednesday and Thursday the itching was excruciating, even after executing every possible ointment and so-called cure, I was convinced the nightmare would never end. My only savior was Steve Garber and his six hour-long audio book Vertical Run, which kept me from going even more insane.

By Friday I was tired of feeling sorry for myself and was in dire need of some fresh sympathy. After making some pity calls I felt so much better.

The light at the end of the tunnel began shinning through on Saturday morning.

Alas, I'm overjoyed that my ivy-sensitive immune system persevered and defeated "The Poison."