It's All in My Head

"Hmmm....I've got the house to myself, so now's the perfect time to get a migraine," said no one who's had a migraine ever.

I don't think anyone who has ever had a migraine would ever want to have one.  I mean, not unless they have a something that they really, really, really want to get out of.  I'd have to be super desperate to wish I had a migraine.

I'm happy to say that I don't have a migraine tonight, just a tension headache.  I do have the house to myself, so I can control the environment.  That's pretty nice.  Only the lights that I want on.  Only the noise I want.  I don't have to do anything for anybody.  I can rest with an ice pack on my neck and watch Jeopardy on low volume.  It's ideal.

What do I do when can't control the environment?  Well, I guess I just do the best I can.  Take some pain medication, maybe drink some caffeine, cut out non-essential activities.  If it gets bad enough, I need to get home and rest.  Then it's a matter of explaining to the hubby, or the boss, that I need to lay down or I might get nauseous.

I don't like getting headaches.  I really don't like pain, but I'm used to it.  Is that a good thing?  I don't really know.  I've been dealing with headaches most of my life.

I could ignore the pain.  I do sometimes.  However, I think it's a good idea to pay attention to the pain.  The fact that I'm familiar with the typical types of headaches I tend to have and the causes to many of them means that I can avoid certain things if I need to or take a time out.

It's important to listen to your body.  It's important to pay attention to your pain.  It's your body's way of telling you something's off.  Sometimes, you just need to slow down.  Sometimes, you need to eliminate something from your life...or add something.  Sometimes, something is wrong.

Whatever it may be, listen to your body.  Understand your pain.  Make time to rest, recover, revive.

And, now, I'm going to shut off the computer before the light from the screen bugs my eyes any more.  And I'm going to rest.

Maybe my headache will go away before I go to sleep.  Maybe it'll be gone in the morning.  Maybe I'll wake up with it tomorrow.  Whatever happens, I'll just be glad to be awake tomorrow and glad that it's Friday and I can rest all weekend if I need to.

Here's hoping.


For some interesting reading on the topic of pain check out Fearfully and Wonderfully Made by Philip Yancey and Paul Brand

Pulling a Rhonda

This post is dedicated to the Rhondas I know who tend to be as clumsy and accident prone as I can be (which is where the phrase "pulling a Rhonda" originates).

Sunday, at the end of a lovely camping weekend, on the way home from camping in the mountains, my husband stopped to fish in a creek.  I'm used to this.  I usually bring a book to read and my phone to take pictures if we've stopped in an especially lovely spot.  I was wearing my flip flops since it was hot, not exactly the best gear for trekking through the woods and down hills to the creek; but I've done it before, so no big deal, right?  

Usually, I find myself a prime spot of real estate (a rock big enough to be a semi-comfy seat right by the water so I can put my feet in while I read) and enjoy the peace of the moment while my husband fishes.  This creek was a bit different in that the banks were a bit overgrown and my husband wanted me to come downstream with him, which involved crossing the creek.  

He, being the incredibly athletic man that he is, leaped between two rocks four feet apart and made it easily across the creek.  He was in flip flops, too.  I told him he was crazy if he thought that I could actually make that same leap in flip flops.  So I proceeded to find a more ideal place to cross the creek.  I found one I thought would work and started to make my way across.  

The third rock in turned out to be more slippery than I thought...and the creek turned out to be deeper than I thought.  Down I went.  Backwards.  Scrabbling to try to catch the rock so I wouldn't end up the way I ended up.  

I managed to keep my head out of water.  

But my phone and the book in my back pocket got soaked.

My legs and arms got bruised and scratched up.

My hubby fished for a little while longer while I mentally recovered from my spill and watched my phone die.  He picked a spot to trek through the woods to get back to the truck, instead of going back across the creek.  However, there was a lot of undergrowth.  And not just happy little harmless plants.  There were wild blackberries and wild roses.  Which have thorns.  Plus, there were branches to step over.  

So I stepped over the ones I could.  I stepped up onto branches and down the other side if they were high enough.  One of the ones I stepped up onto broke and fell to the ground.  So I fell, too.  Sideways, this time.  

The strap on the side of my flip flop broke and I twisted my ankle.  

So I had to trudge through the remainder of the woods with a busted flip flop.  Not easy.  Takes some skill, which I had obviously used up at some point during the weekend.  

That was the end of my mishaps in the woods...but not the end of my mishaps.  

It was a two hour drive home.  

When we got home, I decided as a last ditch effort to save my phone to put it in a bag of rice.  That's supposed to work, right?  

I spilled rice all over the kitchen floor.

My phone never recovered and I'm discovering how little insurance can cover for a replacement phone and how much a "service fee" can be.  

I've applied some super glue to my flip flop in the hopes of repair it.  It's still drying, so we'll see.

But, hopefully, I've gotten the clumsiness out of my system for maybe another week or two.

Maybe the next time it won't be so expensive.

In Other News....

The beach is one of my favorite places to be.  There's something so soothing and refreshing about listening to the waves and walking in the sand.  It's a plus if I'm on a warm beach, because I can soak up the sunshine and not be worried that the water is too cold, sorry Oregon & Washington beaches.

I had an interview today.  Instead of trying to come up with some semi-intelligent answer to the "Where do you see yourself in five years question?" I said, "On a beach."  And, really, that's where I'd love to be tomorrow, and not have to wait five years.

So, tonight, while I'm trying to find some inspiration for supper, I'm going to go find some pictures of tropical beaches and drink a cup of tea.

In the Meantime

I've just recently moved and I'm without full-time employment, so I've had a lot of time to recover from my former job.  It was a bit stressful.  So, I've done some baking, some reading, some volunteering, a bit of cooking, and some recovering.  

Before Christmas, I baked dozens of cookies with my mother-in-law.  

Last week, I baked some cinnamon pull-apart bread.  That didn't last more than 2 days.

And then, my husband and I, mostly my husband, fixed up our closet so we can actually hang up our clothes.  It turned out really well.

In between all these projects, I have to find things to do with myself.  So, I think I'm going to start blogging a bit more and maybe working on my story.  Wish me luck.