Most people have issues when the time changes…especially when we spring forward and lose an hour.  It’s especially hard on people with sleep disorders.  And I have 3 so it is just short of miserable.  I even have issues with gaining an hour in the fall.  I feel like I was run over by a bus right now and it will continue for a couple of weeks at least.  So, twice a year, I feel a sense of dread and a case of anxiety that starts a couple of weeks before it happens.  On Saturday night, I actually begin to worry about how it will affect my sleeping and waking hours, my work, my creativity, and just my life in general.  It’s kind of a nightmare.  Even with pills to sleep, to stay asleep, and to wake up, I will still struggle.  Think of it as a seriously major case of jet lag after flying from Hawaii to New York.  That’s the best way to explain it, I guess.  But there are worse things in life so I suppose I should consider this more of an inconvenience than anything else.  Something that I have to deal with for a short time.  Life is what it is.  I’m here in my Magical Writing Haven with a view, my husband is in the kitchen fixing fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, fresh green beans, and salad.  Plus, he made a spice cake with raisins, pecans and cream cheese frosting with toasted pecans.  Yum!  He is definitely a keeper.  And, he’s calling me for lunch right now so I am going to close for the day.  I hope that you have survived the first day of DST.  See you tomorrow.       

I’ve gotten some things done but not even close to what I had planned.  But that’s ok.  I’m giving myself a break because I’m at the tail end of this cold and I haven’t quite made it back to 100% yet so why not go a little slower?  You have to give yourself some self-care when you need it and you shouldn’t feel guilty about it either.  We take care of others when they need it but if we haven’t taken care of ourselves, we will eventually end up exhausted and that will lead to us becoming ill.  Exhaustion will wear you and your immune system down so that it can’t fight the everyday viruses and bacteria with which we come into contact much less the more serious ones that are floating around out there just waiting for a weakened immune system to attack.  So, we rest when we need to rest.  We eat healthily.  We take our medications and supplements.  We take care of any chronic conditions that we have.  We get all of the recommended vaccinations.  We see our doctors on a regular basis.  We balance our workload with our lives outside of work.  We work on our stress levels by meditating or just relaxing.  We spend time out in nature and with our friends and family.  We play with our pets.  We create.  We do more of what makes us feel good mentally, emotionally, and physically.  We get back to the basics and just take care of ourselves.          

…that I’ve written a post every day, for 155 days.  My follow through on these kinds of things tends to be a bit lacking.  If nothing else, this blog proves that I can stick to things if I really want to.  I kick myself every day that I don’t work on any of my writing projects but I do write every single day no matter what is going on in my life.  I write in spite of and because of things that are happening.  I write when I’m feeling good and when I’m sick as the proverbial dog.  I might not write long involved posts every day but I do it on a fairly regular basis.  Some days you’re more inspired than others and just have more to say.  Other days your brain doesn’t feel the need to engage so you scramble for something to write about.  Today, I’m leaning a little more toward that 2nd option.  After a week of working while I’ve been sick with this cold, I just want to go home and sleep.  It didn’t help that I ordered lunch from a little hole in the wall Chinese restaurant that has really great food, cheap prices, and huge servings.  I ate about 1/3 of what I got and don’t feel like I’ll ever want Chinese food ever again.  But I will.  Their green pepper beef with fried rice is just too good to never have again.  So, that plus work plus the cold have me feeling nappish!  I need a good night’s sleep since I have a lot that I’d love to get done this weekend but won’t if I still feel like this.  So, I will see you here tomorrow.

It’s too bad that no one, aside from all of the security cameras, was filming my juggling act today at work because I was killing it. I didn’t drop one thing…getting the parking lot striping guy out so he could do an estimate, dealing with the copier/printer repairman and getting a quick tutorial on fixing an error that we keep having, getting the truck inspection down to transportation, getting deposits together and going to the bank, getting vacations scheduled and on the calendar, getting a job start down to credit, doing research, and then making the trip to the municipal court to deliver my defensive driving certificate and get my ticket dismissed. All that definitely helped the day go by faster. I’m feeling better but I’m still moving slow. Hopefully, I’ll be able to kick by the end of the weekend. Right now, I just want to crash so I think that I will. See you tomorrow. Sleep tight.

We all have those times in our work, social, and home lives when we need to vent.  I think that we literally have to do it for the sake of our mental and physical health.  It isn’t healthy to keep things that are bothering us all pent up inside because they will begin to manifest themselves in harmful ways both mentally and physically.  We might become short-tempered toward people that don’t deserve it.  It can disrupt our sleep and other healthy habits like eating right.  I am an emotional eater and when I get angry or frustrated, I crave sweets.  I’m a Type 1 diabetic so that’s definitely not good.  It can affect our home, social, and work relationships.  It will affect our work, creative endeavors, and our leisure time if we don’t deal with it.  When I have too much going on inside my head and I haven’t dealt with it, my OCD and ADHD go into hyperdrive.  And other side effects, for me, are utter and complete bitchiness and total frustration.  Venting has gotten a bad rap but, as I said, I really do think it’s something we need to do occasionally.  The trick is finding the right time and place and vent and, most importantly, the right person to whom you can vent.  Maybe work something out with a friend so that each of you can take care of venting.  If you’re only venting to your spouse, for example, they’ll probably get tired of it after a while.  Same goes for friends or other relatives.  But, if you find someone or even a couple of someones, to share venting time with it will be beneficial for everyone.  Maybe have dinner and/or drinks once a month or go to a spa together or even take a road trip.  Vent and have a good time…win-win.  Get some friends together and talk about…see if they’re interested.  It could be beneficial in so many ways.  And, seriously, what have you got to lose?

Still under the weather but I think that the worst is past.  Or maybe it’s just the sunshine and slightly warmer temperatures that we have today.  Right now, however, I’d just like to crawl into bed and under the covers and sleep a couple of days.  I haven’t been warm since I got sick with this cold.  I used to be very warm natured but over the last few years, my internal thermostat got flipped.  If it gets below 75°, I begin to shiver.  One of my coworkers and I have thermostat wars every day, all year long.  She is determined to keep the temperature below 70°.  And, on top of that, my office is the coldest one here.  So, even when it’s 105° outside, I’m dressed for winter.  And, rather than dress cooler or maybe even layer her clothing, my coworker dresses in single layer warm outfits.  Oh, and we aren’t allowed to have space heaters in our offices.  Well, screw that!  I have a tiny one that is easy to hide just in case the corporate safety director happens to show up unexpectedly.  You have to take care of things yourself sometimes…even if it means breaking the rules.  Plus, I’m the branch safety coordinator so I know all about safety.  It’s my job.  My little heater is specially made so that it will not trip a breaker because it has its own tiny fuse that will blow first and it’s plugged into a surge protector.  So, I have it covered.  Well, that was a bit of a tangent.  Sorry, but not feeling well has brought out my petty side.  So I think I’ll close for now and go do that crawl into bed and under the covers thing.     

Well, it’s Monday and my workday is almost over.  The sun finally came out so it’s very cold and clear outside. Tonight will be brutal.  I’m feeling better than I had been but not back to 100% yet.  Mainly, I’m just really tired because I was up until almost 3:00am coughing.  I think that if I get a good night’s sleep tonight, I’ll feel much better tomorrow.  Fingers crossed anyway.  I joined a Barbara Sher online book club about a week and a half ago and read the first assignment and was supposed to have the second assignment done at the end of last week but I haven’t felt like doing it or participating online so I’m at least going to read the assignment tonight but I don’t know if I’ll get the exercises done or not.  I just want to be able to participate because I love Barbara Sher.  It was from 1 of her books that I learned that I was a scanner, not just a ditz that couldn’t settle one thing that I wanted to do in life.  She’s an awesome person and writer. 

Well, I’m tired, I’m getting all stopped up again and I just want to go home, take care of my outdoor critters, try to read the assignment and then go to bed and actually sleep.  And hopefully, tomorrow will be a better day.  And maybe a little warmer.

  

I still have my cold but I am getting a tiny bit better every day.  Sometimes you just need to rest and let your body do its thing.  It knows what to do…you just have to slow down and let it.  I’m just making sure that my body is well hydrated and fed so that it has something to work with.  I spend so much time in doctor’s offices that it was inevitable that I would eventually catch a cold.  I’m just glad that it wasn’t the flu.  Even though I had the flu shot last year, I still caught the flu.  And it was really bad.  I didn’t feel all that well Monday but I was still being poisoned by the Methotrexate and hadn’t well in months.  I went to work and as the day went on, I felt worse and worse.  By the time I got home that evening, I felt like I was going to die.  Rick made me take my temperature and it was just a little over 102°.  I passed out shortly after that and slept fitfully off and on all night.  Rick woke me up the next morning and told me that I had a 2:00 appointment with our doctor’s nurse practitioner.  I told him that I’d never make it but he made me go and thank God he did.  They gave me Tamiflu and sent me home because, as we all know, there is no cure for the flu.  That was an absolutely miserable week.  During that time, I had 2 thoughts…either the Tamiflu wasn’t doing anything or I was dying.  I had only been that sick once before and I pray that I am never that sick again.  The problem now is that I’m on immunosuppressants for my RA now so I’m even more vulnerable but I’ve had my flu and pneumonia shots so hopefully they will do their jobs.  Maybe it’s a sign but after days upon days of dreary weather, the sun has finally come out and it is glorious.  Of course, that means tonight it will be even colder…in the low 20’s.  I worry about my ferals and strays that I feed.  I know that I can’t rescue every single animal that needs rescuing but I feel like I’m letting them down.  But, at least they have food and water every day which is more than they would have otherwise.  I’ve tried putting boxes out with towels but they don’t seem to want to stay in them so I just do what I can for them and pray for the best.  I will be glad when it gets warmer.  I won’t worry about them quite as much.  Well, it’s time to fuel up…Rick made homemade cheese and onion enchiladas so I’m going to go heat up a plate of those.  Yum!  Then I might take a nap.  I have absolutely no choice about going to work tomorrow.  I have things that have to be notarized for a city bid.  But that doesn’t mean that I have to stay all day if I don’t feel like it.  I have to take care of myself…that’s my priority.  So, stay warm, take naps, read trashy magazines and stay well.        

Nothing like having a cold on a cold, dreary winter’s day.  I’m just taking it easy as well as taking every kind of cold medicine I can get my hands on.  I don’t feel too horribly bad right now but what usually happens is as it gets later, I begin to feel worse and my temperature climbs.  But, for now, I’m not doing too badly so I feel pretty lucky in that respect.  It could definitely be worse.  So a little guilt-free self-care is just what I need.  It’s actually what we all need.  We constantly ignore all the signs our bodies and minds send on a daily basis regarding our wellbeing.  We work too hard and play too little.  We don’t sleep as much as we should.  We don’t spend enough quality time with ourselves, our families or our friends.  We don’t laugh enough.  We don’t allow ourselves to relax because we’re always in motion.  And when we do slow down a little, we waste our time online or watching TV.  We don’t have enough serious conversations in which we are completely engaged.  We live too much of our lives superficially.  We don’t spend time outdoors.  We eat too much junk food.  We push our emotions down rather than express them.  We aren’t comfortable with silence so we have background noise going all day.  We never just”let go” and enjoy the freedom of doing so.  Basically, we don’t do enough good things for ourselves and we do too many things that are bad for us.  And we don’t understand why we get sick or have low energy.  We need to do more for ourselves to feed our soul.  Create, eat healthier, sleep better, play more often, watch less TV, limit time spent online, go outside, have deep, meaningful conversations, connect with others, do more things that feel good, read more, laugh, and just be happy.  Don’t neglect your physical and mental health.  Rest.  Do more self-care.  Love yourself.  You can’t pour from an empty vessel so fill your vessel often.  We deserve it.  We need it.  So do it!     

They suck! That’s the nicest thing I can say about them. My head cold has turned into a full blown cold. I made it through most of the day today but finally left at 4:00. I came home and crashed for 3 hours. It’s taken me about thirty minutes to feel human again after waking up. I just wanted to stop by and say hi and tell you that if you start feeling a cold coming on, go back to bed! Take care of yourself. I didn’t and here I am. I know that you have to let a cold run its course but you can at least rest, eat a butt load of chicken and noodle soup, and drink lots of OJ. So, take care.