Headaches are of the Devil!

It's a beautiful morning in North Georgia; the kind of day that makes a girl want to get outside and kick up her heels in celebration of the sunshine! SPRING has sprung in our neck of the woods for sure!

Too bad I have a horrible allergy headache that's making me want to go back to bed and pull the covers over my head.

I'm no expert on these things, but I'm pretty sure headaches are of the Devil himself. How else would something that is otherwise non-life threatening cause so much pain and inconvenience? Besides the conflicting desire to get outside and enjoy the nice weather, I also have a ton of work to get done inside. There are phone calls to be returned, paperwork to finish, two articles and a book that need to be written ... and of course I can't forget "Mount Laundry" which I have to conquer before the weekend is through. Nothing on my list can be done in a satisfactory manner as long as my head is pounding away.

Oh, and I can't forget the matter of my foggy brain and puffy, itching, watering eyes. I look like I took the business end of someones fist in my face. Even if I was able to get out of the house, I'd want to wear a veil.

All is not lost! I've managed to get the least taxing of my duties taken care of this morning ... two phone calls and some housework.

I know, I know, I'm not impressed either. I just thought it was worth a shot ...

It's only noon. I've got the whole weekend ahead of me. Good drugs and nice nap may work wonders.

Headaches are of the Devil, but my nice soft bed is absolutely heavenly at times like this. The way I see it (through the aforementioned itchy, watery eyes) I don't have a choice but to get some rest and try again later. Take that, Devil! Good wins over evil every time!

April 9, 2010
Becky Taylor
Bold New Day! LLC
http://www.boldnewday.com

Sick Day

I took a "sick day" today, although I'm not sure it qualifies as a "sick day" when I didn't have anything on the schedule anyway... at least not until this evening.

That sounds even more pathetic now that I think about it, given the fact that it is Friday.

I use to look forward to Friday evenings. That was the night my friends and I would all go out to dinner together after work, and then hit our local (brace yourself now) "Wal-Mart". (Did you really think I might say local "bar"??)

During the last few years Friday's haven't been quite as exciting as they were even less than a decade ago. Now days Friday evenings normally consist of driving the boy to the movies and dropping him off, then either waiting on him by hanging out at the outlet mall for two hours (which ultimately ends up costing me more money than I have to spend) or driving back home and twiddling my thumbs for an hour and a half before turning around and going back to retrieve my son.

Yes, it's true. My fourteen year old offspring has a more exciting life than I. That's just wrong!

For once, Adam didn't have plans for his Friday evening this week and I did! Our church is holding it's annual "girls night out" tonight ... pizza, popcorn and chick flicks at the church. I was really looking forward to it. Just me and 300 of my closest girl-friends hanging out for a few hours. What fun! No men, no kids, no curfew! (Well, technically the evening is scheduled to end at 10:00 p.m. but I could stop somewhere else on my way home if I wanted to!)

When I woke up with a severe headache this morning, it never occurred to me that I would actually be missing my "girls night out" because of it. Silly me! I believed I could sleep it off and go about my merry way. With a little luck, the extra couple hours of rest would enable me to actually stay awake until the movie ended.

By around 4:00 this afternoon I was beginning to accept the sad reality. Tonight was going to be like most other Friday nights, minus the trip to the theater to drop my son off.

No, even worse. It was going to be a regular Friday evening, minus the trip to the theater PLUS a horrible, sickening headache!

And so I accepted my fate, called the girl who was planning to ride with me to the event and canceled, then snuggled down under my blanket on the family room sofa. I figure by now, the girls down at the church have polished off the pizza and are lining up for popcorn and a soft drink, giggling as they find seats in the auditorium and wait for the movie to start rolling.

I, on the other hand, am sitting here with the t.v. blaring and the boy fussing away because we have no white bread in the house and he is starving! Mr. Taylor changed into his pajamas and retreated to the media room nearly an hour ago. Our three cats and one dog have all nestled in nearby enjoying the heat of the fireplace.

What has my life come to? A trip to "Wal-Mart" is sounding pretty exciting to me right now.

Or at least it would be if I felt halfway like getting dressed and driving all the way there ... which of course I don't, since that is the reason I am home tonight in the first place!

I do hope my 300 closest friends are having fun.

I'm also hoping they're missing me half as much as I'm missing all of them right now. I know, I know ... fat chance that that's really happening, but it's Friday night after all. I figure I at least deserve to dream a little!

Live Toads and Monday Mornings

The week got off to a rather bumpy start. Adam woke up with one of his ocular migraines so I sent him back to bed, where he remains even as I type. I was planning to let him sleep it off, then take him to school for a late check-in, but seeing as how it is 1:30 in the afternoon, I realize that's not going to happen.

Nursing a headache of my own, I eased into the day by going back to bed for a couple hours myself. As usually happens when I am "oversleeping", I soon started having weird dreams. Not long after I drifted off, my rather angry husband appeared by my bedside. It turned out I'd forgotten to pick him up at the airport. I could have sworn he wasn't due in until tomorrow. Before I could explain and apologize, he disappeared and was replaced by the school principal who was equally unhappy that I'd allowed Adam to stay home. Understanding, even in my state of slumber that my brain telling me I was sleeping too much, I roused myself and pushed into my normal Monday routine.

Monday is my designated day for housecleaning and preparation for the coming week. I like to get the work out of the way just in case something potentially enjoyable happens Tuesday through Friday, which of course would require that I be free of pesky obligations such as dusting furniture and cleaning toilets.

This concept goes along with the philosophy: "Eat a live toad for breakfast and you can rest assured that nothing worse is going to happen to you for the rest of the day."

I know, I know, it's gross but I read that somewhere years ago and have never forgotten it. I've lived most of my life following that mindset. Get the stuff you dread doing out of the way first so you don't have it hanging over your head all day (or in this case all week)

The truth is, I know if I don't do it first, I will find some excuse not to do it at all.

Now, it's early afternoon and my house is nice and fresh. Besides the piddly little daily tasks like making the bed and running the "Swiffer" broom over the wood floors to suck up the dog hair, I am DONE!

Maybe I'm just too easy to please, but it's pretty amazing how good it feels to have Monday morning out of the way. Now it's on to bigger, better, more exciting things. Bring on the week! I'm ready.