(No, Snow White did not discover two new dwarfs ;-))

If we spoke yesterday, you likely said something to me along the lines of, “You sound exhausted!” or “You sound a bit snotty!” or “You’re too young to sound this worn out!”  After a crazy-busy weekend I was met with a hectic week at work (which, admittedly, was at least 65% my fault,) which meant I did not take my usual post-retreat rest day to let myself recover physically.  This is the cycle I’ve been in the last few days:  complete as much as possible at work while feeling especially tired (having not caught up from the weekend,) blow my nose about once every 15 minutes due to allergies, have trouble falling asleep that night because I need to blow my nose and am thinking about everything I need to do at work, wake up at 2:31 a.m., blow my nose, toss and turn until 3:17 a.m. because I am thinking about everything I need to do at work, wake up to my alarm feeling more tired and more snotty, skip working out due to tiredness, and repeat.

Generally when I feel less than 100%, medicine is not my first choice of remedies.  When I feel sickness coming on, before I do anything else, I rest.  I sleep in, skip a workout, and allow my body to heal itself.  More often than not, this is effective.  My second step is to see if Traditional Medicinals has a tea for my ailment.  Usually, they do.  (As a side note, their “Throat Coat” tea is pure magic. )   When rest and herbal teas fail, I’ll take medicine.

Rest has been an issue for me this week–I have too much to do to take a day off, and I am not sleeping well at night, which is making me more tired.  TM’s relaxation teas are great, but don’t get the work done, and their “Gypsy Cold Care” eases symptoms, but does not remove the pollen from my surroundings.  Last night, therefore, I called for backup.

8:45 p.m.–I took Benadryl.  I know some people take the stuff regularly to sleep, but I do not!  The last time I took it was about six years ago when some allergen made its way into my eye, which started swelling like crazy.

8:55 pm.–Dreamland.  I vaguely remember Andrew getting in bed, and the next time I woke it was 7:01, and my alarm was sounding.

Over 10 hours of mostly uninterrupted sleep.  My sinuses are a bit clearer.  Amazing.  I feel a little more equipped to take on the day!

I would like to give a quick shout-out to Andrew, who made an awesome dinner by himself last night so I could do nothing, AND brought me some just-because flowers.

Swordfish and Swiss chard + brown rice (what, you don’t eat swordfish on a Tuesday night? ;-))

When you start feeling sick, do you take medicine, rest, or both?  Do you workout when you aren’t feeling well?