Home sick

Yesterday was supposed to be a rest day: no major plans, no major exertion. Generally on such days I do at least one thing I can call productive, so I won't feel bad about "wasting" a day, even though rest is important and so are Scrabble and conversation with cattitude. It can be a small thing: the half hour of freelance proofreading would have been more than enough; some weeks it's "I emptied the dishwasher" (something I do more than once a week).

This week, I did that proofreading. I made lunch (latkes, so simple, but still using some energy). I walked a bit in the park, since getting outside every day is also important for me (exemptions for serious illness, blizzards, or hurricanes). I did some other stuff. I made chicken soup. Somewhere in mid-afternoon, I observed to adrian_turtle that I wasn't doing well at resting. She told me to ask Cattitude for help, and he said that he'd been trying to tell me this/stop me from overdoing it. Once we'd established that explicitly, I got him to do much of the remaining physical stuff on the soup, notably chopping chicken, celery, and scallions for the part that was going to be dinner. (Storing some of it for later use as stock is always a two-person thing, though either of us could do it solo; it's easier this way.)

I did all this while sneezing, and with a headache that was low-key all day and got very bad near bedtime. I'd had a headache the night before as well: I don't usually get up at 3 a.m., take aspirin, and go back to bed, but I did Saturday night. Basically, I failed my "take it easy" roll.

Today, I am home sick from work, for my own sake and that of coworkers and other people on the subway. When I called my boss about 8:30 and explained I wasn't coming in because I had a bad cold, she said she could hear it and I was making the right decision.

I expect it's going to be a mix of time on IM and such, possibly reading a book (inside or in the park), and ideally napping some.

Rationally, I know that taking it easier wouldn't have stopped me from having this cold; they're two annoyances that are happening at the same time, not cause and effect. It's still no fun.

Home sick

Yesterday was supposed to be a rest day: no major plans, no major exertion. Generally on such days I do at least one thing I can call productive, so I won't feel bad about "wasting" a day, even though rest is important and so are Scrabble and conversation with cattitude. It can be a small thing: the half hour of freelance proofreading would have been more than enough; some weeks it's "I emptied the dishwasher" (something I do more than once a week).

This week, I did that proofreading. I made lunch (latkes, so simple, but still using some energy). I walked a bit in the park, since getting outside every day is also important for me (exemptions for serious illness, blizzards, or hurricanes). I did some other stuff. I made chicken soup. Somewhere in mid-afternoon, I observed to adrian_turtle that I wasn't doing well at resting. She told me to ask Cattitude for help, and he said that he'd been trying to tell me this/stop me from overdoing it. Once we'd established that explicitly, I got him to do much of the remaining physical stuff on the soup, notably chopping chicken, celery, and scallions for the part that was going to be dinner. (Storing some of it for later use as stock is always a two-person thing, though either of us could do it solo; it's easier this way.)

I did all this while sneezing, and with a headache that was low-key all day and got very bad near bedtime. I'd had a headache the night before as well: I don't usually get up at 3 a.m., take aspirin, and go back to bed, but I did Saturday night. Basically, I failed my "take it easy" roll.

Today, I am home sick from work, for my own sake and that of coworkers and other people on the subway. When I called my boss about 8:30 and explained I wasn't coming in because I had a bad cold, she said she could hear it and I was making the right decision.

I expect it's going to be a mix of time on IM and such, possibly reading a book (inside or in the park), and ideally napping some.

Rationally, I know that taking it easier wouldn't have stopped me from having this cold; they're two annoyances that are happening at the same time, not cause and effect. It's still no fun.