Tag Archives: sinus headache

I Ran Anyways

Can it count as Saturday Running Commentary if I actually ran on Thursday and am just getting around to writing about it now?

I say yes.

I felt I was being clever by laying out my running clothes Wednesday night so that when I got home Thursday I would have fewer excuses. As it turned out I had a very good excuse in the shape of a migraine headache (at least, it could have been a sinus headache; I don’t really know from headaches). I figured my head was probably going to keep hurting anyways. This way, at least I’d feel proud of myself.

I was happy that I knew where my mittens were. I don’t know why I only have one pair of mittens, but so it is. OK, full disclosure: they aren’t my mittens. They belong to my sister Diane and they somehow ended up in my possession. I hope this isn’t one of the posts she decides to read or I may have to give them back.

So leggings, winter running socks, long-sleeved army t-shirt, sweatshirt, knitted toque, mittens — I was going to rock this run!

I’m not so sure I did. I ran at an even more shuffley pace than usual, due to snow on the sidewalks. The occasional patch of bare sidewalk didn’t help much, because snow collected on the bottoms of my sneakers. However, one thing I have learned is to persevere.

And persevere I did, for a full 20 minutes plus cool down walk. It was colder than I had expected. The wind on my face did not help my headache. At least I had remembered to put a couple of tissues in the sweatshirt pockets so I had recourse when my nose got too runny. Taking the mittens off and maneuvering with the tissues added some interest. You’d be surprised how welcome these little distractions are.

The irony of the cool down walk was not lost on me, but I felt sure my dog Tabby had been looking forward to it ever since she saw me lacing up the running shoes. I think the temperature had dropped a few degrees during the 20 minutes I had been running. Or maybe the wind had picked up. I did not analyze; I merely discouraged Tabby from sniffing as many things as she wanted to.

This ought to be a lesson to me, I suppose, not to stop running, because continuing is usually easier than beginning anew. Then again, a recurring theme of my life is Things Happen (some people put it more vulgarly, but I’ll say “things”). We can only do the best we can.

Friday I worked out at Curves instead of running again. Today (Saturday) I got a terrific headache from being out in the cold this morning. It’s gone right now, and I’m not messing with it. I may run again on Sunday. I’ll let you know.

The Decongestant Blues

I think Non Sequitur Saturday has a much better sound to it than Non Sequitur Thursday.

It was cold this morning when I walked to the post office with Tabby to mail some postcards.

Sometimes we call her Tabby Dog. That is more stream of consciousness than non sequitur. Sue me.

The next production for Ilion Little Theatre is now fully cast and rehearsals are going well, so I hear. I may stop by a rehearsal and say hello, just for material for another post.

I recently saw not one but two cheesy horror movies I could write about. The second was more of a philosophical love story, but I don’t despair of writing an acceptable post.

I may have said a few too many times that I mean to start running again. First the weather got too cold, then I got a cold, now I still have the cold AND it’s too cold. I know, I know, some people run with a cold and in the cold. Why don’t you just add some more guilt to my ills?

When I returned to Curves Wednesday I felt so terrific, I almost couldn’t wait to go in Friday. Then on Friday I realized, ooh, I have a lot of ground to make up. With the state my body’s in, I really can’t miss days of exercise.

Sometimes colds hang on and on. And sometimes what you think is going to help, well, not so much. And then you write a really stupid blog post and hope your readers will forgive you.

Bringing It to a Headache

It’s raining, so I can’t do my old standby of go for a walk or run and write about that. Movies take at least an hour, so I can’t watch a cheesy movie and write about that. I have not had a Mohawk Valley adventure this week. I have made no random observations and am fresh out of half-baked philosophy.

In other words, this is shaping up to be the Lamest Friday Post yet.

In my defense, it’s been a terrible week. For one thing, it’s been my first five-day week after two three-day weeks (actually, I worked Saturday overtime last week, so one three-day and one four-day week, but still) (ooh, that means my last weekend was only a day and a half, after two four-day weekends. No wonder I’m beat!). Tuesday I twisted my ankle. Thursday I had a RAGING sinus headache, and we had to go to calling hours for a truly sweet man from our church.

I really think Thursday’s headache is what screwed me up for Friday, so I will write a little more about that.

It had reached truly nightmare proportions by the time I left work. I seriously considered calling Steven to come get me, but thought I could drive very carefully through village streets (no highways). Luckily nothing requiring a quick reaction time happened.

I walked into the house (slowly, because parts of our driveway are glare ice, but that’s another story) and sat down in the closest living room chair. It is the chair we rarely sit in and is usually a catch-all for coats, bags, etc. It happened to be bare, because Steven had recently moved our newest stuffed Santa from it and it hadn’t catch-alled anything else yet.

Steven, a little worried by my haggard appearance, brought me coffee. It didn’t help much. I took some Claritin-D (the stuff you have to get from the pharmacist by bringing her the little card from the display) and a hot, hot shower. I laid down on the bed.

Eventually I got up and got dressed for calling hours, which were not for another hour. I wrote yesterday’s blog post (which, incredibly, got some “likes” from some obviously generous-minded bloggers). I called to Steven to bring me another cup of coffee while I typed.

I went downstairs and ate a little deli potato salad, just so I would have some food in my stomach before taking ibuprofen. I took 800 milligrams (that is the dose they usually give you in the Army, so I am in the habit).

It was as we drove to the calling hours that I realized the headache had dissipated. Oh, thank heavens. I went to bed early and woke with… could it be? Yes! NOT a headache! I spent the morning tremulously grateful to not be in searing pain. When my sinuses started to twinge again, I obtained some sudafed from a co-worker (I had stupidly forgotten to replenish my own supplies).

“I can’t go through that again,” I told myself. And I didn’t. Let me tell you, that Dollar General sudafed is powerful stuff. Unfortunately, it dopes you up. I apologize for this lengthy, dull post. We can only hope I’ll do better tomorrow. Please, stay with me.

Joan Crawford? Or a Shar Pei?

I came up with that headline earlier in the week. The post I started to write for it wasn’t working out so well, so I thought I’d save it for Non Sequitur Thursday (my new favorite day).

Once again, I got nuthin’ (yes, it must be “nuthin'” not “nothing” and of course it’s “I got” not “I have,” what are you people thinking?).

In my defense, I’m in pain. It’s the sinuses again. January thaw be damned!

I do have a question. Why do people always make up names of their friends or relatives when they write do “Dear Abby” and when they do, why do they feel it is necessary to tell us they are doing so? Suppose I had a problem with Sally at work. Well, in the first place I would be unlikely to write to “Dear Abby,” because I think she gives stupid advice since the daughter started writing it. Come to think of it, the original Abby sometimes gave dumb advice too.

And once again, Non Sequitur Thursday veers into Stream of Consciousness Thursday.

By the way, I rarely have problems with anybody at work and when I do I go to other co-workers to let off steam and/or get advice. These things usually blow over, I’ve found.

I am pushing myself through this day one painful minute at a time (seventy-nine more to go) (That’s actually not true. It’s eighty, but I thought seventy-nine would be funnier) (Perhaps I should have waited till it was actually seventy-nine; who can thrash out these moral dilemmas?).

And that’s what I wrote on the final break at work. It seems a touch surreal now, saying there are 79 or 80 minutes left at work, now that I am out of work and at home typing it into my computer. But my head still hurts, I got nuthin’ else.

Actually, there are two or three more paragraphs I wrote at work, but I see no reason to inflict any more on you nice people. How many sick days is a blogger allowed? Call this my first one for 2013. Hope to see you on Lame Post Friday.

Here We Go Again

I guess you could say it’s Wrist to Forehead Sunday, but my wrist is not literally on my forehead (I hate typing one-handed anyways). I just don’t want to lift my arm that high.

My sinuses have been bad lately, but I have been muddling through. This morning I woke up with dreadful nausea and I knew what to blame. Seriously, I had not done one thing to deserve being sick. No rich food, no booze, only the usual amount of stress. I decided to break down and go get some serious decongestant and live with the consequences.

And now you, gentle reader, must live with the consequences too. I am too lightheaded to write a decent post (I know, what’s my excuse the rest of the time? Well, I can only do my best). Luckily most of the Christmas presents are wrapped (I could have done a whole post on those trials and tribulations, but some of the recipients may read this blog). And I still have tomorrow.

For today, I’m afraid it’s television, crochet and posting complaints on Facebook. I did call my Mom and tell her I was sick. I know other people who do that: however old we get, when we don’t feel good we call Mom for some sympathy. She said maybe I’m coming down with something, it’s going around.

I looked back on a couple of posts I remember doing when I was under the weather. One of them went on for quite some time chronicling my illness. I will spare you such a thing today (I guess you can always spare yourself such a thing by just stopping reading, that’s what I do). I hope you’re all enjoying Christmas Eve Eve, and I hope to post less lamely tomorrow.

I Mean, It’s Like, You Know?

I was unable to write a blog post while at work today, because I was suffering from a screaming sinus headache.

Um, I did not actually scream. My place of employment is pretty loud at the best of times, so it is entirely possible that if I had screamed no one would have noticed. If they did notice, hearing protection is readily available. Good thing; my screams are piercing.

Where was I? Ah yes, nowhere. Partway through the day, in between waves of pain and wondering what in the world I was going to write about, I remembered: Non Sequitur Thursday. All I had to do was write a few random comments and done! On to the wine drinking portion of the evening!

I even thought of using “Non Sequitur Thursday” as the headline, but then I thought it would be a little too post-ironic. I mean, think about it: if you say you are about to say a non sequitur, then you say one, doesn’t that make it a sequitur? And is sequitur one of those lost positives you hear about (you know, like ept)?

I could actually make this Stream of Consciousness Thursday, by seguing into a whole blurb on lost positives (with a slight detour into how come my computer wants me to spell it “segueing” when the dictionary clearly prints “-uing”?). I really, really, want to say it: you know, how people can be inept, but you never hear about them being ept?

My computer, by the way, is also underlining ept, and all I can think of is the pregnancy test. Not something I need to think about at my age!

This is a singularly silly post, and I know I’ve had some silly ones. And I realized I was using “you know” entirely too much (I actually deleted a couple), so that gave me my headline. This was an expression I used to use quite a bit in my younger days. It was my statement on how people often talked without saying anything. A self portrait? You be the judge.

Running with a Headache

I’m writing this later than I usually make my Saturday posts, but I had a dreadful sinus headache earlier. It is inexplicably gone, but I’m trying not to notice that too much or it might come back. You know, like it hasn’t gone far, and if it sees me noticing it’s gone, it’ll say, “Ooh, she misses me! I’d better go back!”

Now some of you are dialing the men in the white coats (two dated references), because my headaches talk to me. Hey, I write fiction. I can anthropomorphize anything.

Be that as it may, I did get myself out running, because I wanted to use it as a blog post. I didn’t care to do an “I-can’t-post-because-I’ve-got-a-headache” post because I’m saving something for Wrist to Forehead Sunday.

It was dreadfully cold yesterday, and I had expected it to be less so today. So much for great expectations. I had a pair of stretchy pants I thought I might as well run in. I put on a long-sleeved t-shirt and winter running socks. Found my toque but didn’t bother looking for my mittens. Regretted that almost as soon as I was out the door. No matter, it would be a short run.

I did not run during the week at all. One more thing to regret, but I did not repine. The only thing to do in these situations is tough it out and try to run sooner next time.

Oh, that air did not feel good. I debated whether to run any hills but ultimately decided moving my legs at this rate was effort enough. I had walked Tabby to the post office earlier so I knew my could move. I was only asking them to move a little faster, and not much faster at that.

At least, maybe it was faster than I thought. I saw a couple walking two blocks or so ahead of me. Soon it was only a block and a half. Then a block. I usually take a lot longer to catch up with pedestrians. Perhaps they were extra slow. I turned down a side street when they were less than a block away. I was feeling unsociable.

I looked around for Christmas decorations. I saw a couple of the hard plastic light up snowmen such as Steven and I coveted last year (I wrote a couple blog posts about it). Steven says they are called “blow mold,” but I don’t like to call them that, because I’m afraid people will think I mean those big blow up things. Those are fun to see when they are billowing in the breeze all full of air. When they are limp and deflated, they look a little sad. I don’t want one in my lawn.

I did see a smaller blow up snowman in a lawn and heard the sounds of the Nutcracker Suite playing. I couldn’t tell if the snowman was swaying in the breeze or if he was moving in time to the music. In any case, it looked good, and that part of the Suite played in my head for the rest of the run. It was good running music. You know how I love music to run by.

As I approached my house, still a good three blocks away, my legs told me they would like to walk. I told them to keep running. That led to three blocks of half-baked philosophy I’d like to share. You almost never HAVE to stop running. You CHOOSE to stop running. Now I’m not a terrible hard-ass drill sergeant about this. Sometimes stopping running is absolutely the right choice to make. And I’m always an advocate of feeling glad about however far you did run. But I have learned, and I stand by it: most of us can run further than we think we can. I proved it to myself again today.

When I was walking my cool down with Tabby the wind picked up and it became uncomfortably cold. The Nutcracker was still playing in my head. It was the section that goes doo-dootle-oo-doo-DOO-DOO-DOO. I know, that probably doesn’t tell you much, but I thought it would look funny to type it that way.

As always I was glad I ran. Right now, though, I am even more glad that my headache is gone (I whisper that last sentence). Soon I’ll be off on more Mohawk Valley adventures. Maybe tomorrow won’t be Wrist to Forehead Sunday after all.

Almost Completely Lame

Myself as well as this post.

I think somebody somewhere has a voodoo doll of me and is sticking pins in it. He or she picks different spots. One day it’s the sinuses, one day the upper back, one day the lower back, later that day the bunions. This evil person’s evil plan is to make it so nobody likes me any more because all I can do is complain. I fear it is working.

Yesterday at work my headache reached nightmarish proportions. Seriously, I felt that I was in a nightmare. As I walked up the stairs to the ladies’ room I was surprised to see that I actually made it to the top of the stairs. I expected them to continue infinitely, as happens in some dreams (or have you never gotten the never-ending staircase or road or hallway?). When I got to the bathroom I was relieved to see real toilets not disgustingly dirty. I don’t know about anyone else, but when I dream about bathrooms they are either too wet and dirty for use or they are not real toilets but in the dream you are expected to use them as such, usually in full view of other people (or, again, is that just my sicko dreams? Paging Dr. Freud!).

After I got home and took a nap the pain subsided into mere lightheadedness. I could rock that, at least till bedtime, which would be early. Then as I was walking up the stairs (one flight) to the (normal) bathroom, I felt this sudden jab in my back. What the hell was that? After I went back downstairs and sat down, I found I could not get back up. This sucks! Well, I went to bed (after Steven helped me up). Sleep would help.

It did, somewhat. When I described my symptoms to a friend at work, she said it sounded like sciatica, which she suffers from. I do not know much about sciatica, except that it is fun to say (try it!). After a while the pain subsided. I reported this encouraging development to my friend.

“It comes and goes,” she told me. Damn! She went on to describe her own tribulations with sciatica. Oh dear! I said maybe I should not complain, because her case was obviously much worse than mine.

“You go right ahead and complain,” she told me. “That’s your prerogative. To complain and to change your mind!”

“Maybe I’ll change my mind about complaining,” I said.

The pain was practically gone by the end of the day. I thought I might even go running. Then I thought it might be more sensible to walk with my dog Tabby. Obviously she would prefer that alternative. By the time I got home, however, the pain was back. I could still rock a walk, I thought. Um, no.

I got on the computer. I would check my email, make my blog post, then decide. I checked the email. “Oh yeah, I wanted to email Entertainment Weekly and complain about YET ANOTHER double issue!” I stood up to go downstairs and get the magazine for the address. OOOWWW!

I went and laid down instead. I read, I relaxed. I made my painful way downstairs and ate something. I really really really wanted to make my blog post and get it over with. I had not written anything, but I had a tentative title, “Not Completely Lame,” and I had a tentative subject, my walk with Tabby which I had not yet taken.

In desperation, I came up with the above title and started typing, the results of which you see. You know, I think it is the hoariest cliche in fiction where the character wants to write a book, wants to write a book, wants to write a book, has some movie-ish adventure, then writes a book and it’s THE MOVIE YOU’VE JUST BEEN WATCHING!!! Have I just been guilty of a hideous piece of hypocrisy? How lame would that be? I would say, almost completely.

Best Lame Plans

It is not easy to write when you have a raging sinus headache.

My original plan was to write two posts on Thursday. Then Friday after work I would have only to hit “Publish,” and Steven and I could be off on our Mohawk Valley adventures.

Well, Thursday, I found out that it is not easy to write when you are dreadfully nauseous and laboring under strong emotions. Thursday’s post, in case you couldn’t tell, was composed at the computer with not a whole lot of time expended. Believe it or not, a great deal of thought was expended. It just didn’t seem to do me much good.

Fast forward to Friday (today) (oh, wouldn’t we Monday to Friday workers LOVE to be able to do just that). I was determined to write something that I could hurry home and just type in. After all, how hard could it be? It’s Lame Post Friday!

A little voice in my head is saying, “Cindy. Isn’t it time you stopped this obsession of posting every day? It was all very well for the first year, but now how many times a week are you craving people’s indulgence for another dumb post? Shouldn’t you be going for quality over quantity?”

To that voice I say, “Oh, do be quiet. Why can’t you say something interesting, like the voices in other people’s heads? Maybe something involving aliens and a tin foil hat.” I think I would look rather fetching in a tin foil hat. I wonder if it would do anything to alleviate the headache.

Calling in Sick

This will be a short post. I feel like crappy crappy crappola. I had this sinus headache, see, so I took some ibuprofen and benadryl. Now I am doped the hell up. The pain is gone, I think. It’s kind of like I’m in a different room from the pain and hope to keep the door closed a while longer.

All I want to do is lie in bed and stare at the ceiling. What I am actually doing is reading Agatha Christie plays. I can pretend that’s doing something useful, because I might find something suitable for Ilion Little Theatre to put on sometime in the future. Of course this is a mostly an excuse. I can tell right away that some of these will never do. And the chances of my wanting to direct one of them is even slimmer. Then again, they say no effort is wasted. Wait a minute, I say that. Perhaps I am right. That sounds like some half-baked philosophy suitable for Lame Post Friday.

So, yes, I am afraid this is yet another post on Why I Can’t Write a Real Post. How many of those have I made recently? How many do you suppose I can get away with? Let’s just look at it this way: I’m calling in sick. Most professions offer sick days of one kind or another. Of course, if this were a real sick day, my post could be one sentence long: I’m sick, I’m not posting. And out.

But now that my fingers are actually typing, they want to keep typing. I have several good topics to expound upon this week. I haven’t fully covered the DARE 5K yet. We went to not one but two area marinas last night. We took a nice walk to a garage sale this morning (before my sinus headache kicked in). Oh, and enjoyed a yummy breakfast at a well-known local establishment. So much for preview of coming attractions.

I see that I am over 300 words, so I think I will sign off now. Thank you for bearing with me. Here’s hoping to have a better post on Monday.