It's Been Ages

This is the first week I feel somewhat settled in Denver. The first week was a flurry of unpacking and decision making about what I could live without for the next two to three months. Then I took a trip to Dallas to visit my friend Kristin, and due to heavy holiday travel, wound up spending an extra day in the airport trying to get home. When I did get home, I was looking forward to some stability, which would have helped when I fell off my bike and hurt my wrist. Along with the wrist injury came an annoying head cold, and finally, this week, I am on the mend.

I suppose I owe an update in other areas as well. We're still looking for a house. We viewed a gorgeous bungalow with the highest ceilings, and I was getting that I-really-want-it feeling in my stomach until we walked to the backyard and saw the most atrocious carriage house backing the property. Half of the backyard is taken up by a giant, red, adobe-looking square thing with windows that is apparently a residence. And owned by someone else. Grrr. I really was hoping for a two-car garage. Why does every home have its compromise?

And the only other update is that I'm training for a 78-mile bike ride in the lovely Colorado Rockies on August 4. The ride goes over the Copper Triangle, and as of right now I am not in any sort of shape to do this thing. This has made my little wrist injury and head cold especially annoying. But, with some heavy training over the next three weeks, lots of goo and water, I will hopefully make a decent showing (and by decent I mean I'll finish).

That's all from Colorado Land for now. I'll be on the computer all week, perhaps with something interesting to say.

Alien Skin (or, the honeymoon episode)

First, consider the following circumstances:

• Lounging in the sun for at least two hours a day. The Aruban sun, near the equator, which, without the cooling trade winds of the Carribbean, would scorch any skin type to perfect medium-well-steak standards.
• Slathering on a palmful of sunscreen every morning. 45, which should protect even the fairest skin from the Aruban sun oven. And it's waterproof, so that not only will the wearer be able to enjoy the beach and the pool, but the water will bead up and glide off the skin oh-so pleasingly.
• After a few days of this routine, have a full body massage. It begins with a skin brush, which only feels good because the skin has been so carefully protected from sunburn. Then heated oil is gently rubbed all over, releasing any tension which may have resulted from the constant cooling trade winds + sticky sunscreen + long hair issue.

They all sound nice, right? Except that just hours after the massage, some tiny itchy bumps appeared on my feet. I couldn't sleep because I hadn't experienced such itching since I had the chicken pox in second grade. I thought I was either allergic to the oil, or that we had bedbugs in the bottom corner of my side of the bed. No bedbugs, I checked.

I took several showers, thinking if it was the oil, I could wash it away and I'd be fine. The bumps spread. I had them on the backs of my knees, the backs of my hands, on my forearms, my neck, and my thighs. They weren't red, just itchy. So damn itchy.

Well, I'm back from Aruba now. I still have the bumps. Was it the sun, or the sunscreen? If it was, shouldn't they have gone away by now?

And the thing is, I'm so far behind at work and in school that I don't have time to go see the dermatologist. And I can't take Sudafed because I can't risk losing even more time for homework to the ensuing sleep. What to do?

At least I don't look like a lizard. But if I end up looking like this guy here, I think I will find the time for a remedy.

Battle of the Sick

I last posted about my use of sick days. And wouldn't you know it? The sick day won.

I called in sick yesterday. And I was sick. My head hurt, I woke up unrested (and we all know rest is the key to getting over anything), and the thought of dragging my unhealthy body to a work place that only provides a course two-ply tissue for repeated rubbing of my runny nose just wasn't doing it for me. So, I sent the email to work announcing they would not be graced with my presence, and I went back to bed for three more hours.

I had hopes of making the most of my sick day. I thought David and I could go look at suits for the wedding. I thought we might take Oscar for a nice walk. I thought we might replenish the supplies in our fridge. But instead I watched Emma (for the second time in two days), took a nap, registered for wedding gifts, and watched Ghost Hunters. I feel better today, but I would have stayed home again...if I had any more sick time left.

Achoo! I'm back at work today, and I've brought my own box of lotioned, vitamin E-ed, and aloed kleenex with me. Just another month and a half until I get more sick days.

Careful With Those Sick Days

I used a sick day last week after staying up all night to finish my novel submission for class. Was I sick? No. Did I feel well? No. Yet I feel justified in taking the sick day, and don't regret it.

But here I am four days later with the beginnings of a sore throat. My lower back is aching, even though I've already popped two ibuprofen. And have I considered throwing in the towel for the day and going home sick? Yes. Will I follow through? No.

I'm not the first person to recognize this problem--that some of us store up those sick days for when we really need them--which is definitely not at the sign of a sniffle or a tummy rumble. I suppose we are lucky, because when we really are sick it's never enough to keep us under the covers. Even if we did stay away from work, we'd still find ourselves out shopping or finishing up a few errands. I pity those who rely on the sick time to actually get well.

So I'll sit here for the rest of the day, convincing myself that my aches and pains are nothing that won't go away on their own, and plan how I'm going to use my remaining 12 hours of sick time before the year is up.

Be well.