Taking It Easy

Sniff sniff… Shark Girl is sick. I took it easy today, which included a nap. Husband doubted I could do it.

            “You, take it easy?” he said,

            “Yeah, I’m going to take it easy today.”

            “Like last night, when you did the elliptical machine and then trained Brazilian Jiu Jitsu? Easy like that?”

            I don’t like to be slowed down by being sick. Sometimes when life gets really crazy and I feel overwhelmed, I think, “If I could just be sick so I could take a day off and relax!” Then, if I do get sick, I’m pissed off. I have too much to do. Doesn’t this virus realize that I have children to cart around? How am I supposed to make a decent dinner when I can’t even stand up? If I stay home from school today, I have to scrap all the plans I already made for my classes, create new, sub-friendly plans, and then tackle the back-log when I come back. Sometimes it’s just easier to go in and suffer through it.

            Whenever I push through my sickness, I hear my conservative doctor’s voice in my head. She once told me not to run while I was sick. Was she kidding? Running clears the nasal cavities and a slight rise in body temperature is sure to be good for killing off things. (That’s what I tell myself, anyway.) When I asked her why I shouldn’t run sick, she seemed a bit perturbed with me. “Because if you have an infection, it could spread to your heart and kill you!” she fired at me, clearly trying to put the fear of death in me. It worked, like, kind of, for a second.

I’ll admit it; I did go out for a power lunch with a colleague today. But we’ve been trying to get together since October. I’ll admit it; I was thinking about getting a facial or a massage tomorrow, because I “happen to have time” since my school is on a midyear exam schedule. (When else am I going to use the gift certificate I got last year for Christmas?) What’s stopping me is that there nothing is worse than lying on your stomach for a massage and having all your sinus ick forced to the forefront of your nose. It’s kind of hard to concentrate on how awesome the rubdown is when you are being suffocated by snot.

How sad is it that I use my “sick” time to catch up? I’m doing it right now. I should be working, but I’m sick. I can’t read and grade papers with this cloudy head. But, wait, if I’m not working, this is a great time to update my blog.

Well, gotta go. I’ve got to put the kids to bed. Then I’m going to snuggle up with a bottle of Nyquil and hit the sack early. I’m taking it easy.