When I made my way to our workout room last night, I found this note that my husband had left for me, attached to my stationary bike:
I couldn’t stop smiling. It made me so happy that he did that for me. I couldn’t very well skip a workout after that, and better yet, I didn’t want to.
I am going to keep the note in the workout room, somewhere that I can see it. It may seem like such a small thing, but it means absolutely everything to me.
I am feeling almost 100% human again today, a welcome change after the last few days!
Being that sick for a few days was a stark reminder that my health needs some attention. Food poisoning isn’t the same as catching a virus or a bug, but it still kicked my ass for nearly 3 days. I am on the upswing now, and if the icky last few days have any silver lining, it’s that the whole ordeal got me thinking about taking better care of myself.
I am being cautious today, eating slowly, wary of upsetting my stomach again. But I feel like 99% of this mess is behind me now, and good riddance!
After grocery shopping this evening, I want to carve out a small piece of time, even just 15 or 20 minutes, and do a light workout, maybe walking or a gentle spin on my stationary bike. I can’t help thinking that if I was in better shape and health, it wouldn’t have whipped my butt so thoroughly, and it wouldn’t have taken me this long to recover.
I managed to get food poisoning a few days ago, and I have been down for the count ever since. Today is my first day with any coherence at all.
My husband stayed home with me yesterday because I had a fever and felt so weak that I couldn’t even walk around for very long without needing to sit down. Either I consumed something particularly ferocious, or getting older means my body can’t fight these things off very well anymore. Either way, it was not a fun experience at all.
I will spare you the grisly details. After the worst was over, I felt so weak and depleted that all I wanted to do was sleep, but my throbbing headache, sore ribs, and rumbling stomach would not allow it. I couldn’t get comfortable, no matter how I sat or laid down, and I kept bouncing restlessly from the couch to the bed. Out of pure exhaustion, I finally collapsed in our bed, alternating between shivering under the quilt and kicking off the covers because I was roasting.
As I drifted in and out of sleep, I felt my husband come in to check on me a few times. His hand on my forehead to feel my fever. A cool washcloth if my temperature was spiking. His fingers stroking my hair comfortingly. Touching my arm to see if I felt cold, and gently pulling the covers up to keep me warm.
I hate being sick. I mean, does anyone enjoy it? Of course not. But even as awful as I felt yesterday, I have to smile as I remember how tenderly my husband cared for me (in between joking that I was just looking for a day off work or was being lazy, because it would be out of character for my husband to not joke about something). He cleaned, fed the cats, handled everything, and took care of me, too.
I am back at work today, though I am not 100% certain I should be yet. I still feel a little shaky and could probably have used another day of rest. My husband has texted me to check in, though, and that really does help me feel better.
After work, I will catch up on a few little things around the house, then I am going to enjoy a long, hot shower and just relax, let my body fight off the rest of this mess. When I am feeling better, I want to make sure my husband knows how much I appreciate him taking care of me and making me feel loved even during the plague!
We were shivering through freezing nights just a few days ago, and today the temperature will be pushing 80 degrees. Crazy! I’m ready to put the arctic weather behind us now and enjoy a beautiful weekend.
We have so much going on this weekend that it’s going to fly by. I worked late a few days this week, so I get to leave early today and jump start our weekend. Yay!
If everything works out, my husband and I will see all four kids, and both grandsons, before the weekend is over. We will be bouncing from events to visits, with not much room for sleep, but it will be fun, and I am looking forward to all of it.
Happy first day of spring!
It’s not feeling a heck of a lot like spring around here right now, but I still adore this quote. Last night dipped into the 30s, and tonight will be freezing, as winter grips us just a few more days before stepping aside for warmer weather, just in time for the first day of spring on Friday.
The last few weeks have been stressful and emotional, and it has been draining. I am not a fan of summer, but I am ready for the warm, soothing sun on my face, getting back into the garden, working up a sweat doing endless yard work with my husband, and squeezing into the shower together before our date night afterward. There’s something healing about hard work and then relaxing together to enjoy what we accomplished.
I’m also just ready for happier days. I find hope in the fact that even on my saddest days recently, I recognized the blessing in happy memories, and how lucky I am to have my husband and the life we share together. I have so much, and I am so very grateful for all of it.
Sweat & Sparkle 