How to Recover

I'm getting better at being sick. I'm getting better at listening to my body, so I'm getting better at getting better . . . I think.

Wednesday morning I woke up with that telltale tickle-scratch in the back of my throat. Hoping beyond hope I had just slept with my mouth open, I went to work. The remainder of the day, I felt myself get sicker and sicker until I went home with full blown congestion, coughing and just general yuckiness.

Since running and my 30 Day Shred Challenge were both out of the question, I settled for some NyQuil and going to bed early. Thursday I was a little bit worse, and my voice reflected it. Normally my voice is somewhat higher, lighter and when I'm really happy or enthusiastic, can make me sound a bit like a 12 year old. On Thursday, I was starting to sound a bit huskier, raspier and generally sicker-sounding. Not pretty.

Yesterday, it was reeeeally yucky. I'd been medicating with some NyQuil/DayQuil type stuff, but in all honesty, sometimes I really don't like taking that stuff. I do, however, see it's necessity in times like these though, as the cold has settled into my chest. Great.

The best remedy to feeling lousy is rest and fluids, right? Well, that's the current plan.

So today, after I took my phone to get fixed (another story for later), I stopped by Target and picked up orange juice, cream of broccoli soup, some (expectorant) cough syrup, nasal strips, and some sugar free Werther's Originals to suck on (because I HATE cough drops). Oh, and a $6.50 copy of Free Willy on DVD. (Remember this movie?! It was a favorite of mine as a kid. So good!)

I've been camping on the couch watching a House MD marathon and taking in LOTS of fluids. I've also sipped a couple of hot toddies . . . Oh my am I getting good at that.

Robyn's Hot Toddy Recipe:
1 cup of tea (I use a spearmint & peppermint blend tea)
1 Tbsp honey
1 lemon slice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 oz whiskey

I put the tea bag, lemon, honey and cinnamon in a cup and fill with about 6-7 oz of boiling water. When it's steeped and cooled a bit, I remove the teabag and pour in the whiskey. It doesn't quite conk me out the way I'd been told they do, but I think it's still relaxing and therapeutic in its own way. Honey is a natural cough suppressant, and the tea and whiskey will be warm and sedative.

So here I am . . . sucking down soup, juice, water and a hot toddy here and there. Hopefully I'll be up and running (figuratively and literally) very soon - for now, I'm taking it easy and taking in lots of fluids.