random thoughts – Day 1,530 – (Monday) – head game

Busy brain.

It’s the Monday holiday kickoff to vacation week, and also day three or maybe four of having a headache. Like many other ailments, the headaches seem to ease in gradually. At first, I mostly ignore it, and then later, I realize it is solidly settled in but I don’t know how long it’s been there due to a long cultivation of high-level denial skills as a life-coping mechanism.

Maybe it's from the also newly arrived sleep issues, where I wake up 10,000 time a night. The 3:15 am awakening usually includes a very busy brain that won't shut off. Then, when I finally get up, I'm tired. 

Today, when I woke up with a very present, pronounced, impossible to ignore headache, I remembered having one yesterday, and also vaguely recalled one at some point on Saturday. Oh yeah, and also possibly Friday, too, maybe, but I can’t be positive at this point. Ugh. Even my hair hurts. 

The original plan for this weekend, established last weekend, was to visit Lowe’s for the just-in-time acquisition of the paint and supplies to paint the bedroom. I laid in bed, staring at the red-painted paneled walls I have become numb to over the past eight years (denial skills?), noting the volume of crisp white woodwork surrounding the mile of closet opening, two door frames, two window frames, baseboard, and corner edging. 

The amount of furniture that would need to be moved away from the walls was surveyed – two full dressers, a full cedar chest and two bookcases. The bed sits in an alcove that is currently painted all white, so that will just need to be covered with a tarp, as will the furniture and the carpet.

The process, planned weeks ago, was reviewed. Move the aforementioned furniture without breaking a hip or throwing out my back. The curtains would come down and be brought to the laundry closet. The woodwork and ceiling edges would be taped. The step stool and supplies would be carried upstairs. Oh, and first, there would need to be a trip to Lowe’s for the paint, tape, and tarps. It sounded exhausting. Meanwhile, my head was throbbing.

There were delays. After drinking coffee, which neither helped nor exacerbated the headache but woke me up, and while beginning to change into clothes for the trip to Lowe’s, summer tee shirts were set into drawers to replace sweaters which were bagged for the season. A pile of things intended for donation was refolded. And that was it. I went downstairs and never returned to the bedroom.

Lunch. And again for supper.

Instead of painting, a freezer excavation was conducted. Hot Italian sausage was extracted and cooked for lunch with pasta topped with pesto sauce. It was yummy. More was had for supper because leftovers are efficient. 

Then, because even my eyeballs hurt along with my head and hair, a nap was taken. Later, the litter box was cleaned and the trash was put out. And then the day was basically over. Gone. Done. All of it, except for the headache part, which still lingered. Yay.