Coughing Through Christmas

I hope everyone's Christmases and New Years were a blast and full of fun and family and overall goodness. Overall, ours was pretty successful.  Grandma came up from California, thoughtful presents were given and received, lots of delicious food was consumed, and many card games were won and lost.

The hitch was the presence of a tiny black cloud called a cold that I've been battling since the 21st.  It started as a persistent dry cough that followed me everywhere I went.  I didn't let it bother me too much though, as I was determined to have a great Christmas.  No matter how much I tried to cover it, I still ended up coughing on most of my family members and my sister came down with a cold several days later.

The biggest issue with having a cold during the holidays is the whole after-Christmas hangover that follows.  Days of eating heavy food and doing little physical exercise leads to feelings of bloatedness and sluggishness.  It's too cold and wet to feel the motivation to go outside, and everywhere you look, there's a mess to be cleaned.  This cough and cold made all these shitty feelings feel even shittier.

Part of me feels glad that I don't have to take work off to get over this, but the other part of me is angry that my vacation time is being totally wasted.  I can't do anything.  My cough was so bad that I could barely hold a conversation with anybody, my body was exhausted from my non-stop hacking, and the only thing I can do is quarantine myself from everyone so no one else has to go through this.  I've probably gained a bunch of weight from all the rich food and lack of movement.  I feel like Jabba the Hut (minus the womanizing.)  Now I have a constant splitting headache that is magnified every time I cough.  I'm just glad that the amount I'm coughing has been cut in half.

The only things that have brought any relief are Nyquil and a tea concoction I've been guzzling for the last 4 days.  I read somewhere that thyme can be a natural expectorant (nature's Mucinex), and honey ginger tea is great for soothing your throat.  So each day, I've been mincing about an inch of fresh ginger and putting it into my tea strainer that I have for our Keurig.  To that I've also been adding about a quarter of a teaspoon of thyme.  To each freshly brewed cup, I also add a squeeze of lemon and a teaspoon of honey.  I then sit on my couch and desperately cradle the mug to my face while sitting in a fetal position and try to breathe in the sweet ginger vapors to sooth the tickle in my bronchial tubes and let the tea warm my body from the inside out.  It has helped greatly.

My current favorite accessory.

But this whole ordeal got me thinking.  I feel like crap.  This must mean my body is full of crap.  In fact, I know my body is full of crap because I put it there.  And crap can't fight colds.  So I need to get it out.  I've always wanted to do a cleanse or a detox.  Shawn and I have 4 days off together starting tomorrow, so here is our chance.  I did some research and found a program, complete with recipes, that lasts 4 days.  We get to eat three meals a day, but three very specific meals.  I'll be making a lot of veggie shakes.  Will we hate it?  Probably.  Will we feel really hungry and sad that we don't get to eat carbs or sugar or dairy or caffeine?  Absolutely.  Will Shawn go into major coffee withdrawals?  Yes.  I know I have a sugar addiction.  That's a fact.  I will go into withdrawals as well.  Now Shawn hasn't really had to go through the whole cold thing as bad as I have but we've been wondering about a possible gluten issue with him so he's on board with this as well.  We might not last all 4 days, but we will try our hardest.

Of course, you will get to read all about it.

Next time you hear from me, I will likely be angry and miserable.

Here's to health and feeling better in the New Year.

Oh boy.