(inspired by Abhinav)
It is 7:15 am, and I am sitting on the living room couch. My plan to get some extra rest this morning has failed: I stayed in bed for an extra hour after I woke up, but all that seems to have accomplished is deepening the lingering migraine that has been bothering me for the last 48 hours. At least it is still dark out, and I will be able to watch the sun slowly bathe the building opposite with its warm glow.
I text my Mom, I text a friend who is unwell, and let another bounce some ideas off me for a design project they’re working on. Once it is light, I decide to go to the neighbourhood bakery to buy the day’s bread. I go to the balcony to check how cool it is, and get distracted by the clouds putting on a show. My phone tells me it is 11°C and it does seem cold. I get dressed, and throw on a wool jumper (first of the season!) before stepping out. There are so many little ones making their way to school at this hour: very cute! I come back with a sweet treat because why not?
Coffee ✅ Doughnut ✅ Migraine medication ✅ Morning catch-up with Amber ✅
I read instead of working, hoping that my headache will dissipate. When that doesn’t work after 45 minutes, I close my eyes. I wake at 11:05 am feeling terribly groggy but the headache is, in fact, better. The tension has moved to my elbows and calves. At least, that’s more easily fixed. The last few years, life has been so bad that even the idea of just resting like this on a day when my head is pounding feels alien and downright miraculous.
Amber is working from home. I request him to make me a ginger fizz. He does. And he tells me what he has found about me opening a digital bank account linked to my Indian account, while sitting here in Europe. It doesn’t look like it would solve the specific problem I'm grappling with at the moment. It is the kind of subject that gives me a headache on the best of days, so I’m eager to move on.
I finally sit down to work around noon. I have to start preparing a talk I’ll give later this month at Burds of the Brush. I must send the print file for the complementary handout to the organisers by this Friday. I’ve been mulling over what the talk will be about for a couple of weeks, and the right idea hits me just as I start. I love it when the brain complies. I know it does so when I give it time, if only I allow for that for more often.
Not too long after, Amber and I are interrupted by the door buzzer announcing the arrival of our new washing machine. The machine is delivered, the old, faulty one taken away, but installation cannot be completed due an incompatible inlet pipe. We go back to work, and return a while later to eat lunch. Lunch is a soup of roasted sweet potatoes and red peppers. I slice up some leftover brie from the fridge and pick some fresh thyme leaves to top our bowls with. We eat the soup with the bread I bought in the morning. Another coffee, and back to work again.
The day has become very, very bright, and I am only surviving in the darkened bedroom. I’m also uncharacteristically cold.
A few hours in, I’m making good progress with the handout, but another detour arrives by way of a call from our Indian accountant. I’m late in sending invoices for our business GST filings. I take a break from work to email the accountant what she needs. A couple of quick scans, colour correction, and proof-reading later, the handout is ready and sent to the right people. I’m so relieved that I haven’t dragged this task right to the deadline. I plan to watch Notre Salut on Friday evening, and it would have been a bummer to have this task hovering over my head.
It’s 5:00 pm, and time for (more) ginger fizz for me, and tea for Amber. Ginger helps calm my migraines, and I try to keep some syrup handy for days like this. Amber and I chat about travel plans for next April, and how that will impact my ability to say yes to volunteer work around that time. We have errands to run, and we divide and conquer: shoes are picked up from the repair shop, groceries are grabbed, and a new inlet pipe for the washing machine is purchased.
My migraine is threatening to return in full force, so I request Amber to make me a little cheese plate with gouda, cucumbers and plum tomatoes. I munch on that, cut myself a sliver of tea cake to go with it, and wash it all down a big gulp of water. The nausea abates, and my head feels a little less heavy.
I begin preparing dinner. We are eating tuna burgers, and the patties need to rest in fridge for at least 30 minutes before we can pan-grill them. After that, I play email catch-up. My plans for a pre-dinner walk are foiled by rain. I happen to check an Instagram message, and on the app, I find that tickets for the local Victor Patrascan show are about to run out. We quickly book our spots. The day’s work is over, and I get into bed with a book.
Around this time, Amber fixes the pipe in the washing machine, and we run a test round to see if all is ok. It will need a bit of tightening, but we have a working washing machine!
We get into the kitchen to fix dinner. The burgers are delicious, and I am glad to have two extra patties cooked and ready for another meal in the coming days. We watch Madam Secretary while eating.
Final time check: 9:15 pm. I drop another mystery novel into my iPad, in case the more serious read I am on doesn’t cut it before bed. Now it is time for a piece of chocolate, word games, maybe some television, reading, and then sleep.