Playing Hooky

I haven’t been feeling well this week.  I’ll spare you the bodily details, but suffice to say, it hit me hard on Thursday afternoon, when I wanted nothing more than to take a nap at work, and it followed me around on Friday.  Last night I bagged my plans to go for a run, and instead, I curled up on the couch and ate pasta with pesto, chickpeas, and grape tomatoes.  Then, for dessert, I made fudge sauce and ate that with chocolate cake.  All in all, a nutritious dinner, right?  Right.  Don’t argue with me here.

On most Saturdays, I head into work in the morning for a few hours, but not today.  It’s very rare for me to take a sick day during the Monday-Friday work week; it’s far more common for me to take a day here or there to spend with Matt if he’s in town or if we’ve made other plans.  Vacation days, yes.  Sick days, no.  But in my mind, I’ve taken today as a sick day, so I’m spending a lazy Saturday morning at home.  I slept until 9 AM, then dozed in bed for another half an hour.  Then I got up and puttered around the kitchen, making my oatmeal and coffee, emptying the dishwasher, and cleaning up the kitchen, which needs more TLC than I’ve been giving it.  In a few minutes, I’ll call a friend, make a grocery list, and get myself ready to face the outside world.  But it’s been really nice to be at home all morning, with no pressing concerns.  I love being at home, but I’m afraid my life for the past few months has been altogether too full, and I’m due for some slowing down, even if it’s just a morning or two.

The thing about working on the weekend regularly is that it can make you lazy.  You don’t push yourself as hard during the week if you know that you’ll be working “extra” on Saturdays or Sundays.  At least that’s true for me.  I certainly don’t regret all the weekend time I’ve put into my job lately; it helped propel my project and it gave me something to do other than worry.  I was too busy working to worry!

But this weekend, I think I’ll be staying away from the lab.  My hope is that come Monday morning, I’ll feel refreshed and ready to hit the ground running, as opposed to the mediocre shuffling that I performed this week.  This weekend, I’m going to make soup and continue updating my recipe index.  I’m going to write posts and go for runs and watch the birds and visit the library.  Maybe I’ll bake a cake.  Maybe I’ll go for a long walk with a friend.  Maybe, maybe, maybe…

It’s a weekend filled with possibilities.  I hope your weekend is lovely, too, dear reader.