Coming back from vacation has not been easy. I started out stressed about two of my friends getting stuck in Italy for an extra day. It sounds exciting, but when you're flying standby an extra day isn't as much a treat as it is a torture device to see how many times you can pack up and go to the airport and ask your loved ones to pick you up and check out of your hotel, only to have to check back into a hotel (and first pray that they have a room) and pray that by the grace of God there will be a seat for you on the next day's flight.
After my friends made it back, I stressed out about unpacking, repacking for work, finding a clean uniform because I forgot to take my uniforms to the cleaners before I left, and needing to clean the apartment.
Then, to add to the whole array of stressors that were already competing for my attention, I realized that it was not just the Italian pollens that were kicking my butt, but that somehow they were conspiring with the American pollens to make me itch, sneeze, and water through the rest of spring and summer.
Do you want to know what the cherry on top of the milkshake was? I am sick. I got sick while I was still in Italy, but it's been that sneaky kind of sick that doesn't totally knock you down but just secretly saps you of energy.
I went to work anyway, ignoring most of the things that were stressing me out, refusing to let go of my vacation relaxation. The result? Whatever I'm sick with sneaked down into my chest. It is still an upper respiratory thing, but now I've developed a cough that I can feel in my chest.
Bad news: I had to call out of work.
Good news: I'm taking care of myself, I'm still getting paid, and forcing myself to stay in bed and rest gave me the time that I needed to finish reading my time management book.
I'll write more later about what I gathered from Rita Emmett's Manage Your Time to Reduce Your Stress. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy some photos on our trip to the Colosseum in Rome.
After my friends made it back, I stressed out about unpacking, repacking for work, finding a clean uniform because I forgot to take my uniforms to the cleaners before I left, and needing to clean the apartment.
Then, to add to the whole array of stressors that were already competing for my attention, I realized that it was not just the Italian pollens that were kicking my butt, but that somehow they were conspiring with the American pollens to make me itch, sneeze, and water through the rest of spring and summer.
Do you want to know what the cherry on top of the milkshake was? I am sick. I got sick while I was still in Italy, but it's been that sneaky kind of sick that doesn't totally knock you down but just secretly saps you of energy.
I went to work anyway, ignoring most of the things that were stressing me out, refusing to let go of my vacation relaxation. The result? Whatever I'm sick with sneaked down into my chest. It is still an upper respiratory thing, but now I've developed a cough that I can feel in my chest.
Bad news: I had to call out of work.
Good news: I'm taking care of myself, I'm still getting paid, and forcing myself to stay in bed and rest gave me the time that I needed to finish reading my time management book.
I'll write more later about what I gathered from Rita Emmett's Manage Your Time to Reduce Your Stress. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy some photos on our trip to the Colosseum in Rome.
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| Our first glimpse of the Colosseum. What a beautiful day it was! |
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| Oil lamps on display inside the Colosseum. |
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| Inside the Colosseum. You can see they added a sandy platform on the end to show where the floor of the arena was. What you see now is what was below the arena, where they kept the gladiators and animals. |
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