My vacation is officially more than halfway over, and I’m already dreading returning to work next week. The only silver lining is that it’ll be a short week—and most of it I’ll be entirely alone at the museum. There’s a certain peace in that, even if it also reminds me that the quiet is coming to an end.

All week, I’ve told myself I’d finally get back to working out. With the days free, I could go during daylight hours and maybe even run into my former trainer. After being out so long because of my back, I’ve become an expert at excuses—telling myself I’ll go after work (I never do) or that I’ll get up early and go before work (I definitely never do). But even this week, one thing after another has popped up and thrown off my plans.

Yesterday I even packed my gym clothes when I headed to the Headache Clinic. The plan was simple: do a little shopping, have lunch, and then swing by Planet Fitness before heading home. But the Botox had my head feeling tender, and a migraine settled in before the day was over. So instead of working out, I went home and took a nap. Not exactly the fitness comeback I envisioned.

This morning, though, I plan—there’s that word again—to go before lunch. I’ve got a dentist appointment this afternoon for the crown I’ve been putting off. The appointment is from 2 to 4 p.m., which means my mouth will still be comfortably numb right around dinner time. So either I skip dinner altogether or eat far later than I prefer. Either way, I suspect I won’t feel like doing much once I get home.

Staycations never quite go the way we imagine, do they? But at least for now, I still have a few slow hours ahead of me—and maybe, just maybe, I’ll make it to the gym today.

I woke up around 2 a.m. with a bad migraine — the kind that makes it hard to tell if you’re awake or just drifting in and out of pain. I dozed off and on for about an hour and a half before finally giving up to Isabella’s persistence and the realization that my headache was getting worse, not better.

If I didn’t have a major event at the museum today, I’d have called in sick and crawled back into bed. I hate when a migraine hits hard enough to bring nausea with it, and even more when I know I can’t give in to it. Some days, you just have to barrel through and keep going because there’s too much to do to stop.

Thankfully, I’m taking a vacation day tomorrow and working from home again on Friday, so there’s a bit of light at the end of the tunnel. My event today ends at 1 p.m., and if I can get everything cleaned up and put back in order quickly, maybe I can head home early.

Sometimes my migraines ease as the day goes on, and if that happens, great. If not, I’ve learned that keeping busy can hold the pain at bay — at least until I stop. Then, of course, it all catches up with me. Hopefully, today will go smoothly and the hours will fly by quickly.

I survived the after-effects of the COVID vaccine and am feeling much better today. Yesterday morning was rough, but other than an intense migraine, all of my other symptoms went away by the afternoon. I did have some extra pain in my back, which may also have been triggered by the vaccine, but it’s manageable now.

I still have a slight migraine—what doctors call a postdrome. Migraines often have four phases: the prodrome, which comes before the headache and can include fatigue, food cravings, or mood changes; the aura, which some people experience as visual or sensory disturbances; the headache itself; and finally, the postdrome, a sort of “migraine hangover” that can leave you tired, foggy, or achy even after the worst pain is gone.

Other than that, I’m doing okay. I’d love another day to recover fully, but I have three meetings today and plenty of work waiting for me.

To make things even more interesting, my internet provider appears to be part of the global outage affecting many major services. So this will be a short post today, as I’m posting from my phone’s network—which works fine, just very slowly out here where I live.

Here’s hoping everything, including my head and the internet, clears up soon.

Even though I’m not working from home today like I usually do on Fridays, I’m glad it’s finally Friday. This has been a long and rough week—actually, it’s been a long and stressful month so far—and I’m ready for it to be over. Next week will hopefully be better. I have my last program of the month, and I’m praying it all goes smoothly. Monday will be a full day of meetings, and Tuesday might not be an easy day depending on what comes up. I’m hoping to take Thursday as a vacation day, and Friday I’ll be back to working from home again.

Today will be busy. I have a meeting this afternoon, and I’ll be putting away artifacts I used in a class yesterday. Once the workday is over, I can finally head home and relax—though I’m not so sure it will be the most relaxing of weekends. I’m scheduled for my COVID and flu vaccines tomorrow. The flu shot has never really bothered me, but the COVID vaccine tends to hit me hard. I don’t react much to Moderna or Novavax, but Pfizer always knocks me down. About twelve hours after getting the shot, I start getting body aches, fever, and chills—it’s much like actually having COVID. It lasts for a solid twenty-four hours and then, thankfully, it’s over.

You might wonder why I stick with the Pfizer vaccine if I react so strongly to it. The answer is simple: when I’ve taken Moderna or Novavax, I’ve ended up catching COVID afterward. It’s always been a mild case, but still unpleasant. Every time I’ve taken the Pfizer vaccine, however, I haven’t gotten COVID. So, twenty-four hours of discomfort seems a fair trade for something that works best for me. Medical preventatives aren’t always pleasant. After all, every twelve weeks I get thirty-seven Botox injections in my head, neck, and shoulders—definitely not enjoyable, but they help, which is why I keep doing it.

So, while this weekend might not be the most relaxing, at least I’ll be home with Isabella. And honestly, that’s not a bad way to spend a couple of days.

I hope everyone has a wonderful and relaxing weekend!