When my husband died, I got a little comfort in the coming of my first menstral period. It was a relief to know that I would only be raising BoBo and YaYa without him. I wasn’t worried, but 99.9% isn’t a guarantee you know. Now, 1 month later, the arrival of period does not bring as much comfort. Instead, it brings pain.
Since yesterday, my back has been aching and my stomach has been cramping. What a pain. My only reprleve was during today’s run.
The challenge was to take a picture of ourself upon awakening. I believe the idea was that no sprucing up was allowed – no hair or teeth brushing, no coffee, no make-up, nothing to change your appearance.
It sounded easy enough yesterday, when I first read about it on Runner Susan’s blog. Last night, I put my camera on my dresser, next to my bed, so that I would not forget. During the wee hours of the morning, I proceeded to wake up several times.
I took pictures a couple of times during these awakenings in case I wasn’t able to return to sleep. But after that rude shock from the flash, there was nothing more to do but close my eyes again. By daylight, I figured that I was truly awake for the day.
I was awake. But, again, I did not want to get up. I took my picture and lay there listening to the rain drops falling. My running clothes were ready and waiting for me on the floor beside my dresser. But, I wasn’t happy about going out alone, in the RAIN, for a 14 mile run…. at least not yet.
Back to the “Rise and Shine” challenge: Although the sun was finally shining (somewhat), I wasn’t exactly rising. I wondered, was this cheating? Was it cheating to have little YaYa in the photo – sleeping there as sweetly as he does? So, I took another picture of myself after I sat up just to be sure that I was playing the game right.
I looked at the photo and gave it the confirmatory nod. This *is* what I look like when I wake up. No frills. No make-up (not that there ever is), teeth or hair brushing, or coffee. It’s just me and my morning thoughts.
What a rude awakening!