Winter Wonderland, or something like that

[mellificent]

It's officially winter. According to my phone (which seems to be fairly accurate as far as I can tell), it's 57F outside, and is supposed to be in the 40s at night for almost the whole next week, which is relatively chilly by our - admittedly wimpy - standards. We've had a lot of rain the past few days, so it's wet and chilly, yuck.

It hasn't been a

Comments

[profrobert]

Do you have a humidifier in your bedroom? Getting sick in winter is usually due to having the heat on, which dries out the air, which in turn dries out the mucus membranes, particularly while you sleep.

And for hormones, why not ask your gynecologist or see an endocrinologist? No reason not to get an answer to "who knows" about your hormones.

I'm starting to feel like a Jewish mother every time I comment on your LJ. Sorry if that's the case, it's just that I care, Bubbela!

[mellificent]

Hmm, I'd never thought about a humidifier, maybe because we live in a part of the world where there's usually too much humidity rather than too little. But that doesn't mean it can't get dry inside when the heat's on, you're right about that.

About the hormones, the gynecologist IS maddeningly vague about it when I've asked - I think they're used to crazy perimenopausal women. (So far I haven't actually hit menopause but it should be due any time now.) I'm not sure if it's that big a deal that I want to go to an endocrinologist for it. I'll have to think about that one.

(And no, I don't mind the Jewish-mother thing!!) :)

[ursulahitler]

I'd suggest trying to turn your wintry sadness into a kind of wistful melancholy... Try listening to the soundtrack of the Charlie Brown Christmas special, especially "Christmas Time is Here." That'll give you a big wiggly sad smile, just like Charlie Brown! That Joni Mitchell song about how she wishes she had a river she could skate away on, that's also good for pensively staring out the window with a cup of tea.

[mellificent]

I have both of those on iTunes (and several of the Charlie Brown pieces, I think) - that Joni Mitchell song (it's just called "River") is a particular favorite. I think I made a mix CD once, or part of one, anyway, with what I called something like "anti-Christmas songs" - as you said, the melancholy side of Christmas. I know another song that was on it was that Emerson, Lake and Palmer song - "I Believe in Father Christmas" - which sounds more uplifting but is extremely cynical when you listen to the lyrics. I have very mixed feelings about Christmas nowadays - I still celebrate it, more or less, even though every time I see all that crap about the "real meaning of Christmas" etc. it makes me feel all stabby. (Bill O'Reilly and his supporters are ruining Christmas as a secular holiday... which of course was their intention.)

[ext_914073]

I've typically gotten sick around this time of year, though not this time. I'm not sure if that's good fortune or something else... last spring, I thought I had a nasty cold, but it just wasn't going away--turned out to be allergies of some sort or a sinus something. Something neither viral nor bacterial, I can't remember. My doctor wrote a prescription for a nasal steroid and told me to take it daily until at least early summer. Bam, problem solved. So this fall and winter when I started feeling yucky, I refilled my prescription and it's taken care of everything. So maybe all these years, I've been less sick than I thought? Whatever--it feels great to feel great (except, of course, that I forgot to bring it along on our travels to visit family--I'm expecting the worst to hit any moment now!).

Anyway, it's hard to sort out those sorts of chicken-and-egg problems, but it sure is hard to stay positive when you're dealing with illness. Best to you!