Top 10 Tips for Surviving a Cold - Us Against the Snot!

Unfortunately, it's snot-season again. And that sucks because no matter what you do, you'll probably catch a cold sooner or later.

To make matters worse, Yale University have just published research which is only going to encourage your mum to add a verse of "I told you so" to the usual refrain of "You'll catch a cold going out like that". Yes, apparently the common cold - rhinovirus - thrives in a cold nose. Quite how we are supposed to keep our noses warm without wrapping a scarf up to our eyeballs, I don't know!

What I do know is this. When you catch a cold, there are a few things you can do to make the whole sticky misery that little bit easier to handle:

1. When you feel that first nasty scratch at the back of your throat, drink vinegar. The best option is usually to go for Cider Vinegar but I have resorted to Wine Vinegar when that was all I could find in the back of the cupboard. Don't go knocking it back, just one or two dessertspoons is plenty. The science behind it is the vinegar's virus-killing properties.
2. Drink lots of fluids. And lots! Don't worry if your appetite dwindles - that's only natural. Eat whatever you fancy though, just to keep your energy levels up. But the most important thing is that you are drinking. The fluids seem to help flush out your system and also replace the fluids you are losing through the copious amounts of snot your nose is producing.
3. Manuka honey sounds like some hippy remedy, about as useful as dancing round daisies. However, it is jam-packed with scientific goodies. The bees that make it gather pollen from the tea tree which makes the honey anti-septic, anaesthetic, anti-fungal...you name it. There are as many who discredit the evidence as produce it but I find it helps and that's enough for me. A good dollop in a mug with some slices of lemon and very hot water is like an enormous hug in a mug - anything else is a bonus.
4. Pop some cold & flu tablets. They don't need to be expensive - you'll only be paying for the brand marketing - most of them have the same ingredients anyway. They work by drying up excess fluids in the body. However, they aren't great for everyone. Some people find they just make their heads feel like they are filled with glue instead of snot. For others, they work wonders. They are a big no-no if you happen to be a breastfeeding mother though - last thing you need is your milk supply drying up!
5. Don't blow your nose. Wipe away anything that makes its own way to the exit, but blowing it will only block your sinuses. I'm not sure how - maybe it just messes with the internal pressure. Or perhaps it leaves the sinuses inflamed. Either way, be kind to your poor nose and treat it to the softest thing you have to hand. It sounds gross but you can't beat a proper hanky. The sort your granny used to give you for Christmas. Have a look at the back of the wardrobe - bound to be a packet loitering somewhere.
6. Stay away from the doctor's surgery at all costs. They can't help you anyway - it's a virus, remember, antibiotics only kill bacteria. You'll simply leave yourself open to picking up everything else that's hanging around in the waiting room. If you need advice on treating your symptoms - other than this blog, of course - speak to a pharmacist.
7. There is virtually nothing better than Olbas Oil, in my humble opinion. Anyone who knows me personally will be quite familiar with the little puff of menthol air emanating from my person when I have a cold. Go easy with it at first - it's strong. Just pop a couple of drops onto a tissue/hanky and keep that in your pocket. You can waft it around under your nose for a faster effect! If you want the absolute best treatment ever, get yourself in a steamy shower and splash the Olbas Oil around the walls/doors. Epic!
8. Don't forget to give yourself a break. It's easy to be dismissive - "It's just a cold" - but try to remember that your body is using energy to fight a virus. Take things easier than usual to give your body a chance to recover.
9. When your head is bunged up entirely, get up. Change rooms, floors or get outdoors. For some reason, it works. Change of air (or maybe altitude!) clears your head, at least temporarily!
10. When you get to the last stage of your battle against the snot-monster, you're bound to pass through the coughing chapter. It sucks. Some of the above will help. And if it keeps you awake at night, spread a layer of Vicks Vapour Rub on the soles of your feet (and a pair of socks too). And sleeeeeeep.

So there you have it. What else works for you? What's the weirdest suggestion anyone's ever made - whether it worked or not?

*aaaaaaaiiiitttcchhhhhoooooooo*

Where to next...?

Sometimes...you hit a wall.

Maybe you can't decide if it's shorts weather. Perhaps there's a gift to be bought but you'll be buggered if you have any ideas. Did you make a New Year's resolution to blog every day and don't know what to say one week in?

Or maybe it's your life.

Maybe you're speeding towards that wall with no idea how to avoid it. You can't even be certain where it is. It's somewhere up ahead - you can definitely make it out - but there's no knowing how long you have before you go hurtling into it. That's where I am. And it's scary.

I had a baby - as you do - in June 2012. I took my maternity leave with the intention of returning to the job I thrived in, the people I loved working with and the clients I'd forged relationships with. Yes, I was looking forward to the break - I think I needed to step off the wheel for a while (and onto that of sharing life with a newborn again - hardly a rest!) ;) It was a tough thing to do in so many ways, especially in an environment where things changed so much and so quickly - Who would have gone by the time I came back? What new projects would have been created? Would there be a new position for me?

I will never forget the intense feeling of loss that lasted for many months when the company closed the office. It wasn't the fact that I found out on Facebook that hurt me the most. It wasn't the fact that my only chance of returning would be to accept a role at the head office and subject myself and my family to at least four hours travelling per day. It wasn't, therefore, the weeks of inevitable negotiation of my redundancy terms. It was gone. Our office - our team - the heartbeat of the whole company - the people - the silly traditions - gone. There was nothing that could be done to bring any of that back. Moving to another office - as some had done - wasn't going to be anywhere near the same. There was nothing I could do about it. The announcement was made on a Friday afternoon, effective Monday morning. Done.

It may seem melodramatic to assimilate an office closure with a death. But that's just what it felt like. There are seven stages of grief and that is what I went through. I didn't realise at the time, but it is so clear to me now.

I was in shock for such a long time. There was no Denial phase for me - it was definitely done and dusted and I knew that straight away. But it took months before I got angry. And once I did, it didn't last very long. Then there were tears. And eventually...it was over.

I went on to have another baby - at 35 there didn't seem much sense in finding a new job, settling in again, carving a career for myself, building a reputation, forging relationships and then putting it all on hold for maternity leave again. 

Truth be told - I just wasn't ready to look for another job. The idea of working somewhere else seemed entirely implausible. I knew nothing would measure up to what I'd had before. I still carried a torch that I wasn't yet ready to cast aside.

So here I am.

The baby is now nine months old and racing towards that point where he will rely far less on me for sustenance, care and comfort. In just a few months he will be supping cow's milk and my feeding will be no more than a comforting habit and little snack, no doubt. There will be far less holding me back.

What am I going to do then? Unfortunately being a stay-at-home mum doesn't pay well enough for my liking. As a household, we really could use another income. As an individual, I need something else to challenge me. Not that my three children aren't a challenge - far from it - but I'm just not good enough to face that same challenge every day!

I'm still not convinced I'm ready to extinguish that flame that still flickers inside me. Maybe I never will be. Perhaps I could start my own business instead. But what would I do? Yes, the possibilities are limitless but with that comes a total lack of direction. And that's assuming I can find the time and discipline I would need to try working for myself and looking after the children.

I don't know exactly where that wall is...but I know I'm heading for it. Will it break me in to a thousand pieces? Or will it me the making of me somehow?

I wish I knew.

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Activity vs. Achievement

Do you ever wonder what you did with your day?

I do.

It's quite common for me to be awoken at 6:30 and not to return to the comfortable dent in my pillow until midnight. And yet, I struggle to see what it is I have achieved with those 18.5 waking hours!

That's not to say I am participating in some experiment to test the 'lady-of-leisure' title to breaking point by lollopping on the sofa all day - far from it. My time is occupied by a plethora of roles, responsibilities and tasks. I wear so many different hats, I often can't keep track of them all. But being busy doesn't necessarily mean you've achieved anything.

I think the difference for me is satisfaction. That's the missing element required to convert 'busy'ness to 'achievement'. And when you go for long enough without feeling like you've got anything to show for your efforts, it is soul-destroying. Yes, I have managed to keep the children alive, the washing in its constant clean-dirty-wet-dry-clean cycle, the dishwasher churning. I have even maintained some standard of personal hygiene, playful affection with my partner and  optimism that life won't always feel like this! But these things have to be done again, and again, and again without moving life forwards in any way. If I didn't do them one day, we wouldn't move backwards, life would merely hiccup.

My partner can't always see what I'm whinging about. He can see how busy I've been and thinks I'm knitting with only one needle when I suggest at 11pm I might go and unpack some boxes (from our house move in July)/audit the kids toy collection/hoover the ground floor. He doesn't realise that these are things on the other list of stuff I want to get done and that will make me feel a sense of achievement. I can tick them off life's 'To Do' list. No-one has 'Provide breakfast/lunch/dinner' on their list. 'Breastfeed the baby'. 'Put the shopping away'.

Crazy though this behaviour might seem, it can make a real difference. Anyone who has experienced depression will be familiar with the negativity surrounding a feeling of not being in control of one's life, being on auto-pilot, marking time. It's a slippery slope and allowing days to trickle by without so much as a teeny step being taken in the right direction can be the first step on that slope which will have you on your arse before you can say bugger.

I started a list today. Actually, I created a group on a messaging app for just me and my partner. It's called Achievements. We have plenty of lists around with umpteen tasks we should have done before we moved. They do work for us. But I wanted somewhere we could go to remind us what we've got done rather than haven't even looked at yet. Some days it will only be something little - I realise that. ubt at least it's something. Today, my achievements are [just checking my messaging group with a smug grin in place] enquiring about nursery places for our toddler (and ending up with an appointment for Monday morning!), sourcing this year's real Christmas tree (IKEA from 26th November and only £30 for 6-7ft!) and WRITING THIS POST! Genius!

I'm not going to cure cancer, end famine or achieve world peace. But it might make me feel better about staying at home all day wiping up sick, snot and skids!

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The Human Body is an Amazing Thing, but...

The human body is an amazing thing.

However, you'd think it would be able to distinguish between a human embryo and a cold virus. As I am writing this from the discomfort and inconvenience of my cold-filled pregnant body, I can confirm that this is not the case.

I am grateful that my body has placed my immune system on 'standby', so as not to reject the tiny person growing inside me. I just wish that didn't mean that, along with all of the other changes and challenges my first trimester body has been dealing with, it has to also deal with a migraine-turned 2 day headache-turned sword swallowers sore throat-turned snot fest.

As if the first trimester weren't bad enough... We all know how pregnancy takes its toll. Obviously the most drastic changes come between not being pregnant and being pregnant. But aside from the physical, there are plenty of psychological hurdles to overcome too.

Firstly, there's the overwhelming excitement that comes with finding out you're pregnant. This very quickly becomes overshadowed by what could easily be described as parenthood. What if there's something 'wrong' with the baby? What if I miscarry? What if there's more than one?!

And no-one can answer these questions until the 'dating' scan at around 12 weeks pregnant!

As if THAT little lot weren't enough to add to the sleepless nights (already facilitated by the hormone-induced need to pee each individual teaspoon of fluid consumed and the hormone-induced aching joints), there's the anxiety over whether anyone has noticed that you're looking tubby/tired/tormented/ecstatic and whether, in turn, you've made the right decision NOT to tell anyone til you've had the all-clear.

You see, the hardest part of all is having no-one to share it with other than daddy-to-be. And we all now that, no matter how great he might be, no-one's quite like your mum/best mate/sis-in-law when it comes to having a good whinge!

Thankfully, tomorrow marks the beginning of the second trimester for me and Sprout. I expect to wake up devoid of lurgy and feeling bright and glowing. At least, that's what my pregnancy app suggested would happen...soon.