aches of the head

Okay, I admit it. I didn't take a shower this morning, guys. What are you going to do about it? I don't smell, and my hair looks pretty okay, and I put a new coat of eye makeup on yesterday's eye makeup so it looks grungy-chic.

My reasons are: 1) My hairdryer is broken, I need a new one, and my hair is in that weird mullety stage that air dries really . So that is clearly not an option. 2) I woke up with a cracking headache for like the tenth time in the last two weeks.

I am no stranger to headaches. I've had them since I was very small. Probably inherited from my dad (along with the acne and the overbite. LOVE YOU, DERD!). They're typically of the sinus variety, but also have symptoms of good ol' tension headaches. I have a strong memory of suffering from a particularly screaming headache when I was about 10 years old, and my mom sitting next to my bed, brushing her fingertips along my forehead and telling me to envision the headache as a big nasty black hole that was slowly slowly slowly falling into itself and disappearing.

It didn't work.

But it was a nice thought! I still try that game now and then.

Still doesn't work.

But it was a nice thought!

All my headaches tend to settle behind my eyes, in my temples, in my neck, and in my shoulders/shoulder blades. And obviously under my eyes in my sinuses. Occasionally it's bad enough that my teeth ache. The sinus headaches started becoming more frequent when we moved to Utah, to a higher elevation. It's easier to feel pressure changes in the weather-- but at least that comes in handy, because my sinuses can predict the weather. Sometimes if I take some good, strong sinus medication, I can feel the pressure literally go pop! pop! pop! as it dissipates. Slowly.

According to the Discovery Health website, tension headaches are caused "in response to stress, anxiety and fatigue. Some experts believe that sufferers of tension headaches may have a biological predisposition to translate stress into the muscle contractions that cause this pain." What could I possibly be stressed or anxious about?

Well, turns out I'm starting to dream about the play, or my job, or this summer camp I'm trying to help organize.

I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest this is at least part of the cause of my headaches?

It probably doesn't help to live in a world filled with constant he-said-she-said and finger pointing. I'm certain that's not helping, in fact.

And let's be real-- I don't have any kind of stress reliever because I sit at this desk all day (where I stress out about life) and then I go to rehearsal (where I stress out about lines) and then I go home and lie in bed and stare at the television and drool a little. And then start all over. So I'm going to start working out. I don't know when. I have no idea when. But I've got to find little snippets of time to go pour all my stress into some kind of elliptical machine, which will make me fall sleep better, which will make me not dream, which will cut the headaches out of my life.

Cutting out the Diet Coke would probably also do it, but it's not going to happen. Let's just not kid ourselves.