Excederin or Writing?

My house doesn't have heat. Well, it has heat, but it's something called radiant heat that doesn't float down to hobbit level, so we don't turn it on. We bundle up in blankets and gather around our Costco heat dish. And this past week we had snow and ice up in our little NW corner of the woods.

So when I wasn't working, trying to find a ride to work, or worrying about work, I was huddled on the couch under a pile of blankets. 

Then the headache began. Right over my forehead. I thought maybe eye strain or sinus. The headache went on for five or six days. It wasn't my usual migraine of throbbiness, just constant pressure across my forehead, making me nauseous by the end of the night.

And then I wrote just a few paragraphs--and on a new shiny object. Kristi makes her characters wait in the waiting room. I like to let mine come out and play before I bench them.

Thoughts of this story fueled my mind for the last couple of days, keeping me company as I scanned in truck and worked totes. I jotted down notes on my lunch and listened to dialogue as I drove home. 

And you know what? My headache went away. 

Yesterday I had a physical and my doctor said forehead headaches are a sign of muscle tension. Well, between the snow and ice, finding rides to work, and working in a new location that doesn't feel like home yet, I have been a veritable band of tension ready to snap. And you add not writing-because my fingers are icicles--to that mix, and ergo, headache time.

Writing cured my headache! Now, off to play with my new characters or maybe a few old ones. I have four days off in a row and I aim to get some serious writing time in.