Sicky

Ginger Honey Lemon Tea and a pretty mug from Alisa

I have caught an awful cold (maybe from my baby niece Elizabeth? If that's the case, I forgive her, and I feel bad for her little sick body). Last night was the worst. I felt decent as I went to bed, but it was hard to fall asleep, and it just got harder as time went by. My throat was itchy and dry, and my nose would not allow the passage of air and needed constant blowing, so I had to breathe through my mouth, which just made my throat scratchier and drier. I was not a happy girl. I tried and tried to sleep, and I finally dozed off around 3:30 in the a.m. I didn't set an alarm, because I knew my sick body needed all the rest it could get. You can imagine my disappointment when I awoke only four hours later, at 7:30. I was awake. Wide awake. And super mad. I still felt horrible, and I knew I wasn't rested, but I couldn't get myself back to sleep. I read blogs, checked out Pinterest and Facebook, and read up on natural cold remedies, and finally at 9:30 my eyelids were heavy once more. I put away my phone and tried again to sleep, but nothing was going my way. I continued to try, basically just lying there with my eyes closed until about noon. That's when I gave up, took some meds, and made myself some ginger honey lemon tea. That sweet nectar saved me (the pseudoephedrine helped, too).

I've spent the rest of this day dealing with what comes with four hours of sleep: huge headache, zero energy, cabin fever, and self-pity, all on top of this lame cold. I'm just counting down till 10, when I plan on going to sleep and staying that way for twelve or so hours.

On a positive note, I had a lot of time today to study Swedish (my number one current obsession). I have to share a happy moment I had last night. Kimball was watching a lecture by a professor with an accent (we're both nerds who learn for fun), and I correctly guessed that he was from Sweden! I've only ever spoken to two native swedes in my life, and I'm only just learning the very basics of the language, so I was pretty proud of myself that I picked up on it. Okay, not a huge thing to brag about, but it was the highlight of my last 24 hours... next to this lovely tea of course:

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Ginger Honey Lemon Tea

1 cup of water
1 T fresh grated ginger (doesn't have to be peeled)
1 T honey
1 T freshly squeezed lemon juice

Boil the water, remove from heat, and add the ginger to the pot. Let it steep for about three minutes. Squeeze a tablespoon of lemon juice into a mug, add a tablespoon of honey, and then pour the hot ginger-water over a mesh strainer into the mug. Stir it up and enjoy, and then be mad that you didn't make more. (I recommend quadrupling the recipe).

The ginger gives this stuff an incredible kick that will clear out your stuffy head. The lemon adds great flavor and is packed with vitamin C that will fix you up in no time, and the honey sweetens up the tea perfectly and really soothes a sore, itchy throat. It's fantastic.

I first had tea like this is at a very random massage parlor in China, just across the border from Hong Kong. (Remember that time I randomly went to Hong Kong for a week to visit a boy I liked? Two weeks before I went to Cairo for four months? Single life, man, I was crazy.) Anyway, I was sick as a dog, and the masseuse noticed me sniffling like crazy, so she went and whipped up a concoction that I think was similar to this... I honestly have no idea what was in it, but I will never forget it. I know it had lots of chunks of ginger and citrus fruits and it was amazing. So was the massage, come to think of it.

So go stock up on ginger and lemons, so you can enjoy this all winter long. It's not just for sickies! It could replace hot chocolate and apple cider for me. Actually, just apple cider. HoCho will never be forsaken by me. Not ever.