Rest Essential

It's been three weeks since I've written, but what's incredible about that is that during those three weeks not one day went by that I didn't sit in front of the computer for most of it.

Having multiple Web sites of my own that I maintain, and working as a Web and graphic designer, I literally am on the computer from 9am until 5pm, 5 days a week. Luckily for me, design was first a hobby and second a day-job, so typically - after going home from work, taking care of menial tasks like laundry, dishes, or eating dinner - I park myself back in front of my own computer and go back to work.

What am I working on? Right now my list of Web projects is so long that I had to break my to-do list into realistic chunks, organized by site, so that it's not so overwhelming. But first and foremost, I've been working steadily on the redesign of my friend Trina's site, trinabags.com (she makes beautiful, functional, homemade and custom-designed hand bags). After that, a pet project of mine (literally) called Toonces TV, which will essentially be a video blog for my soon-to-be-famous feline, Toonces. And after that? Redesigning and streamlining my husband's multiple Web sites, which include his personal portfolio site, Nameinuse.com, and the Web sites for his recent and upcoming films. I'm also hoping to spend time optimizing and expanding CollegeAftermath.com, a project I started over a year ago. And somewhere, at the bottom of my to-do list is "redesign RaeanneWright.com"... my personal site which has been vacant for nearly a year now, which I intend to combine with this blog and beautify in some incredibly creative way.

And on top of all that, I'm teaching myself more and currently going through the painful transition to standards-compliant CSS design from out-dated, traditional table-based layouts (I apologize if that is the equivalent of Greek to my readers). In English: I'm relearning how to make Web sites the right way, since I was self-taught and learned 100% of what I know from other people who weren't necessarily doing it right to begin with.

The cumulation of all this learning and all this Web work and all this sitting in front of the computer? A severe need to flex my muscles - literally - during my time away from the screen. I've been going to yoga twice a week now, and practicing more intensely at home, too. So ironically, despite the hours and hours I spend on my ass, I'm feeling stronger than ever and am reaching new levels in my practice that I never really imagined.

All of this is good, yes indeed. It's all in line with my New Year's resolutions and goals for 2008, which were, in short, to improve my body and mind. Check. And check.

This past week, though, I think I've pushed a little too hard. Work has been extra-stressful, and I've worked a couple late nights, thus taking it out harder on myself once I make it to the yoga mat. This morning, I made a ridiculously organized to-do list for the weekend, carving out my Web goals and deciding what was doable in two days. Shortly after? I felt the distant twinge of a sore throat swelling and the mild throb of a headache... I was getting sick! My body has had enough, and is failing. I take pride in my rock-solid immune system... but flus and colds have been going around and picking off pretty much everyone I know, and I wondered if it was only a matter of time.

So rather than spend the afternoon parked in front of the computer editing code, I spent the afternoon parked on the couch sleeping with the cat and drinking hot tea. I'm feeling better, as you might have guessed by my return to the computer, but I've decided I'm taking today off. After a few emails and a blog post (all on my to-do list, of course), I'm clocking out for the week. I need some rest, and my body is demanding it.

I'll be as far away as I can be from my well-worn computer chair until.... well, probably tomorrow.