Sleepless Night - Again

There is a bright side to experiencing a night without sleep.

There are a few things going on: I have a major j-pouch flare-up, I have been using Cortifoam, and I have had an extremely difficult time eating and getting the nutrition that I require. I also that I cannot absorb the nutrition that my body requires.
Yesterday, the cortifoam had improved my symptoms later on in the day, which made it easier for me to eat. In a way, this is a really great thing. My shakiness and weakness were both improved after having a good meal, and I had more energy from the protein I managed to keep down. With fewer bathroom breaks I am certain that more nutrients absorbed.
This is really important.

Unfortunately, it also means that the food was bound to result in severe stomach pains and intestinal cramping. These pains were not severe enough for emergency treatment or anything, but they did manage to keep me up all night, rocking back and forth on the bed in the guest room as to not keep Rj awake (or make him vomit from motion sickness - the bed was basically a boat while I was rocking for hours on end).
It isn't that I wasn't tired, and it wasn't insomnia, it was simply pain and discomfort that I experienced because I ate a healthy amount of food yesterday.

Kind of a downer.
And yet it also means that the Cortifoam worked well enough to allow me to eat - to get past the immediate pains and urgency and nausea in order to absorb some nutrients.
That makes it worth it.
So the majority of the day today will be spent sleeping... hopefully... and if you see me, don't be alarmed if I have a zombie-like appearance -> in the way I look, move, walk, and even talk.

Hooray for Zombie days!

Dark Circles

I have had dark circles under my eyes since I was a young teenager. I started to really notice them when I got sick (which is kind of expected).
When your body is in pain, when you can't sleep soundly, when you suffer from illness that takes a toll on your body every single day, dark circles are just a fact of life. Plus, apparently they have a hereditary component.
Thanks Mom!
Just kidding.

Dark circles are not a big deal. It's not like they hurt or cause any lasting damage, but there ARE products that can help... and I have been a total sucker. I have bought the expensive creams and oils and products to help boost the look of my undereye.
Well, I have purchased another product.
Let's be real here, if these dark circles WERE to go away, it would have been in my early 20s. They sure aren't going to improve anytime soon, so I have caved and I purchased some professional-grade concealer. If ya can't fix it, why not hide it?

I was prompted to do this because I recently had my makeup professionally done, and whatever that makeup artist used under my eyes made those dark greyish-purple circles completely disappear!!! Not only that, but that's all she really worked on. My eyes and my lips. This means that whatever she used blended well into my usual light type of makeup. I usually use a light cream-to-powder foundation with lotion built-in. Whatever she used looked light, felt light, and yet hid that darkness entirely. Here's the problem - I did not have a chance to ask her what she used. (Maybe next time).

So yesterday I dragged myself out of the house and asked for help from the makeup-obsessed sales gals at Sephora. It was my first time in there... scary.
She showed me a few products, suggested one in particular, and then did a mini-makeover to show me how to use it and how well it works.

Today was my first day trying it... so far so good. It's not a total miracle-look, but once I get some practice in, maybe it will be similarly miraculous.

It seems like such a small thing. It IS such a small thing. It is a small step to help me look less tired than I feel. It is a small step to be able to wear eye liner and/or shadow on my lower eye line without putting a spotlight on that dark greyish zombie under eyes.
I feel less like a zombie.
That was the goal.

Now if I could somehow figure out exactly what that makeup artist used and learn how to do that properly by myself....