Something in the Water

I woke up this morning feeling unbelieveably good.

I felt calm and relaxed, invigorated and alive and just so well-rested.

As I stretched and headed for the kitchen and the coffeemaker, I got that feeling you get when you wake up on that first morning of your summer vacation, look out your hotel or beach house window, take a good deep breath and just absorb the first few minutes of your day.

The strange thing was, when I was going to bed I was anticipating waking up slightly hung over.
After hanging with the neighbors Sunday night, helping them polish off the remaining few bottles of wine left from their Saturday nite party, I headed home a little after 10 with half a glass of wine left.

I watched TV for a bit, sipped away at the remaining reisling in my glass and turned in. Before going upstairs I poured a glass of my newest creation to quench any middle of the night thirsts -- cucumber water. (You add thinly sliced cucumber slices (I use a whole small kirby cuke) to a pitcher of fresh spring water, a slice or two of lemon if you'd like, and keep it in the fridge.) I LOVE the stuff. Had it at a spa a few weeks ago when I went for a massage and kept intending to make it. Yesterday I finally followed through.

Anyway, I settled in under the sheets, with the air conditioner blasting and my cucumber water on the bedside table.

I rarely sleep through the nite -- bathroom runs, thirst, the cat and the occasional strange dream often have me up once or twice. And last nite was no exception. Two hours after falling asleep, the cat wanted out of the air conditioned room. And I had a sip or two of my cucumber water; two hours later, she wanted back in and I also needed to pee and then gulped down a few more mouthfuls. Two hours after that, it was 6 a.m. and I was wide awake and ready to start my day.

I remained in bed just vegging, for another half hour -- didn't want to disturb the cat who was still very much asleep and obviously very comfortable resting against my elbow. When I eventually threw back the sheets, I realized I felt great. Not even the hint of a hangover, no stiff muscles or tight back -- I felt like a new person.

As I opened up the downstairs windows to let the cool morning air in, I realized it wasn't very cool. Barely 7 a.m. and already the temp was closing in on 80. And it was hazy out when I got the paper in. But that only added to the energy and rejuvenation I felt.

I have no idea what got into me!

Maybe the air conditioning, I thought and then realized that usually, air conditioning made me feel worse. As I literally bounced around the house getting ready for the day, enjoying the extra time I now had because I had gotten up so damn early, I couldn't get over how much energy I had, what a good mood I was in, and just how alive I felt.

What could it be? I kept thinking as I drove to work. I should have slept for at least another hour, and then woken up cranky and with a headache, cursing the neighbors and their free wine. But I wasn't. Instead, I felt like a Polly-frickin-Anna. All full of goodness and light and well wishes.

Finally, after a couple hours at my desk -- where I actually got work done (I start out slow usually and spend my morning checking email, phone messages and pushing around all the piles on my desk trying to decide what to do first) -- it hit me like a ton of bricks.

THE CUCUMBER WATER!

Its the one thing I did differently. It was the first time I had made a pitcher, and with the weather being so hot yesterday, I had drank an entire pitcher over the course of the afternoon and evening.

It had to be. What else? Its the only thing that was different.

I'm hoping I've found the fountain of youth here. I had previously just drank my water plain, thank you very much, or did the old lemon water thing. I now have a new fad, but I will be doing some experimentation over the course of this week.

I plan on making and drinking more cucumber water, to see if it has any difference. And of course, geek that I am, I'll probably research it a bit on the internet to see if I can find any claims. But for now, all I know is I feel great and looking forward to going home and enjoying the rest of the afternoon -- maybe reading on the front porch for awhile, with a tall glass of -- you guessed it -- cucumber water nearby.

Besides, it can't hurt right?