Excedrin.

This is a little ode to Excedrin PM, a new friend of mine. Last night I went and got my taxes done. It wasn't pretty. The amount that I thought I would be getting as a return, I now owe to the government, plus an additional couple of hundred dollars. I was sad. I had a headache.

I called on the help of my new friend, Excedrin PM, and he totally pulled through for me. I went to bed earlier than usual and slept really, really well.

I think more people take Tylenol PM as an occasional sleep aid. I have tried it a few times too. Sometimes it seems to work, other times, not so much.

But my drug of choice, as a rule, is always Excedrin. Love it. Need it. Gotta have it.

I think it's a family thing. Sadly, we are a family who gets frequent headaches. My dad has always taken Excedrin. In fact, one of the things you can always count on from my dad is that he will have an Excedrin for you in his pocket.

For YEARS (and we're not sure how many because it has been so many) by dad has carried a little tiny tin that says Excedrin on the outside and it is always full (it's like magic - it never empties. I think each time a pill leaves the tin, another one just magically appears.) Sometime last year (well, one of the times) I asked my dad for an Excedrin. He had one, but not in the tin. He said he couldn't find it and had no idea where it could have gone.

That's not like my dad. He keeps extremely good care of his belongings ... and that one was like a family heirloom, an antique. It was a sad day.

Then on my parents last trip out to Utah, I asked my dad for an Excedrin. He reached in his pocket and pulled out the tin. GLORY BE!!!! What? How? When?

My dad told me that it had showed up in a pair of his work pants that he had left at Sundance and then went home to New York. Whew. That was a happy day indeed.

Since Excedrin works so well for me as a rule, I wondered why I hadn't been trying Excedrin PM all this time instead of the Tylenol. My brother had said, "Isn't Excedrin PM sort of an oxy moron? How could it be a sleep aid when one of the ingredients is caffeine?"

I don't know the answer to that, but it worked for me last night. And it always works the best for me on my headaches, and back aches and any kind of ache my body might be feeling.

It's good to have 'friends' you can count on ...