rockin´ Iceland
I have half an hour of free internet time so here I am...in Reyjkavik, and it rocks. Seriously rocks. Saturday night involved a
very expensive night out on the town, followed by copious amounts of hot dogs. It´s funny how each city has their own late-night drinking food, and here it just happens to be hot dogs. Waved goodbye to Christopher, Andrew, and Damon on Sunday morning as they went off on their hike. I spent the day getting to know my surroundings, and it reminds me so much of Halifax, it´s uncanny. Went whale watching, and saw some minke whales, puffins, a school of dolphins, and some kind of shark. I got scared watching the shark because it cam so close to the boat I was sure I would be a gone-er. Now I´m at the hostel I´ll be at for the rest of the week. It´s a bit further out from the city, but its cheaper. and Iceland is freakin expensive. But freakin cool. Ive never drank so much coffee in my life. Tonight I´m going to hit up the thermal swimming pools and tomorrow I´ll head over to the thermal beach. I have alot of museums and libraries (of course) before I head out to the country side on Friday. Last night I went to see a really weird movie on volcanos. end of story. more updates to be had in 9 days time.
get your daughters...
to get this. I am in that 30% who wouldn't benefit from it, but that still leaves 70% of you who won't have to go through all this baloney.
rambling rambler
I really have nothing of substance to report.
On Saturday we went on a hike, along the
South Downs Way and stayed the night in a hippie commune. I have a new found appeciation for sheep. They are cute and you can walk through a giant flock of them without being attacked. Who knew? Growing up, we didn't see many sheep in Scarborough. I just assumed that if you came across a gang of them that they would flash a knife and ask for your money. It was a really pretty walk, with lots of rolling hills, and such. But now I can hardly stand up because my legs are so sore. I really need to start exercising again. I haven't done anything really physical since April 27, which was the day before my surgery. I had told myself that I would continue to run and workout during my treatment, but I quickly realized that just wasn't going to happen. But now it's time. Seriously time.
I had a job interview this morning and it seemed to go pretty well, I guess. Everything except that I had to make a 5 minute presentation on how to search for clinical trials about asthma on Medline, and I pretty much bombed it. And afterwards I realized that I hadn't cut the price tag off of my new boring grey pants, so they were all probably laughing at me anyway - "ha ha, she paid 30 quid for those ugly things
and she's how big???" - which in response I would say - "they were the first pair I tried on because Topshop on Oxford street on a rainy day is
hell on earth and don't blame me, blame the beer". But I'm exercising again. soon. But I won't give up peanut butter.
frequent flyer
In the past twelve months I have flown at least twelve times. I hate flying! It's okay when the ride is smooth, but when the seatbelt light is on the entire time it's no fun. I can't sleep on planes either. And I have to line up in the 'all other passports' line, which is extra fun when your flight gets in at the same time as American Airlines and Fly Emirates. Oh yeah, and added security measures means that deodorant is not allowed. This is not a big problem for me, but it apparantly was a problem for the woman sitting next to me. It's also extra extra fun getting on the Tube during rush hour with three large bags. But I made it back to London in one piece. One big, smelly, tired, grumpy piece. Since I'll be flying at least once every three months, I thought I would rate my experiences. This is more for my benefit than for dear readers.
Air Canada red eye flight:
Movie: Crap. "Take the lead" possibly beat out "She's the Man" as worse movie ever
Food: Unedible. But I still ate it. I like the night flights because I can drink wine with "dinner". This is harder to do when you are served breakfast.
Bumps: Lots of them. More than I've ever had before. And they weren't lovely, or ladylike.
Immigration: No probs...other than queing up for an hour.
Bonus: Alan Cross' History of New Music - In Flight version
Overall: Not one of the best Air Canada flights I've ever had. Severley lacking in footrests and blankies.
Have you gotten a call from Samuel L Jackson yet?
This really is the best thing ever. I tried to send this via phone to friends in London, but apparantly 208 is also the area code for Idaho. So some poor farmers in Idaho are answering their phones to hear that their homegirl Stephanie says stop smoking all that wacky tobaccy and to go see Snakes on a Plane.
forked and prodded
Today was my very first follow-up appointment and I have some big news - I weigh 122 lbs (55 kilos)!!! I have gained 12 pounds (5 kilos) since my treatment ended only 6 weeks ago, thanks to a steady diet of cider and late-night chicken burgers.
Okay, enough horsing around, you say? The real big news is that I have made a "100% improvement", and that my cervix is small, soft, pink and cute (she didn't actually say 'cute', but I know that's what she meant). Obviously, this was music to my ears!!! I was incredibly nervous all day today and am so HAPPY to hear that the cancer is gone and *hopefully* will never, ever, ever come back. My next appointment is November 8, at which time they will also do a CT scan. I hate CTs because when they inject the dye into your veins, it feels like you're wee-ing your pants. That's enough about today. Now I can actually relax and enjoy being in Toronto for a few more days.
I woke up this morning only to look out the front window and discover that our front lawn had been forked, with a few plastic knives and spoons thrown in for good measure.
yet another reason why I love London
Today I met Christopher for lunch at Waterloo station, and we headed over to my new favourite place - Ned's Noodle Box. Not only does it have a name that suits my sensibilities, but the noodles come in actual noodle boxes. I thought only people in the movies ate their noodles out of these boxes. I wanted to buy another box and take it home, so when we get home from the pub later on tonight, we could open the fridge and take out the box of noodles. Just like they do in the movies.
I had Thai Veggie Green Curry and I think I'm going to dream about it for weeks to come. It would have been perfect if it weren't for those few damn carrots. Only bunnies should eat carrots, and even if I were a bunny, I'd probably stick to lettuce.
You could choose the type of noodle you wanted too - thin, medium or thick. Medium was totally the right way to go, as thin would be too stringy and thick too worm-like. This is a picture of me on my way home from Ned's Noodle Box. I'm alot happier than I look. As you can see, London's summer has come to an end, and the grey clouds and rain have returned. It will be like this until next July when there will be another 3 weeks of sunshine and warm weather. But that's okay, because now I have Ned's Noodle Box to get me through. Ned's Noodle Box, Ned's Noodle Box, Ned's Noodle Box. That's hard to type three times fast...you end up typing Need's Boodle Nox instead.
I like big bundts and I cannot lie
There are things I miss from home alot. Family and friends being at the obvious top of the list. I miss the Saturday morning routine of the Halifax Farmer's Market, followed by cardio strip-tease. I miss watching Lloyd Robertson at 11:00 with my mom, fearful that he is going to have a stroke on-air. I miss staying up late to watch Conan O'Brien. I like having my little routines, and it is these routines that I miss. I only have one routine here so far, and that is a "Grande Black Americano with room for milk to take away". I say these words every day, then stroll home with The Guardian. I then drink my coffee, read the paper, and do the Sudoku puzzle. Because Sudoku is my new crossword. Because the crosswords here are all cryptic, and I hate cryptic crosswords, mostly because I don't understand them.
Oh yes, and I miss coffee. I would like a large Paradiso from Second Cup, and if there is not enough room for milk, then I can pour it out in the grate provided. This morning, once again, when I say 'room for milk', they only fill the cup up halfway. Like, how much milk do you think I'm going to put in my coffee????
I don't consider this homesickness, but just things that I liked, that I can't get here. It works the other way around too. When I go back home, I know I'm going to miss The Guardian and Pret a Manger. Speaking of home, I go home on Monday for a week. My first check-up is on Wednesday, which is also the
Moose's birthday. When she blows out her candles, I'm hoping she'll make a big wish for me.
Speaking of birthdays, they just keep going!!!
The Fabulous Librarian and her Fabulous Husband had a fabulous baby girl yesterday. She is one lucky little lady to have such cool parents
and be born on the same day as the great
Jenn Reid. I calculated that while Em was pushing out a 7 pound baby, I was eating a thin crust pizza and drinking a pint of lager.
