NaBloPoMo: day 23, 24, 25, 26 and 27

How has it been five days since I last posted? I've had a friend visiting for a couple of days so I haven't been online as much, but five days?! I'm not doing a very good job of NaBloPoMo, am I? 

Here's some stuff that's happened. 

Kranski! 

I had dinner with my friends Lauren and Bertie at the Munich Brauhaus on Wednesday night. Yes, the German restaurant was my idea. Predictably, I had cheese kranskies, potato salad and sauerkraut. And a pretzel. Yum. The company was good too. Lauren had some wonderful news to share - she's finally leaving the firm where we all met years ago. Hurrah!

I got a new piece of jewellery. Many migraine sufferers say this piercing (known as a daith piercing) cured or relieved their migraines, so my friend Deliea (also a chronic migraineur) and I decided to give it a crack. There's no science to back it up and other migraineurs say it made no difference, but we thought we'd find out for ourselves. I'll leave the ring in regardless, because I like it.  

I have a back up plan to ease my migraines anyway. You know how I spent a day in hospital having a test done last week? Well, I had a cerebral angiogram so my doctors could get a better look at a mass in my noggin that was discovered because my neurologist wanted to check if I had any clots in my sinuses after I mentioned that I'd had a DVT. The mass is an abnormal tangle of veins (arteriovenous malformation) and it could be the cause of some of my migraines. I'll be having it treated in the next few weeks (probably in a similar process to the angiogram - i.e. a catheter inserted into the femoral artery). After suffering migraines since my teens, this development seems almost too good to be true!

Cheese avalanche

After the piercing (which hurt, but but not for long), Deliea and I had burgers at Parlour Diner - the place I had that super oozy cheesy burger a few weeks ago. I had the same burger and it was just as good. (That's a rather unappetising looking gluten-free bun, but it's surprisingly sturdy and held everything together well.)

NaBloPoMo: day 14

A perfectly rounded tablespoon of cacao

I started reading The Good People by Hannah Kent (author of the highly acclaimed Burial Rites) on Saturday, but I didn't notice until last night that my copy (from Booktopia) was signed by the author. It was a nice little surprise. 

I'm only a few chapters in and I'm enjoying it. Her prose is so poetic, particularly her descriptions of the landscape. Some sentences I have to read twice to wring full pleasure from them.  

I'm also astounded by her ability to write (again) about a different country in a different time, this time rural Ireland...a very long time ago.  I guess that shows my lack of imagination and aptitude for research. If I were to write a book, I'd stick to the maxim "write what you know". 

I get to have a little sleep in tomorrow - yay! - because instead of going to work I'm going to have a test done at the hospital which will take most of the day. Not so yay, but I get to lie down for four hours afterwards. A good reading opportunity. 

I'm still thinking about last night's cheese kransky and the cheese that oozed out of the burger I ate on Saturday. I love cheese. 

NaBloPoMo: day 13

Foreboding sky this afternoon when I headed out

I met my friend from uni days for afternoon tea in Camberwell this afternoon. We had a good catch up and over delicious treats from the Laurent French bakery (mine was a miniature lemon meringue pie capped with a perfect dome of meringue).  It was pleasant way to while away a few hours on a Sunday afternoon. 

(As I usually do after spending time with friends, I thought, "I really should make more effort to keep in touch with my friends," but I'm probably not going to get any better at it: I'm an introvert and, as much as I like my friends, I rarely feel compelled to spend time with other people.)  

I forgot to take my umbrella with me when I left home (which almost never happens) and it started to rain quite heavily while I was on the train home, but it stopped not long after I got off the train while I waited under cover. I timed my comings and goings well once again.

 We had cheese kranskies for dinner. Yum. Cheese is the best. 

NaBloPoMo: day 12

Old knob

We ate lunch at Parlour Diner on Chapel Street today. I had a beef burger that was oozing - OOOOZING! - with melted cheese. Twas an oozapalooza. It was sensational. They also do amazing onion rings, which I shouldn't eat (they upset my belly), but they  are irresistible. 

I got a good dose of vitamin D when I was out and about this afternoon and yesterday. 

I'm meeting an old friend from uni for afternoon tea tomorrow. She's down from Wollongong for the weekend. It's been a few years since I've seen her.

Friday, surprise mandarin, Babybel

It's Fuh-ridayeeeeeee! This working week has gone quickly, but today dragged on. I've had a pleasingly productive week at work and cleared piles of filing off my desk, which is always a nice feeling. 

I ate a deliciously sweet mandarin for morning tea. It was small so it was down the hatch in no time. Just as I was wishing there were more, I looked down and there in front of me sat two more segments of juicy mandarin. Score!

I also had a Babybel cheese for my morning snack. I only had Babybel for the first time this week.  I bought some for after-gym snacks, but so far I've eaten them before setting foot in the gym.  I really enjoy peeling the little strip that splits the wax coating in two.