02 Sunday Aug 2009
It’s been just over two weeks since I wrote this post telling you all about my friend Manolo offering me the use of his beachfront apartment in Málaga in August. It’s been like waiting for Christmas but finally today is the day! Nog and I are going to leave just after lunch, catch the train at 3pm and should be at the apartment by 6 o’clock. In time to unpack and get settled in and then hit the streets early evening in search of tapas…
16 Thursday Jul 2009
Posted in cancer, chemo, food & drink, friends, health & happiness, hospitals, tapas
Just call me Dr az.
I went to see the oncologist yesterday. Dr Ana is on holiday so I saw one of my original colon cancer oncs. As I mentioned in my summer holidays post, I’ve had very bad reactions to the last three infusions of Oxyplatin and so I decided that for the sixth and final round of chemo I’d just take the Xeloda chemo pills and forgo the infusion. When I told my friend/student/GP Agustín this the other day he went all doctory on me and said this wasn’t a decision I should make without the advice of my oncologist. So I gave that a shot and I’m not surprised at all how things went…
15 Wednesday Jul 2009
Posted in animals & pets, friends, home
It’s not as if da boyz need any help throwing up, but …
A couple of months ago my yoga buddy Flor insisted that since Sunny & Azar were indoor cats I should grow some grass for them to eat. And then one day during our after-yoga brekky she gave me a packet of “cat grass” seeds and said I could grow them on my balcony. I finally got around to planting them the other day and was surprised yesterday to see the grass had virtually shot up overnight. Cool, eh?
Has anybody else ever planted cat grass? That’s actually what it was called on the packet. I’m going to move the planter down to balcony floor level later on today and see what happens. I’m pretty sure that Azar will go for it because he eats any plant he can reach, even those that seem impossible for him to get at (no doubt he shape shifts during the night, the little sneak). Though perhaps after being spoilt with fresh asparagus they will both turn their noses up at a bunch of grass. We shall see…
14 Tuesday Jul 2009
Posted in change, friends, health & happiness, life stuff
“To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.”
~ Lewis B. Smedes
Mudhooks posted that quote on Twitter this morning and it really resonated. With my personal history of family violence and abuse as a child I am left with a lot of trust issues even after all these years, which is probably not surprising. And so I got to thinking about how crap I am at actually forgiving people. And then I wondered if forgiveness is always the best policy. I know that harbouring grudges does no good, but does one always have to forgive in order not to feel bitter or resentful about a past breach of trust? Does everyone actually deserve to be forgiven? Is it possible to truly forgive and forget?
What are your thoughts on forgiveness?
10 Friday Jul 2009
Posted in food & drink, friends, internet, restaurants, sevilla, tapas, twitter
The other day I met the lovely Anna on Twitter via a mutual acquaintance and, after tweeting back and forth a bit, I asked if she would like to meet up for a cold beer one day. And yesterday was the day. The plan was to meet for a pre-lunch beer and so I suggested Zaragoza 64 because they serve excellent Galician beer there, far superior to the pale and tasteless Cruz Campo, which is the bog standard lager sold in bars here. I’m not much of a beer drinker but I really like the taste of Galicia Estrella.
At the last minute Anna also invited her very charming Twitter friend Pedro to join us and – you guessed it – we ended up having lunch. A wonderful time was had by all. Very pleasant company, lots of laughs, including the very satisfying discovery that we are all “strong and bossy” types, which led to a few good anecdotes about those who feel the need to label decisive people “bossy”. We are also all a bit gadget crazy (who me?) and I couldn’t help but smile when Pedro took out his iPhone to send a few tweets. And also all expats – from Italy, Venezuela & Canada.
So, it was my first ever twitter lunch – hopefully the first of many.
(food pics below…)
casa azahar 