05 Thursday Oct 2006
Posted in health & happiness, life stuff, musings
What is it about men with colds?
Like, why do we need to be given the fifteen-minute update?
And why can’t they seem to manage doing basic stuff that has little or nothing to do with how much they are sniffling or sneezing? Without having to announce these amazing feats of accomplishment to the world at large (ie. me).
Yeah, you guessed it. Nog has a cold. 
22 Friday Sep 2006
Posted in food & drink, life stuff, musings, sevilla
Isn’t it great when they just happen?
And it wasn’t any big thing in particular that made today feel so perfect. Just how it all ended up fitting together.
Got up at the usual time, Nog made coffee and fed the cats and then I made brekky before he went off to teach his one class of the day (I’d have normally had a class too but my student is out of town). On Fridays we usually only have morning classes.
While Nog was away I pottered around here and made more progress on organizing the bookshelves! Also managed to put away the dreaded mountain of laundry (eep!).
When Nog got back we decided to go out to the viveros to get some new plants for our balconies and also for the bathroom, but when we got there (hefty 45 minute walk) it turned out there was nothing there we wanted. But then I remembered this little tapa bar my friend Agustín has been telling me about for ages that isn’t far away from the viveros, so we decided to check it out (as it was about 2pm and we were HUNGRY).
And wow! Fabulous food. Crap ‘ambientation’ but who cares? The staff were very friendly and the food was totally 
. We’ll definitely be going back.
Since we had our little shopping cart with us (to carry plants and soil home) we decided it would be a good time to get our shopping done for the anniversary – mostly having to do with stocking up on 
and a few other treats. So we did that and then came home, feeling quite good for all the walking we’d done.
Then I decided to dye my hair (deep chestnut) and we did a few chores.
I had a doctor’s appointment at 7.30pm so around 6 we went out again to run some errands, pick up my passport photos 🙄 and then spent some time at a bookshop.
After the doc’s we came home and made a nice meal and … oh, I dunno. It was like everything we did today just happily slid into the next thing and all of it was quite pleasant. Just a day totally working out. And also totally enjoying each other’s company, having lots of laughs and chats. We had so much fun just doing ordinary stuff and it was lovely.
Oh, and the weater was also perfect.Not too hot, bright and sunny and very comfortable for walking.
Off to shower now … 😉
13 Wednesday Sep 2006
Posted in food & drink, miscellany, musings
On Ivan’s recent posting which is Absolutely Not About Prunes 😉 , the question was raised about why certain foods are considered proper breakfast food and others not. So I got curious as to why it’s somehow okay to eat bacon & eggs for breakfast but not, say, spaghetti and meatballs. Like, how did that happen?
Why corn flakes and not deep-fried spicy prawns?
Perhaps it’s because most breakfast food nowadays is quite fast and simple to prepare – bowl of cereal, toast, yoghurt & fruit, etc… Is it just because we tend to be so rushed and bleary-eyed in the morning that we can’t put together anything more interesting or more complicated than those few options? Or are there specific foods that are actually better (healthier) to eat first thing in the morning…to break one’s fast?
What’s your favourite brekky and why?
11 Monday Sep 2006
Autumn has always felt more like the real ‘new year’ to me.
It is not only marked by a definite seasonal change but also a change in lifestyle habits. People coming back from summer holidays and resuming their regular work-a-day lives, perhaps starting new courses or activities. Also a change in what people wear as well as what they do in their free time, which may include either more or less indoor or outdoor activities.
The official New Year – January 1st – happens in the middle of either winter or summer, depending on where one lives. But aside from being told that this is the New Year, as in the beginning of a new calendar year, there is little that actually makes it feel ‘new’.
But September is the time of the autumn equinox and you can actually feel things changing. The weather is getting cooler, the days are getting shorter … you can feel it in the air. Shop windows start showing winter clothing, kids are going back to school, and there is almost a feeling of exquisite melancholy as we prepare for even shorter days ahead … getting ready for the next cycle.
Is it just me or does anyone else feel this too? The January 1st New Year thing leaves me cold. All the hype of having to celebrate this somehow when to me it just feels like yet another winter day. No big deal.
30 Wednesday Aug 2006
Posted in health & happiness, life stuff, musings
Panic attacks affect a lot of us and are often not very well understood, even by those experiencing them.
They also take many forms. They can feel like an impending sense of death or doom, a fear of losing one’s sanity, a feeling of losing control … all of which create a very strong sense of FEAR and panic.
What types of remedies or methods for controlling this feeling of panic work best for you?
casa azahar 