Happy Happy, Joy Joy!!!

Number Guy and I are going to the UK this week- a combination of Christmas shopping and time for NG to meet up with some of his friends. (Well, they are now my friends, too, but you know what I mean!)An extra specially good thing is that Baby Bear will be joining us for the weekend, too.

Number Guy and his friends will be playing Dundgeons and Dragons- yes, it might seem a bit odd to the uninitiated, but they don't go to the pub and get pissed, they don't hang around football stadiums (stadia???) being obnoxious. This is their equivalent of going for a pint. It works for me :0) I did put my foot down on one issue, though. Number Guy might be quite happy lying on the floor in a sleeping bag, but I've decided that one advantage of my advancing years is that I can veto mad plans like that. We'll be in a hotel.

More bookish bemusement

I ordered a cookery book from an online company. It arrived about a week later. So why did I just get another one.....?

Unexpected

Something bookish arrived in the post for me today. Well, something more than bookish, it was indeed an actual book. One that I hadn't ordered. Hmmm. A bit of a puzzle. It is 'Last Night in Twisted River' by John Irving. I guess it could be a belated birthday present by someone who hasn't owned up. However, all that came with it was a 'Compliments of Bloomsbury' slip, so unless I hear otherwise I'll assume it's from them .

I'm still puzzled, but I'm not complaining. Thanks a lot for the book:0)

Weisenkleber

I eagerly awaited Healthy Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a Day , so was very disappointed to see that every recipe was calling for Vital Wheat Gluten. I was fairly certain that getting my hands on some would be a long and painful process.

However, the internet is a wonderful place and someone on Ravelry pointed me at a particular blog post where a fellow 'ex-pat-in-Switzerland' had the same difficulty. She solved it very simply- she bought some from her local baker. In the UK this might be quite difficult, as there are not many local bakers left. Happily, that is not the case here. The next village along has a bakery with shop right on the main street. In fact, you can watch the bakers at work as you go past. I dropped in today and they were most helpful. They didn't have any on the premises but are going to order some for me. Result :0)

ETA: I Had a phone call from the baker. He was speaking Swiss German, I was (wo)manfully plodding on with German. I think it is now on order. All 12kg of it. Yep, they can't get a smaller pack.

PFO test

I had the test done on Friday- Profolol you are my friend, I don't remember a damn thing about the procedure, which is just the way I like it. The good news is that I don't have a hole in my heart. The bad news is that there is nothing physical that can be done to stop the migraines. However, the very best bit of news as far as I am concerned is that my stroke risk is not any greater than it would be in any other 'average' woman.*

The only unpleasant thing that happened was trying to get the Venflon in. In the end it took FOUR people. The last person to try was a nurse from the anaesthetic department. He snuck up on the vein and then rammed it home so fast I thought it was going to come out of my elbow! But he got it in... My hands and arms look as if they've had a good beating.

So it's back to being appreciative of the good things in life and not letting the bad weeks get me down. Speaking of good things, I am listening to one of the CDs that Baby Bear gave me for my birthday. It is 'Y-Yo Ma plays Moricone.' Baby Bear and I both love the music to 'The Mission', so this was a very, very thoughtful gift, filled with beautiful music. It's on in the background as I drink my coffee, read a good book and generally enjoy life in Switzerland. Good things indeed.

* People who have migraine with aura have an increased risk of stroke. The cardiologist confirmed for me that this is directly as a result of PFO

Halle-%&*+°?=!!-luja

I'm new to eBooks. I'm new to iTouch. I'm new to downloading eBooks to my PC and then transferring them to my iTouch.

Despite that, I somehow (not sure how) managed a major step in the proccess when I registered with Adobe Digital Editions. No big deal? Try doing it in a foreign language....