Cloudy With A Chance of Gorgonzola

(I wish this was my picture but it's not.  I found it here)

Late last night, I returned home from nearly a week in London where it was cold and wet and gray.  This didn’t much affect my itinerary as I spent the week in the Sheraton for a conference and literally did not step foot outside but to catch the bus from the airport to the hotel.  The highlight of the conference besides meeting people who I email frequently but have never seen their faces, was of course, the food. 

I purposely skipped breakfast after the first day knowing that if I were to continue on with a week of salmon and cream cheese, cappuccinos, eggs and sausage before 8 am, I would have to purchase an additional seat on the airplane to transport my lard ass back to Uganda.  However, I did not skip any lunches or dinners which included scallops, tiramisu, tempura, berries of every variety, French fries, pizza….do I really need to continue?  My waistline tightens just typing it.

On the flight to London something happened with my calf muscle of my left leg.  Weird, but not a problem, I thought.  I can just stretch it out.  But I have tried that now for 5 days alternating with leaving it be and accompanied with 16 ibuprofen, but still I have the pain.  What is up with that?  I do not want to go to the doctor so he can say tight muscle, idiot.  Work it out.  But I’m sort of walking like a gimp.  Should I go?

Because of this leg issue, I never used the modern gym equipment at the hotel which means the food I consumed in London, ever last bit of it, is still hanging out around my thighs and on my rolly Buddha belly.  Grrrr.  This makes me mad.

Not to mention, even though I’m back in my tropical paradise, supposedly, I see no change in the stinkin’ weather.  Kampala is cold (not quite London temps, but it’s all relative), extremely gray and rainy.

My point, you ask?   Woe is me.

This is all could think of when it came to blog time, so I thought no point in spreading that bit of negativity to my readers, all 9 of you, and thought I would once again postpone posting.  But then I thought maybe I could turn this into an exercise of appreciation which would help to raise me out of this funk.  So, after all that background mumbo jumbo, I now present you with things I love and am lucky to have known/experienced/see/heard/smelled/tasted/etc (in no particular order):

Fantastic family

The hugs of one Felix Chill

My hammock (which fell down at a party we had last week but I’m sure Philium can fix it this weekend)

Figuring out I can cook things that taste good

Books that make you want to never stop reading them

Mangy mutts, Sahara and Tuna

Trip planning

Wonderful blogs of friends and strangers who I feel like are friends because I blog stalk them

BBC World Service on my shower radio

Incredible, smart, amazing, entertaining, and thoughtful girlfriends

Opportunities to travel

Burt’s Beeswax chapstick (is that even still cool?)

Yoga, yoga, yoga

Brunch on my veranda

Finding delicious cappuccino cafes

Doing crafty things

Lake lifestyles

Oklahoma roots

I could go on, but alas, I should do some work

Although this is super cheesy, it has made me feel better.  I can finally pull my pajamas off and take a shower (it’s 3 in the afternoon – don’t tell anyone).

I hope if you’re feeling down because of illness, mountains of snow, butt nugg people, or whatever, that you too can make a list of cheese – which actually I’m sure I could’ve just listed the names of the many cheeses I have had an opportunity to sample in my life and it would’ve had the same effect.  Okay, now I’ve made myself hungry again. 

With thoughts of brie,

Angela