Friday, July 20, 2012

I'm aliiiive!




Remember this?









Yeah, that was Tuesday night's dinner. By Wednesday morning I was feeling 'really off' and by Thursday, any amount of detail about my er.. activities, would be classified as TMI.  

Ugh. To be fair, I was already brewing a cold; maybe it wasn't the slimy little bug-ridden oyster. However, this definitely seemed like food poisoning. I've had it twice before and it's a pretty distinctive set of symptoms - slamming headache, body that suddenly weighs a tonne of ache, hyper-sensitive skin, inability to keep anything 'inside', stomach pains. To summarise my postgraduate block course: not the most fun I've ever had. Sitting on a bus with your tummy churning and wondering where to throw up? Also, not 100% recommended.

I also have to publicly revise my statement about grumpy hostel lady. When she saw how ill I was she morphed into a caring, bossyboots "get yourself to bed with a hottie" type and even loaned me her kitten to cuddle. I stand corrected. I'm a douchebag sometimes.

In spite of being nearly dead, I attended uni and suffered through the lectures and labs. Not doing so would mean delaying graduation until I could do them next year. I have to say, I'm excited by the projects (some of which I will require volunteers for, hello?), but somewhat daunted by the workload. I must find my Ms. ORGANISED cloak and tie it on tightly. Superglue it to my shoulders, perhaps? I think I stashed it somewhere in 2003.

After a really rough night, I woke up with that 'yayy, I'm getting better!' vibe in my soul, which has alternated throughout the day with residual nausea and fatigue.  I flew home this afternoon without incident (woohoo!), got my office organised, installed SAS and Endnote (both required for my courses), listened to Razzy whine that The Programmer doesn't feed him enough and then had another crack at the brownie mission. I'm nearly there.


I've discovered a good egg substitute for vegan baked goods: half mashed banana and half soaked chia seeds. 


I want to have one more attempt, using a technique I've heard about that may give me that  elusive brownie-like crust on the top. It involves beating the eggs for a good 10 minutes. I'll try it with my egg substitutes and see what eventuates. 


Now I'm off to bed again, with my hottie, three cats and.. a chocolate brownie. My stomach has earned it. :D

5 comments:

  1. Wasn't there a listeria outbreak in Palmy? (or do you go to Albany?). I saw it on the news.

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    1. Ok! I just figured out who you are, Matt! Yes, I was in Palmy and it was hard to miss that with the recall notices all through the paper. I don't know.. maybe it 'was' a small dose of listeria. I think if you are healthy that's not such a big deal.

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  2. Poor thing - that really sucks... nothing worse than feeling sick like THAT, especially when you are away from home. Me me I'll volunteer! Seriously - black bean brownies.... have you tried?

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    1. Not yet, but black bean brownies are next up. I want to get this recipe finished first, then I'll give mama peas' one a go. I went to buy some canned black beans yesterday and found that the closest organic shop has SHUT DOWN while I was away! Bah! I spoke to the owner and she said that the greatly increased rents since the earthquakes mean they can no longer compete with the markets (where a lot of previously shop-based businesses have gone). So, the rise of the markets = demise of the shops...

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  3. Ewwwwwww to oysters. Bugger you got food poisoning, not nice at all.

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