Tis I the Fluff

I had such a fun day, a friend of a friend texted me inviting me to go to the bodies exhibition. I headed in to meet her encountering the latest protest along the way. The thing that struck me most about the exhibition was that although they are real human bodies how unsqeamish I was about it. It was presented in a easy to understand scientific way. The most disconcerting thing I found was that the flesh on the body reminded me a little too much of boiled ham in the colour and the fat perhaps due to the preserving process that is used. I don't think I will be able to look at that meat in the same way again!

Also important to me were the exhibits which showed samples of organs with cancer. It's hard to put into words and explain but I had this image in my mind of cancer. It's big and scary and horrible and even though I have googled cancer and seen images of it, seeing cancer in the flesh (literally) takes away some of the .... fear... I guess.. of it. There were cross sections of livers and lungs with cancer and it was just like I saw on my Mam's xrays, dark spots. A particularly effective exhibit was the one showing a smokers lungs compared to a non smokers lungs. I know there are some who read this who may smoke so I won't harp on about it. However beside the exhibit was a clear perspex box which encouraged people who may smoke to dispose of their cigarettes. It was half full. I saw a pancreas and was struck by how small it was. The pancreas is where my mam had her primary tumour and after seeing this small organ I was struck by how fine a balance our bodies need to maintain to stay healthy. My mams tumour was roughly an inch long. It's still hard for me to imagine something this small, this...insignificant in size is what made her so ill and ultimately led to her death. There were cancers of the penis, cancers of the trachea, all sorts of cancer and I think this was such an interesting thing to see, to take the fear out of it. I know some people may not agree but it helped me.

After the exhibition we went for food then to the movies. He's just not that into you. Surprisingly good. It didn't give the fairytale ending that I expect of movies like this but more like an ending which was right for each of the characters.

It was a fun day and I think I have me another single friend :)

I would rent my kidneys to get some decent sleep (hello jetlag!) but alas other things call like fat club and seeing just how much a vacation in america will affect my weight. Meh was worth it.

Had such a great time and cackled out loud when I pulled the polyester dress out of the mess of clothes that is my unpacking. Oh yes I shall be getting more wear out of this in the future I think, sure halloween is just around the corner :)

Its starting to dawn on me that although I will always have a mother shaped void in my life, each and every one of the happies that has happened since she passed goes a little way in taking the sting out of the pain. She would want me to be happy, to go out and be all that I can be and last week I think she would have approved of. Hell I'm proud of me for going that distance by myself for not freaking out when the bus was delayed, when the plane spent nearly an hour on the runway etc etc. I'm also delighted to have met such wonderful people after talking online to most of them for the bones of 7 years!

Oh yes I also have a wee crush, nothing can and will come of it but its nice to feel that giddy feeling again. Its been a long time.

In summary. America woo!, meeting old and new friends yay!, crush giddy!, unpacking meh, lack of sleep EUGH.




**Edited to add after careful consideration I think I prefer the velveeta mac and cheese over the kraft one. Crazy foreigner :p