I'm So Stuffed I Can Hardly Move

This morning I wrote about being unable to have any breakfast because of having to have a fasting blood test. The problem was that the appointment wasn't until 10.50, so as I ate my last food at about 8pm last night, I was rather hungry. I went to the surgery armed with a small Mars bar, ready to eat as soon as the blood had been taken.

I am quite lucky because I have a vein in my left arm that makes itself available very easily whenever something has to be put into or taken out of one of my veins. The whole procedure, from entering the room, to leaving again minus a significant amount of blood (well it always seems that way) took a grand total of three minutes. Pretty good, I thought.

I was lucky that it was done so quickly because I had to catch a bus to go to the centre of London. And I really do mean the centre of London, because I was meeting my friend, Mr Smiley, for lunch and our meeting place was Waterstone's just a few yards from Charing Cross station. Charing Cross is the point from which all distance measurements are taken, so when you see a road sign that says X miles to London, what it means is that it is X miles to Charing Cross.

Mr Smiley and I have been friends for 35 years, and he is one of the people who has helped me to survive the last 10 years. The lunch was to celebrate my birthday earlier this week, and although Mr Smiley and I correspond almost daily by email, it is about two and a half months since we have seen each other.

We went to a restaurant which is part of a franchise that can be found in a number of locations in London, and while it is hardly gourmet food, it is more than acceptable for a lunch date. We decide to partake of their lunch-time special which allowed us to choose an appetizer and a main course for a reasonable sum. I settled for some garlic bread with melted cheese as my appetizer and a jacket potato with cheese and beans and a side salad as my main course; Mr Smiley had the same appetizer but a different main course. We had both ordered a Diet Coke on being seated and decided to have a glass of red wine (well it was my birthday lunch) too. After we had eaten this Mr Smiley decided to have a dessert, and somewhat foolishly, so did I. We rounded off the meal with a large cup of coffee.

Conversation flowed easily and covered many different subjects; it was a truly enjoyable couple of hours. Then it was time for Mr Smiley and I to go our separate ways; him to catch his train, and me to catch my bus. I only had to wait a couple of minutes and then it was just short of hour later that I alighted from the bus to walk the relatively short distance home. Having managed to drag myself down the road, and get in the house, I sat myself down and exhaled deeply.

My lunch today was the largest meal that I have had in weeks ( I may not even need to eat again today), but I think the dessert, delicious as it was, was just a bit too much. That's why I am saying that I am so stuffed that I can hardly move. Thanks very much Mr Smiley I thoroughly enjoyed it.