Mittelschmerz

For the past two days I have been feeling a bit off. Exhaustion, tiredness, lower abdominal pain. After googling my symptoms and rejecting any of the real, ominous diseases (I'm not really sick, surely?), I settled on this intriguing one: Mittelschmerz.
It describes ovulation pain that can appear right in between periods - 'in between' being the (loose) translation of "Mittel", which is, of course, German. I guess you can translate it to "midcycle pain", which is not only spot on in my case, but also pleasingly harmless - or as the experts like to call it, "normal".

I have to say, I didn't know that ovulation pain is a thing, and I have been on this ride for over 20 years now.
Instead of complaining about the unfairness of not only having to deal with menstrual cramps, but apparently also with cramps 2 short weeks later (seriously, why does mother nature hates women so much??), I thought I might elaborate a bit on a few observations I have made recently.

You see, when I don't feel well, either mentally or physically, I like to take on the role of observer. I don't have the energy to deal with real human interactions, but I love to observe them. Be it in form of a movie, book, TV show or a story somebody tells me, I like to watch it and let my fantasy go wild.

So as I'm sitting here, listening to shark attacks in the background (the main reason why I almost never go into the ocean), I am going to let my mind wander and see what is stored in there. Come with me, it will be fun!

A little while ago, I saw this woman power-walking in the morning. That in itself wasn't unusual, but there was one thing that was: She had a big, clear plastic bag draped over each hand. I have been trying to figure out the reason ever since. Is she a germaphobe? Did she just do her nails? Or maybe she applied a thick layer of hand lotion, and after she finishes her walk she will not only be energized by the exercise, but also have silky smooth hands?
I just don't know. But I wish I did. Personally, I like the germaphobe story best, and I imagine she usually wears disposable gloves, but ran out, and decided to power-walk to the nearest drug store to buy a huge supply of new ones. Can you picture her trying to get change out of her wallet? Or a credit card? Oh, this thought has entertained me for far too long. What do you think?

Did you watch the finale of "How I Met Your Mother"? Just in case you haven't, no spoilers - all I'm gonna say is that I didn't see that ending coming. Because it felt too close to reality, not Hollywood happily-ever-after. And after 2 days of pondering, I have decided I like the ending a lot. It is strangely comforting to see that things don't always work out. That's life. Life is messy, not perfect, and our job is to try to make the best of it. Yes, well done HIMYM creators!

Yesterday I slept for approximately 14 hours and had a lot of strange dreams (I usually do).
One of them was that I was a teacher, and we got a new headmaster who tried to be best friends with all the other teachers. He bought this huge mansion with tennis courts, a swimming pool and a large wooded area, and he threw a big party. There was this magnificent cake, and for some reason I had to cut it, but the slices were way too small and he made fun of me. What does that mean?

If/when I ever write a novel (something I think about daily), it will be about the different people living in the same house, their stories and struggles. They will become intertwined into each other's lives, and there will be love stories, heartbreak, single parenthood, widows or widowers, despair, a zest for life, and hopefully, some wisdom.
Which means that book will be some time coming.

I'm taking my Mittelschmerz to bed now, let's hope it will be gone by tomorrow!

Good night, Miriam