April 27 - Allergies Smallergies

After two years of various exclusion trials, I'm overwhelmed and not much further ahead. I know I've griped about this before, but I'm temporarily sick of navigating the war zone of food allergies and meal planning, so I'm cataloging the problem to try and get it out of my system.

Skyler is sensitive to dairy products, but only sometimes. He's deathly allergic to fish, like tuna or salmon, and probably allergic to shellfish and fish oils. He's highly allergic to tree nuts, especially cashews and pistachios, and bothered by peanuts but an occasional exposure just requires Benadryl, hydration and rest. Of course, that's based on testing from six years ago, so who knows what else is on the no-no list now.

I get migraines from exposure to these foods:

- onions & garlic (the smell alone will sometimes trigger one)

- asparatame (NutraSweet)

- MSG

- coffee (decaf, regular, flavored - not every time, because I keep trying to make it go away!)

- orange juice

- wine & wine coolers

- sometimes bananas

- concentrated salt

- any processed meats

I get painful oral symptoms from these foods:

- potatoes

- tree nuts

- sometimes raw tomatoes

- sometimes corn

My digestive system rebels against these foods:

- dairy products except some cheeses

- beans

- peppers
And I'm officially dermis-tested allergic to these foods:

- melons: watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew...

- wheat

- and one of the "gum" additives that's in packaged food, softserve and cosmetics

Sigh. The only reason I'm not thinner is that I'm living on loads of chocolate and cheese. I wonder how many ways one can fix rice and blueberries...?

April 25 - Panic Buttons

It was the evening after a relatively relaxing day on a kid-less weekend. I was piddling around on our ancient piano, and Dale was playing with the rambunctious dog. Those two are often rougher than I'm comfortable with, but apparently that's how boys relate to each other, and Jasper doesn't seem to a)hold a grudge or b)be any worse for wear. So usually I try to ignore it.

This time I couldn't. Dale was sitting on the floor behind me, slamming his palm down loudly, making Jasper bark and the floor shake. Suddenly I felt like I couldn't catch my breath, a burning weight tore through my chest. It felt like I'd been shot in the back with a rifle, ripping through my right shoulder blade and blasting a big hole through my front.

My brain felt completely like it was re-living an old trauma. My lungs didn't seem to work, my heart felt weak. I could objectively discern that nothing was physically wrong, but I seemed to keep seeing an open field full of soldiers from around the Civil War times. I couldn't stop trembling. My chest seared with pain. I kept thinking: I don't really believe in re-incarnation - do I? Weird what our minds can do, huh? I don't like loud noises, especially startling ones with aggressive implications. But I live in a house with 3 (sometimes 4) gregarious kids, a sweet dog with a shocking bark, and a drummer. I'm doomed! :-)

April 18 - Blah, blah, blog

All my friends have cool blogs. They update their formats and photos and write lovely stories about family and smart posts about the latest-greatest stuff. I can't seem to keep up! Pretty sure I need something different from Blogger. What I like about Blogger: I'm mostly used to the basics. What I don't like: I just spent the last 20 minutes trying to correct a spacing issue on ONE post and it's still not right! I can't get a header I like that fits. I'm tired of the default background options. I have trouble making links. It won't update to my current email address, so I have to sign-in with a defunct email that I abandoned 3 years ago. Half the time the whole program crashes and I have to start over. But change is hard...

April 16 - Par-tay!

One of my best friends, Sarah, turned thirtysomething last week. I felt we should celebrate her fabulousness, and I missed the actual birthday while out of town, so I threw her a party. At her house. Which she cleaned. And cooked for. And invited everyone to. (Great friend, huh?)



It seems like we used to have more social time. We used to go out. I can't believe it had been over a year since we'd been dancing. Apparently being mature, family-women supersedes aerobic exercise to loud music in smoky dark environments where people-of-questionable-motives gather. Go figure.



Anyway, it's always a good time to gather loads of delicious food and fun people, so we started at her lovely historic home (Buy it now!). Three kinds of soup, bean dip, bacon cream cheese dip, "homemade" potato salad, BBQ beef sandwiches, fruit platters, crackers and cheese, cherry wine and martinis. We are seriously good at simple but delicious food. Oh, and I did manage to make cake.Then it was dancing time! I desperately wish this was available in a less vice-ridden environment. I like dancing. I like rock music. I like fruity drinks. I like people. I like feeling sexy. (I despise cigarette smoke.) Somehow, these things get thrown together and suddenly all I'm concerned about is who's pushing me inappropriately and how tragic the next morning (or next 5 years) will turn out for those around me. Oh well. Maybe it's kinda an intercessory prayer opportunity. Plus a few hours of groove and excellent people watching.

I hope all in all Sarah had a happy birthday party. And that she'll let us do it again. (Before another year goes by and more body parts head south would be excellent.)

April 11 - Spring Break Recap

We had the blessing of spring break with the kids this year, and I actually had the time off to boot. Yippee! I was skeptical how we'd do with that much straight family time, since that doesn't really happen for me anymore, but am thrilled to say it was a joy and a bonding experience.

The first couple of days we spent time with friends in the area, playing, watching movies, scrapbooking. Then on Wednesday, dark and early, Dale and I and the 4 kiddos hit road for the 10 hour drive to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.

We met Dale's parent-like friends from childhood, Mike and Nancy, who hooked us up with an awesome place to stay. Together we enjoyed the pools, shuffleboard, yummy food and cable TV, as well as the touristy parts of Gatlinberg. We got to ride to the mountaintop over town in the Ober aerial tram. Whee!

On Friday, we drove a few hours to hang out with (my) Dale's parents, Denise and Dale, and his baby sister Becka. We enjoyed meeting some of the family and playing Apples to Apples, but my favorite part was looking at the decades of photos and memorabilia decorating every wall. Cute little blond baby Dale, awww, posing for prom pictures in his uniform, awww. ;-)

The last day came too quickly, which is exactly how a vacation should go: loving it so much you want "just one more day". We spent Saturday hiking to the high point of the Smoky Mountains, over rocks and behind waterfalls. Insert German accent: you vill valk up dis hill AND you vill like it! I won't say that everything went completely smoothly, but in summary the week was totally awesome and a break worth taking!