Glutenfreeda Is Now Free

I just got through reading my emails this morning and came across my monthly Glutenfreeda newsletter. To my delight, access to the recipes on Glutenfreeda no longer require a password! Previously, you had to pay a fee and become a member to benefit from all of the great recipes on this site!!! I plan on trying several of these recipes...some of them look really yummy and don't require a lot of ingredients or a chef's degree to prepare.

A Beautiful Late Summer Day

The sunflowers I planted a couple months ago are finally blooming! Since I have so few sunny spots in our small yard, I decided to plant them in a big pot by the driveway, where they get almost full-day sunshine. I have babied them along, watering them every day, staking them up when they got very tall and the buds got very heavy, and spraying them to try to keep the beetles from chewing the leaves. While they are not the most beautiful sunflowers I have ever seen...my neighbors have much nicer ones... they are mine and bring a smile to my face every time I drive up the driveway.

Well, I can certainly say that my mood is much better today. The weather is just beautiful this afternoon. Partly sunny, nice breeze and about 75 degrees. Definitely not like most Upstate NY August days I remember! It is a nice reminder of the hopefully cool, crisp fall days ahead.

I also think that my post from yesterday helped me release a lot of bottled-up feelings. I guess that's what writing is all about. I am feeling much more optimistic this afternoon. (Maybe it also has something to do with the bag of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups I just scarfed down?)

Fixing Things

As the summer winds down and I think about school starting in a couple of weeks, I've been trying to make sure I spend time with my daughter having fun and just "hanging out". I know that once school starts, she will be gone seven hours each day and that the time she spends at home will be full of homework, practicing piano and catching up on shows she missed during the day.

Today was a beautiful day and we decided to take a walk to the neighborhood drug store. We have done this many times over the summer and it has proven to be a nice time just to talk and be together. The highlight for my daughter is picking out a cold bottle of flavored water or juice from the refrigerated case at the drug store for the trip home. For me, it's a little bit of exercise and a lot of realizing how much she has grown over the summer. I feel like time is rushing past and I have to stop and look at her before she grows again!

However, since I know that I cannot stop time and that soon I will be alone all day, I've been making a mental list of things to try to accomplish. My list mainly consists of chores around the house that didn't get done in the spring while I was still recovering from my surgery and that I have put off all summer.

1. Fix the stain on the dining room ceiling where roof leaked over the winter when ice backed up on the roof and the snow melt had no where else to go.

2. Fix my daughter's bedroom by trying to organize the many toys she has outgrown, but still cannot bare to part with.

3. Fix the attic by cleaning out the many boxes of crafts I just had to start and never finished.

4. Fix my car. I need four new tires and I must make an appointment to get that done.

5. Fix myself.

Wait. What was that last one? Fix myself. Am I broken? Well, maybe not totally broken, but definitely in a state of disrepair. While most people would not know it just by looking at me or talking with me, I have not been feeling like myself for the past few months. Sure, I go about my day, doing the things I'm supposed to be doing, following the routine, taking care of everything and everyone like a good wife and mother is supposed to do. Inside, I've been feeling like I have lost little pieces of me.

I lost a big piece over the winter when I realized my health was being taken by two squashed discs in my neck. I have had several surgeries and health issues in my past, but none have taken the bite out of me that this one did. Before those discs began misbehaving, I had lost 20 lbs, was following my gluten-free diet, was feeling better, was full of energy and had many plans for future adventures. Now, here I am, up 10 lbs again, having stomach troubles even though I'm still following a strict celiac diet and just going to the grocery store seems like a huge adventure.

I have let fear sneak into my life. Fear that if I do something too active I'll have shooting pains in my arms for the next week. Fear that if I go out to a social event there will be nothing safe for me to eat. Fear that someone will notice that I'm afraid.

Before I hear choruses of "stop whining!" and "why don't you get a job?" or "get a life!", I want to clarify why I am writing this blog today. It's to make a written promise to myself to snap out of this funk I've been in and do something about it. I need to fix what's broken.

While fixing the stuff around the house seems fairly easy, I'm not so sure how easy fixing myself will be. I'm almost certain that it has to begin with my inner thoughts. My intestinal fortitude as they say. I keep going back again and again to Dr. Randy Pausch's speech to the graduating class. (See my earlier post)

"You have to decide, early in life whether you're going to be a Tigger or an Eeyore. "

I'll let you know what I've decided....

AAAA

No, I'm not talking about Alcoholic's Anonomous or Automotive Association America, I'm talking about AAAA...Annual August Allergy Assault! Yep. It seems that every year from the last week of July to the middle of September, I suffer from what I call A4. I'm not sure exactly what the culprit is. Grass pollen, mold? All I know is that my head is full, my ears hurt, I'm exhausted and I am so dizzy!!! With all the rain we've had here in the Northeast this summer, I'm making a guess that it's MOLD. Tried to take Claritin D yesterday and wound up on the sofa with a blanket, hot tea and the heating pad, trying to get warmed up! I have that reaction to decongestants and I'm guessing that's not a good thing, so I've decided to just suffer through it. It's definitely cramping my lifestyle! I guess I'll have to find another planet to live on!