Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Happy ? Halloween...

It's October 31 again...

Which means Halloween is almost over...

Officially, it's today only, but the entire month of October is one big creep-fest for most people...scary movies on tv and in theatres, kids trying to find the creepiest, ghouliest (it's a word) costumes possible...my boys trying to figure out how best to scare the crap out me...

I hate it.

I hate being scared. I hate scary movies, scary costumes and scary music. Hate it, hate it, hate it...I know there are others out there who feel the same way I do (my sisters being two of them, not sure about my brother), but we seem to be few and far between...

We used to have a babysitter who would watch horror movies after she put our kids to bed.  One night, we came home to find the house dark (or mostly, only one light was on upstairs), and our lovely babysitter Ashley, sitting in our darkened basement, watching "The Fog"...

"Are you well?" I asked her.

"Oh, I love scary movies," she told me.

I'm creeped out just thinking about it.

Personally, I'm a Christmas girl...I get giddy seeing Christmas decorations in the store in August.  I call my husband and giggle like a school girl each time I see some new sign that Christmas is getting closer...I plan baking and turkey dinners and where to hide the gifts so the kids don't find them...I love Christmas music (and especially the radio station in town that plays Christmas music 24 hours a day, seven days a week from November 24 to December 25)...I love watching Christmas specials and watching the first flakes come down...

It's almost here...I just have to get through today...

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Gluten Kicked My Butt Again...

A few weeks ago, my sister, who was in town for work, told me that she doesn't believe that I have celiac disease.  "I think you're gluten intolerant, but not an actual celiac," she said. "Because you don't get sick like two of my friends back home."

"Well," I replied. "My doctor, the guy with the medical degrees, says that I do, so I'm gonna go with that, 'k?"

On Sunday morning, my husband sent my sister a text describing my reaction to ingesting a tiny amount of gluten (and who the heck puts barley in chicken broth?  Oh yeah, Campbell's...thanks a whole heck of a lot boys)..."she looks like the Stay Puff marshmallow man"...if you've never seen "Ghostbusters", then you won't get the reference, suffice it to say that I was a tad bloated.

And in pain.

I had a blinding headache, my eyeballs hurt, my feet were so swollen I had trouble getting my shoes on (and in fact, Saturday night when we got in the car to go home, I took off my socks and shoes because they were too tight), my stomach was bloated out so far I looked about 7 months pregnant, every bone in my body hurt, and I was so exhausted I did not want to get out of bed.

Then there was the nausea.

What was that about not being sick when I eat gluten?

It's three days later and I'm finally starting to feel human again...but damn, that gluten is a bitch. A nasty, take-no-prisoners-slash-your-tires-because-you-broke-up-with-her-bitch.

I hope I never run into her again...



Friday, May 25, 2012

I think I have developed seasonal allergies.

Which really, really, really ticks me off.

I've already had to give up gluten (which includes wheat, barley, rye, spelt and kamut), dairy (which means milk, cheese and cream) and now processed sugar (which includes pretty much anything fun).

So to not be able to go outside without my eyes getting itchy and watery, my nose either continuously running or stuffed so badly I can't breathe and feeling like I'm surrounded by a fog, really makes me want to scream.

I need to get in to see my doctor, but he doesn't have any spots open until September, unless I call next Friday morning at 8, when I can try to get an appointment for the following week...it's all very confusing...

In the meantime, what I thought was a cold is not affected in the slightest by cold medication, but clears up completely when I take allergy meds...

And maybe it's nothing at all...

That's what I'm hoping for...

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Worst. Blogger. Ever.

Here's the short version:

Since August:

Ian's 12.

Avery's 9 1/2.  A pre-teen. May the Lord save us all.

Emma and Jamie are 8 and nearly as tall as I am.

We bought a new house.

Brian's still writing a book.

Ok, not the same book.

We have a new puppy who likes to terrorize our cat.

We had to have our second cat put down.

The children think I am the "pet murderer".

Nasty cat (aka Reggie) has become much nicer since we had his claws removed.

We had him fixed over a year ago, so he's probably wondering what the hell we'll do to him next.

Got into two car accidents in one day (rear ended by some moron and hit ice and spun out 9 hours later-while driving through the only blizzard Ottawa had this year).

School's almost done for another year and then I will have a child entering high school, an event I'm not sure he's ready for.

I am definitely not ready for it.

Some days I feel like Ferris Bueller..."life moves pretty fast...if you don't stop and look around some time, you might miss it..." I'm trying not to miss it...