Sunday, June 28, 2009

It's Not A Diet. No, Really!

I know I've had a few brilliant *new* eating plans in the past year or so I've been blogging, but this one is a little different.
A few years ago I tried putting LG on a gluten/casein-free diet. To help with his symptoms of Autism.
It didn't make a difference.
My daughter, however, appears to be a different story. I've written about periods of discomfort. And by "discomfort" I mean screaming, unable to sleep, and very clingy. Nothing helps. So today I read up a bit on the effects a gluten/dairy intolerance can have in a child with Autism.
And it's pretty major!
I won't go into all the details, but basically it can prevent the body from absorbing nutrients, and, in effect, the brain starves. This is ONLY in people with an intolerance or allergy, not for everyone with Autism (or ADD).
It seems that WG may have an intolerance. Ever since she was born she's had a sensitive stomach, and over the years we've eliminated certain things from her diet. Like cow's milk, soy milk, and certain other things. Why I didn't think of gluten before, especially as I'd already tried it with LG, is beyond me. (I would say my own brain is starving, but I don't think I have one anymore.)
However I AM planning on joining her in this. For the most part. (I may have the occasional slice of whole-wheat or, drool, sourdough bread.) Just this evening I gave her some GF food for dinner, and already she's in a MUCH better mood. If she sleeps tonight, I'll consider it a success (and fall on my knees in gratitude for the first night's sleep in a week).
I think it'll help me have more energy, hopefully more focus, and it'll force me out of my cooking rut. I've been making the same things over and over, and we're all getting sick of them.
On the message boards for Intuitive Eating, they talk about honoring your body and its needs. And one of the things they mention is that sometimes there are foods that you CANNOT eat. Not because they're "fattening," but because your body cannot tolerate them. So I'm going to see if I can make my daughter and myself feel better.
Wish us luck!

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

I'm Baaaaaaack!

Well, that flu thing knocked me flat on my back. Literally. And not in a good way! I'm pretty much over it, although I'm still very tired (and it doesn't take much to tucker me out completely. I went for a walk this morning and had to take a nap when I got home. While the kids wreaked utter havoc on the house.)
I'm back to work, but taking it slowly. R-E-A-L-L-Y slowly, lol!
And there are some management issues going on at one of my workplaces. I won't go into detail, but it's causing sturm and drang. And stress. Luckily I'm not there all that often at the moment. (And may not be there at all if they keep NOT paying me!!!!!)
However, I did not come here to blog about workplace drama. I'm here to write about the one good thing that came of not being able to stand up for 5 days; I was able to catch up on my DVD viewing!!!!
See, about a year ago (!) I bought a couple of DVDs that I never had time to watch. But I got to watch them last week! I caught up on episodes of "Primeval" (Note to self: refrain from watching "Primeval" just before going to bed, or else you will be plagued by nightmares in which you are being chased through a sewer by a T-Rex). I also watched "North and South." No, not the goofy 80's Civil War mini-series with Patrick Swayze, but the adaptation of the Elizabeth Gaskell novel that the BBC produced a few years ago (you can see clips of it on YouYube). It's SO GOOD!!!!! Richard Armitage (who plays Guy of Gisbourne on "Robin Hood," not the former secretary of the Interior) is the male lead.
Yowza!
It's kind of "Pride and Prejudice"-y, in that the two main characters are stubborn seeming-opposites who misunderstand each other and eventually fall in love.
I'm a sucker for that sort of thing.
See Roger Thornton is a mill owner who, at first, seems like a jerk. But it turns out he's really worried about losing the mill and puuting his employees out of work. I won't give any more away, but it's very well done.
Anyway, it's good to be back, and I'll see ya in cyberspace!

Monday, June 15, 2009

The Spirit is Willing...

But it seems the flesh is finally giving in to whatever it is that's going around.
It's my own fault, really. I've been fighting this thing off, taking Zicam and pretending I was fine. But I never fully got over it, and now it's packing a whollop. To the point where I'll have to find subs for my classes because my entire body hurts.
Thankfully Hubby is back home and the kids are out of school for a few days, so I can rest.
Hopefully.
Stay healthy out there!

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Apologies.

I must apologize for the tone of that last post. It was, well, MEAN. I say I don't like it when people are mean to one another, and there I go, being a Meany McMeanybug.
I stand by what I said, but I could have been calmer and nicer about it. I didn't have to stoop to that level, and I apologize.

On a MUCH lighter note, if you haven't yet, do to hulu.com and check out "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog." It gets off to a bit of a slow start, but then much hilarity ensues.

And last night I dreamed that Hubby and I were part of the "Enterprise" crew. The new crew. Well, the new, old crew.
From the movie that just came out.
Anyway, it was pretty cool.

That's all. We're going hiking.
So, see ya later.
Have a great day.
Much Love!

Friday, June 12, 2009

Will the (Former) Miss California Please SHUT UP!!!!!!

You're a pageant queen, not Nelson Mandela. You lost your crown NOT because of your views on gay marriage, or because you lied about posing topless, but because YOU DID. NOT. DO. YOUR. JOB.
Ya don't show up at the places your contracted to show up, you get fired.
Period.
So quit yer bellyachin' about how you're being PERSECUTED. PUH-LEAZE!!!!! The pageant PAID FOR YOUR BOOBS. You're genetically blessed. You grew up in La Jolla. So, OK, none of that guarantees a perfect life, but YOU ARE NOT BEING PERSECUTED. You lost a pageant crown, not your livelihood, your freedom, your family, or your life.
Talk to the families of people around the world who have disappeared, never to be heard from again. Talk to the widows/widowers/children/family of soldiers killed in battle. To the soldiers spending month after month, year after year, in hostile territory, away from their families, in constant danger.
Talk to Matthew Shepard's parents. Ask about how it feels to have a son tortured and murdered because he's gay.
You said in an interview that "tolerance should be a two-way street, and it's not." Really? So you're discovering that there are people in the world who don't kiss up to you and agree with everything you say? Well welcome to the real world!!!!!
OK, I get that you're 21, you've been living in the peagant universe, all that. But to act as if the whole world is against you, and to go crying to entertainment reporters about how unfairly you've been treated is, quite frankly, pathetic. About as pathetic as those two idiots from "I'm a celebrity" yada yada yada.
But you know what's even more pathetic? All the so-called "news" shows that give you and your "plight" air time.
However, your 15 minutes are done. Over. You and Bikini Girl can go cry in a corner and leave the rest of us alone. Let the Miss Universe pageant be forgotten again until next year.

Since when has being a jerk become the new way to be a role model? (Hmmm...maybe since "Survivor" started airing, perhaps? Setting off the the slew of dag-nasty reality TV? The only reality TV I want to see is baseball.
And "So You Think You Can Dance.")
I don't want to watch jerks. I'd rather watch hot English/Scottish/Irish/Welsh/Australian folks chase dinosaurs, travel through time, etc. (see recent post) and be nice to each other.

Oh, and to the entertainment shows? Leave Chas Bono alone. She's becoming a he. You don't need to harp on it, and you REALLY don't need to comment on his weight!!!!!!

It's been a rough week. Thank goodness Friday is here!
Have a great weekend, all!

Monday, June 8, 2009

Haters S**ck!

I guess I'm channeling my inner 13 year-old here, but a couple of blogs have drawn my attention to something that makes my blood boil. Charlotte has posted on a new book that says we can all shame ourselves and others into losing weight. She writes, much more coherently than I can, about everything that is wrong with this premise.
Over on Big Fat Deal, they link to a HORRENDOUS article in the New Zealand Herald about "tough love" and obesity. ("The F-Word" also blogs about it, with a link to the paper's editor). The writer, Deborah Coddington, quotes John Birkbeck, an ADJUNCT PROFESSOR at Massey University, as saying "You do not see fat people in concentration camps. Why? Because they get hardly anything to eat and they have to do a lot of work."
Even worse, Ms. Coddington AGREES with this baloney!!!!!!
There are so many things wrong with this I don't know where to start. As a Jew, of course, I am disgusted. As a human being, well, I'm STILL disgusted!
Are they saying that fat people should be starved ant tortured? Put in concentration camps? Excuse me, but how many members of THEIR families did the writer and professor lose to the nazis?!?!?!
Sure, starvation works...until you either start eating again or DIE. But I guess fatties don't deserve to live. They should take every measure possible to lose weight, even if it means they have weakened hearts, their hair falls out, their bones become brittle, and they attempt (or succeed in committing) suicide.
So. Thin is the new moral. Those of us with ANY excess fat on us, real or perceived, should just die.
I have one thing to say to Mr. Birkbeck, Ms. Coddington, the writer of that awful book, MeMe Roth, and all the nasty fat-haters out there:
As you reap, so shall ye sow.
In other words, you all are headed for a big ol' karmic ass whoopin'.

Haters S**ck!

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Ah, SpringAlmostSummer...

...when a young(ish) woman's fancies turn to...
cold viruses?
WG was sick the past 2 days. LG seems to be getting it, and Mommy now has it. Of course I wasn't sick during the past few days when I was off, I get sick NOW, when I have 5 classes to teach!
Yeesh!
It's not THAT bad, it's just a cold. But my throat is sore and I have that sicky-week-kneed feeling. My body is tired.
Guess I can teach off the Reformer for those classes, but the mat classes will be a bit harder. And I can't find a sub at this point (especially since I'm already subbing some of the classes I'm teaching!). Plus, I kinda need the funds. I just won't touch or breath on any of my clients! I mean, it's not like it's Swine flu, right?
Is it bad that I'm teaching while sick? I've done it before. Besides, all my clients have kids. They're probably gonna get it anyway, right?

OK, on a completely different and MUCH more pleasant subject, I have a new celebrity crush. His name is Douglas Henshall, he (was) the star of the first 3 seasons of "Primeval," he's Scottish, he's talented, and he's adorable!
(What is it with Scotland? They just seem to grow 'em cute there! David Tennant, Gerard Butler, all those guys I met in Edinburgh... 'Course one could say the same about the entire U.K., as well as Australia. Keith Urban, Hugh Jackman, that guy sitting outside the cafe...)
In the past I would have felt guilty writing about this, being happily married and all, but Hubby is used to my celeb crushes at this point. I also know that his "ideal" woman would be a redhead with freckles who rides a motorcycle and rock climbs.
I am none of those things.
(He likes freckled redheads 'cause his first major crush, in 3rd grade, was a little girl with red hair and freckles. She liked him too, and they were friends. Alas, nothing ever came of it. But I think it's freakin' ADORABLE!!!!!!!!!)
(Oh, and he also thinks Ariel the mermaid is hot. Can't really argue there.)
I've been trying to catch up on episodes of "Primeval." I missed the first season 'cause the one time I turned it on to watch, they were battling huge mutant spiders. I have a thing about spiders. Especially huge, mutant ones, even if they are CGI. I'm afraid I was too scared to tune in again until recently.
But I saw the 3rd episode of the 3rd season the other day, in which Mr. Henshall's character is rubbed out. It was quite sad. But it also had these REALLY cute little creatures who, for once, weren't trying to eat anyone or claw their eyes out. And they were REALLY cute!
The good news is that there's a new lead character played by Jason Flemyng (the best part of "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen": good cast, bad movie).

Wow. I just experienced a complete brain drain. Every single thought went right out of my head.
Of course, that's nothing new.
As (I think) I've said before here, I've got a case of mom-brain that's lasted for going on 8 1/2 years.
Yup. LG is turning 8 next month. And then I'm turning 40. And WG will be 6 in November. It really does fly by. I've been looking at baby/toddler photos of the kids, and I wonder where the time went. And now I'm making myself horrendously sad, because time seems to go by faster and faster. It's not that I want to be 20 again (God forbid, lol!) or even 30. I just want to be able to savor the moments. Because it really is the little things that make up a life. Like yesterday, when I was sitting in bed, and WG came over and put her head on my shoulder. Or when I went to check on LG in the tub, and he looked up and said "Hi Mommy" in that cute little voice of his! With his entire body submerged in bubbles, just his little face peeking out.
Even just getting to sleep next to Hubby every night. And the way the dog waits until we're all tucked in before coming upstairs. She makes sure we're all safe and sound before she goes to sleep.
It's those moments that reassure me that I've made some good choices in recent years. When I was younger it was all about the work, and my ego. Now, I'm glad I stepped off the path I'd been following. I may never be on Broadway, or make scads of money doing TV or films, but I have a life I love, with people who love me back.

And I can feel Dad hovering. In a good way. Watching over us and reminding us to wear a hat, lock the door, turn off the stove, laughing at the kids' antics. (Like the other day, when Hubby told LG he could have noodles when both hands of the clock were on the 12, and LG climbed up on a stool and tried to change the clock!)

So, I'll take it. This life of mine. Cold viruses and all.