For the most part I will stick to fun stories about the family. Like, for instance, Beezus has wanted a wig since Halloween. As a result Santa brought our darling daughter a "tangled" wig. Beezus was so thrilled it has hardly left her head and at one point she insisted on wearing it out.
Another fun story... mommy is slowly losing it as the winter break wears on. I am missing my breathing room. Perhaps it might have to do with Beezus's fascination with dragging the cats, which don't like the dog, into the same room as the dog. Every time the cats and dog are combined utter and complete hysteria ensues. The dog runs back and forth – and she is a 60lb dog – while the ever so “cute” kittens beat on her.
More fun can be found in our house via our zoo. Our dog is now an indoor dog. Overall this has actually been a nice change. She follows me around, lies at my feet while I cook and finds food that the kids drop on the floor around the kitchen table. If I am having a hard day she lays her head in my lap and cuddles. Turns out she is a better animal inside than a couple cats I know.
Her only problem is she isn’t very bright. I let her outside when she needs some "outdoor time". SHE LOVES THE SNOW. She runs around, digs, makes friends with the neighborhood dogs, does her business, and when it is time to come in she sits by our back door and barks. One bark is fine. A couple barks when it takes me a minute to get to the door is also fine. What Athena does is different. She will bark a couple times very nice and polite. So, I open the door and I tell her “Okay Athena”. In California all she needed was an “okay” command and she barreled inside. Now she just looks at me. So I repeat. “OK Athena”. Nothing, she just looks at me. Unlike good ol'Walnut Creek in South Dakota a door opened means it gets cold fast. I don’t want to wear my jacket to let her inside – that seems excessive. After about the tenth time telling her “okay”, AND waving treats in front of her face AND utilizing the overly high and annoying voice people use with dogs and babies, it is getting COLD. So, I shut the door. What does our princess do? She barks. One nice, clear, concise, "hey - why did you shut the door??" She doesn’t move. She just sits there, like she was doing the whole dang time, and barks while looking at me! I am standing on the other side of that glass door, right there WITH my arms crossed, looking right back at her like, “WHAT??” So, I open the door and we repeat this process. This can literally go on and on for up to hours. I get bored and walk away she barks in confussion, but it lasts hours of on and off opening and shutting the door. I have started to just yell quiet and hope she isn’t too cold. Eventually she does come in… I just… don’t… get… it. If I walk outside to get her she gets super excited and runs into the yard. I think she might want us to play outside with her. That is the only theory I can come up with so far.
The cats are their own source of special. They now run through out the hallways all night and one particularly evil feline has taken to howling. In fact our howler, aka Tenchi, will howl randomly in the wee hours (like, say 3am, 5am and anytime in between). A little after the howling habit began, back at the corporate housing, one of my dear daughters locked him in closest and forgot about him. We slept so well that night! I remember wondering why he was so quiet, but hey, if it isn't broke don't fix it, verdad? So, I did not go looking for him. In truth I was enjoying the break from his horrid sounds. I find out the next night about dinner time that he was in the closest for the whole day and night before. Don't worry, he is fine... unfortunately. However, I ask you, why didn't he howl then???
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Potato Pancakes! GF.
I promised I would eventually post the latka recipe we used. I like it enough I could totally see using it for fun in the future. For me it might be including the buttermilk, almond and onions.
Ingredients:
• 4 large potatoes or 2lbs
• ½ yellow onion
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons Pamela’s baking and pancake flour
• ½ ground black pepper to taste
• 2 cups vegetable oil for frying
Cooking Instructions:
1. Finely grate potatoes with onion into a large bowl. Drain off any excess liquid.
2. Mix in egg, salt, and black pepper. Add enough flour to make mixture thick.
3. Fry with desired amount of vegetable oil in the bottom of a frying pan over medium heat.
Make smaller patties – nothing thick – a ½ inch or less max only a couple inches diameter. Fry the patties a couple minutes on each side. Gluten free flours tend to burn easier (or at leas this is what I have noticed) so I flip the patties more often. I might do one or two minutes on a medium heat on one side, flip do a couple minutes and then repeat until I am sure it is well cooked (golden brown and cooked through).
I like that the Pamela’s mix includes buttermilk, almonds and potato.
The links:
http://www.pamelasproducts.com/Allergy.html
http://www.pamelasproducts.com/
Ingredients:
• 4 large potatoes or 2lbs
• ½ yellow onion
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons Pamela’s baking and pancake flour
• ½ ground black pepper to taste
• 2 cups vegetable oil for frying
Cooking Instructions:
1. Finely grate potatoes with onion into a large bowl. Drain off any excess liquid.
2. Mix in egg, salt, and black pepper. Add enough flour to make mixture thick.
3. Fry with desired amount of vegetable oil in the bottom of a frying pan over medium heat.
Make smaller patties – nothing thick – a ½ inch or less max only a couple inches diameter. Fry the patties a couple minutes on each side. Gluten free flours tend to burn easier (or at leas this is what I have noticed) so I flip the patties more often. I might do one or two minutes on a medium heat on one side, flip do a couple minutes and then repeat until I am sure it is well cooked (golden brown and cooked through).
I like that the Pamela’s mix includes buttermilk, almonds and potato.
The links:
http://www.pamelasproducts.com/Allergy.html
http://www.pamelasproducts.com/
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Winter Break
Happy Holidays!
Beezus has completed her first week and half of school. It has been a tough adjustment. She is struggling big time. For those of us that pray she could use a little prayer or happy thoughts! She misses her friends. There are two little girls she misses a ton.
One of her largest challenges is getting all her snow gear on before school, off before class, on before lunch and recess, off before class and on again at the end of the day. The gear includes snow pants, boots (she has sneakers she is supposed to wear in class), hat and mittens. This might not sound like a lot if you don't have kids... but I remember just a month ago when the most we had to get on was a jacket. Of course for Beezus this is extra difficult because her muscle tone is so low and her motor skills are dismal at best. We might be looking into occupational therapists again now that we have health insurance. We have a ton to be grateful for medically resource speaking.
Ramona has enjoyed her time with me, yet misses her sister during the day. She plays in the backyard a little making snow piles while Athena runs around her. It is fun to watch Athena try to get Ramona’s attention. Ramona will be starting kindergarten again at the end of winter break.
It is a super small community… proof. One of the private schools we went to insisted we borrow a book for Beezus to practice her reading (probably their attempt to get us to come back). It has been about two weeks since we borrowed this book and Beezus has been reading through it with me at home. I thought we were getting through it fairly quickly, but not quickly enough. I guess this private school wants their book back, because our principle asked me if we still have the book! I was floored. I almost laughed. I think our principle felt a little silly asking after the book. Keep in mind we live in the largest city in South Dakota. What did this private school do… call around asking each of the schools in our area where the Californians had enrolled! Weird. Perhaps even weirder the school didn’t just call me first.
There are so many differences here. In general here people ask all sorts of questions. In California we respect each other privacy. Here I get asked where I live, where my kids go to school, if I am renting, if I work, where my husband works… I actually got asked by someone why I was out shopping late. I can be a rather reserved person. So, I am having a hard time adjusting and not just pulling out some good old California sarcasm; however, I think that would be a grave sin here. Being able to wield sarcasm effectively is a rite of passage in CA. In South Dakota it would be really rude. In some ways it’s a relief… I can’t help but take people very literally and don’t get sarcasm a lot, yet there are times I miss the aloofness and wittiness of my home state. Sniff, sniff.
I have been busy unpacking. This week has been more tiring. Our first week here we lived in corporate housing. Our apartment was fully furnished with all the fun perks. It was a little more like vacationing. Now we are in a house and I need to get our boxes dealt with. It has been a project. I will be glad when I have something other than this move to keep me busy.
I will get pics up soon!
Beezus has completed her first week and half of school. It has been a tough adjustment. She is struggling big time. For those of us that pray she could use a little prayer or happy thoughts! She misses her friends. There are two little girls she misses a ton.
One of her largest challenges is getting all her snow gear on before school, off before class, on before lunch and recess, off before class and on again at the end of the day. The gear includes snow pants, boots (she has sneakers she is supposed to wear in class), hat and mittens. This might not sound like a lot if you don't have kids... but I remember just a month ago when the most we had to get on was a jacket. Of course for Beezus this is extra difficult because her muscle tone is so low and her motor skills are dismal at best. We might be looking into occupational therapists again now that we have health insurance. We have a ton to be grateful for medically resource speaking.
Ramona has enjoyed her time with me, yet misses her sister during the day. She plays in the backyard a little making snow piles while Athena runs around her. It is fun to watch Athena try to get Ramona’s attention. Ramona will be starting kindergarten again at the end of winter break.
It is a super small community… proof. One of the private schools we went to insisted we borrow a book for Beezus to practice her reading (probably their attempt to get us to come back). It has been about two weeks since we borrowed this book and Beezus has been reading through it with me at home. I thought we were getting through it fairly quickly, but not quickly enough. I guess this private school wants their book back, because our principle asked me if we still have the book! I was floored. I almost laughed. I think our principle felt a little silly asking after the book. Keep in mind we live in the largest city in South Dakota. What did this private school do… call around asking each of the schools in our area where the Californians had enrolled! Weird. Perhaps even weirder the school didn’t just call me first.
There are so many differences here. In general here people ask all sorts of questions. In California we respect each other privacy. Here I get asked where I live, where my kids go to school, if I am renting, if I work, where my husband works… I actually got asked by someone why I was out shopping late. I can be a rather reserved person. So, I am having a hard time adjusting and not just pulling out some good old California sarcasm; however, I think that would be a grave sin here. Being able to wield sarcasm effectively is a rite of passage in CA. In South Dakota it would be really rude. In some ways it’s a relief… I can’t help but take people very literally and don’t get sarcasm a lot, yet there are times I miss the aloofness and wittiness of my home state. Sniff, sniff.
I have been busy unpacking. This week has been more tiring. Our first week here we lived in corporate housing. Our apartment was fully furnished with all the fun perks. It was a little more like vacationing. Now we are in a house and I need to get our boxes dealt with. It has been a project. I will be glad when I have something other than this move to keep me busy.
I will get pics up soon!
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Let it Snow?
Got through our first snow storm last Saturday. It was wild. We had high winds and we gained about a foot of snow over night. We are still living in company housing and decided to go to the indoor pool during the worst of the snow storm. It was a surreal experience swimming while the large multi-story windows displayed swirling clouds of snow outside. I almost made the kids stand against the windows to get the picture, but I left my camera up stairs.
A couple things I learned from that day.
1. The hot tub is a limited item in a large apartment complex. I don't know if it is the winter that is driving people into it. All I know is I keep trying to get my turn and I keep missing it.
The day we went down to the pool with our maffeoberries there was a couple in there... being couple-y. My man thought it might be funny to climb in with the kids and crowd them out. I was certain they would stay and talk with us while my kids giggle, whisper and point. As it turned out an elderly couple joined them and just started talking them up. The lady in this couple did not even climb out of her significant others lap, but carried on a long friendly conversation with the older woman and her husband. When we left they were still talking.
The company housing has an indoor gym. Total score for me! I decided to start using the treadmill instead of the elliptical. My sister has suggested that I need to do more impact sports for my health. Even though she is younger than me, and I am pretty sure I know everything, her being in medical school gives me a reason to listen to her advice. So, Ms. Verruca, I am trying out running. I see running at the gym, which is located right next to the pool, as the perfect opportunity to get in that hot tub. Not to mention the perfect excuse now that my muscles are super sore! However, no matter how late at night I run there is always at least one person in there. And by "one person in there" I mean... a man. No offense to men, but you are annoying if you are straight. Just a fact. Maybe before we move to our house I will get a chance to sit in the darn hot tub.
2. The second thing I have learned from the snow storm day. Do not live up a tiny street that gets very little plow service. Our plow dude did not show up till Sunday! I was a little bonkers by Sunday. What do people do inside all day??? We are watching more TV. Going to have to figure out something we do that is active.
A couple things I learned from that day.
1. The hot tub is a limited item in a large apartment complex. I don't know if it is the winter that is driving people into it. All I know is I keep trying to get my turn and I keep missing it.
The day we went down to the pool with our maffeoberries there was a couple in there... being couple-y. My man thought it might be funny to climb in with the kids and crowd them out. I was certain they would stay and talk with us while my kids giggle, whisper and point. As it turned out an elderly couple joined them and just started talking them up. The lady in this couple did not even climb out of her significant others lap, but carried on a long friendly conversation with the older woman and her husband. When we left they were still talking.
The company housing has an indoor gym. Total score for me! I decided to start using the treadmill instead of the elliptical. My sister has suggested that I need to do more impact sports for my health. Even though she is younger than me, and I am pretty sure I know everything, her being in medical school gives me a reason to listen to her advice. So, Ms. Verruca, I am trying out running. I see running at the gym, which is located right next to the pool, as the perfect opportunity to get in that hot tub. Not to mention the perfect excuse now that my muscles are super sore! However, no matter how late at night I run there is always at least one person in there. And by "one person in there" I mean... a man. No offense to men, but you are annoying if you are straight. Just a fact. Maybe before we move to our house I will get a chance to sit in the darn hot tub.
2. The second thing I have learned from the snow storm day. Do not live up a tiny street that gets very little plow service. Our plow dude did not show up till Sunday! I was a little bonkers by Sunday. What do people do inside all day??? We are watching more TV. Going to have to figure out something we do that is active.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Completing Week One
We got the kids into a school we are very happy with! I was being to doubt that I could get that done in one week. It took a lot of visiting different schools and driving around for a couple days straight. I think I got a good feel for each school. We met the principle and she is lovely. I believe she might have been the one to pull a few strings for us.
Hanukkah was tough this year. I started out strong with new snow flakes lights from Costco to put in our windows back in WC. Then I moved on to a multi-night craft. Usually we would play games, but they were all packed. I even made sure we had some sort of GF treat each night. At some point with packing and flying I got a little too tired to keep up anything fancy. It got a lot harder to do anything more than lighting the menorah.
Dan surprised me on the last night of Hanukkah. I had not gotten around to making latkas with the kids. To be honest I have never really been a latka fan. My mom and grandma made tuna fish pancakes instead. Dan came home with ingredients to make both latkas and tuna fish pancakes for dinner. It was nice. It will be one of those memories I cherish - both of us exhausted and cooking in our tiny corporate housing apartment. And bonus, the latkas came out great! We used Pamela's GF flour mix for pancakes. The tuna fish pancakes will need a little work. I think the GF flour mix for baking made by Bobs Red Mill would have worked better. I will post the GF latka recipe we used later. We opened a couple presents. Dan got me a DVD player, but I think it might have been more for him and the kids - since so far they are the only ones to use it. ;-)
Still no new snow. I am thinking that might not be a bad thing. I saw a news report on TV with snow plows and traffic for a city further north... I started thinking about trying to drive the kids places. Yikes. That is all I have to say.
Oh! Tried a Long Island Ice Tea at the local Ruby Tuesdays. It was okay. I swear they put 7 up in it. Otherwise, still had the desired affect. ;-)
Speaking of which, Ruby Tuesdays has a GF menu! AND for the first time ever a waiter asked about bringing free bread to the table BEFORE doing it. Saved us that awkward moment where everyone at the table looks at the bread like there is a tiny devil dancing around manically laughing. Not to mention this saved me the moment where Ramona immediately starts campaigning for bread and I have to figure out what makes the most sense. Is it fair for Ramona to have bread in front of her sister? What is good for one kid is not necessarily great for the other. I still have not found a great compromise to many of the new situations I find our family in since Celiacs became a reality. I hope more restaurant start to think ahead like this one waiter did. I very much appreciated being asked.
Hanukkah was tough this year. I started out strong with new snow flakes lights from Costco to put in our windows back in WC. Then I moved on to a multi-night craft. Usually we would play games, but they were all packed. I even made sure we had some sort of GF treat each night. At some point with packing and flying I got a little too tired to keep up anything fancy. It got a lot harder to do anything more than lighting the menorah.
Dan surprised me on the last night of Hanukkah. I had not gotten around to making latkas with the kids. To be honest I have never really been a latka fan. My mom and grandma made tuna fish pancakes instead. Dan came home with ingredients to make both latkas and tuna fish pancakes for dinner. It was nice. It will be one of those memories I cherish - both of us exhausted and cooking in our tiny corporate housing apartment. And bonus, the latkas came out great! We used Pamela's GF flour mix for pancakes. The tuna fish pancakes will need a little work. I think the GF flour mix for baking made by Bobs Red Mill would have worked better. I will post the GF latka recipe we used later. We opened a couple presents. Dan got me a DVD player, but I think it might have been more for him and the kids - since so far they are the only ones to use it. ;-)
Still no new snow. I am thinking that might not be a bad thing. I saw a news report on TV with snow plows and traffic for a city further north... I started thinking about trying to drive the kids places. Yikes. That is all I have to say.
Oh! Tried a Long Island Ice Tea at the local Ruby Tuesdays. It was okay. I swear they put 7 up in it. Otherwise, still had the desired affect. ;-)
Speaking of which, Ruby Tuesdays has a GF menu! AND for the first time ever a waiter asked about bringing free bread to the table BEFORE doing it. Saved us that awkward moment where everyone at the table looks at the bread like there is a tiny devil dancing around manically laughing. Not to mention this saved me the moment where Ramona immediately starts campaigning for bread and I have to figure out what makes the most sense. Is it fair for Ramona to have bread in front of her sister? What is good for one kid is not necessarily great for the other. I still have not found a great compromise to many of the new situations I find our family in since Celiacs became a reality. I hope more restaurant start to think ahead like this one waiter did. I very much appreciated being asked.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Day Two
The first day we stuck to driving on the more crowded streets in the more industrial side of town. This is where our current apartment is. While grocery shopping in this neighborhood we got grabbed at by an old lady that reminded me of the telegraph crowd, except that the telegraph crowd does not try to touch you. This shook up Ramona and I. Beezus is, as per usual, in her own world entirely - I do not think she noticed. At least the old lady first complimented us on our healthy choice in food. This also made me worry that maybe nutrition is a problem out here?
Day two and there is still no snow. Well, no new snow. The snow here is dirty and slushy. The kids do not know the difference and they just plain love the snow. Of course they can only find an inch or so in parking lots. I keep going to unlock the car door and I turn around to see them "splashing" in snow "puddles". Sorry, I am short on snow terminology. Basically the snow is melty, dirty, parking lot-y, and my kids without snow pants are laughing and jumping up and down in it. Of course I am standing there exhausted and not in the mood to deal with this level of excitement after learning new streets in a new car, buying groceries that are GF in unfamiliar stores and being accosted by old ladies that remind me of the less nice parts of Berkeley. I might have gotten a little annoyed at my kids which are like, GERMS in the SNOW... AWESOME. Needless to say the locals probably thought we were a sight to see as I was yelling at my kids to "just PLEASE get in the car" while my children acted semi-delirious - essentially rolling in dirt.
So yesterday, our second day, I decided we needed to see where we would be living in a week or so. We needed to have a nice positive experience. We drove the the neighborhood we will be living in and walked through our new home. A little dated, but clean and a cute neighborhood. We went into the local super market. Clean with other moms shopping. We went to the local school - or what I thought was the local school. It is the closest to us. I loved the staff in the office and the principle was a lady I can get behind and support. Unfortunately our two block by two block radius is the one spot that takes a bus to a school in the "city". That same little two block by two block radius is surrounded by homes that go to the school I love so much. This was very disheartening to learn. It also makes you wonder why? Do they really dislike one of my neighbors? Why just a tiny circle of homes in the greater neighborhood?
There is something called open enrollment in South Dakota, which essentially means we can enroll at any of the schools. However, I also learned yesterday there is limited open enrollment space. Which at this one school is booked up.
The principle was a nice lady. We went into her office to go over any questions I might have. We went over how the district deals with special diets. They will cater to a GF diet.
What I did not realize, being some what naive, is that this might have been an informal interview to get my kids into the school. I have a tendency to be too honest and open sometimes. I mentioned how we were unsure if we were going to continue with kindergarten with our youngest. The principle was very nice and said the kindergarten teachers could give her an informal screening and the district offered for free a very comprehensive developmental screening.
Unfortunately Ramona is struggling with this move and does not want to go to kindergarten. She really wants to go to pre-K. Visiting this school was not a happy moment in her disrupted life. How does Ramona express this sentiment. Well she puts her arm on the table, burrows her face in her arm with only her big blue eyes poking out and growls at the principle. Because, after all, that's what I would do. At first the principle laughed about it. But then Ramona decided that the growling was not having the desired affect so she moved onto strange gurgling noises. This lovely principle, who happens to have a set of six year old twin kindergartners at this particular school went from glancing at my youngest to just plain watching her while we talked. If the principle was on the fence the gurgling might have solidified our renewed search for a school. Oy Vey.
And so, today, Day Three... I will be calling all the schools in the area we are living and finding out which ones have space in open enrollment to avoid trying to get my kids on a bus to go into the city for school. Where, let's face it, the strange old lady is waiting.
Wish me luck!
Day two and there is still no snow. Well, no new snow. The snow here is dirty and slushy. The kids do not know the difference and they just plain love the snow. Of course they can only find an inch or so in parking lots. I keep going to unlock the car door and I turn around to see them "splashing" in snow "puddles". Sorry, I am short on snow terminology. Basically the snow is melty, dirty, parking lot-y, and my kids without snow pants are laughing and jumping up and down in it. Of course I am standing there exhausted and not in the mood to deal with this level of excitement after learning new streets in a new car, buying groceries that are GF in unfamiliar stores and being accosted by old ladies that remind me of the less nice parts of Berkeley. I might have gotten a little annoyed at my kids which are like, GERMS in the SNOW... AWESOME. Needless to say the locals probably thought we were a sight to see as I was yelling at my kids to "just PLEASE get in the car" while my children acted semi-delirious - essentially rolling in dirt.
So yesterday, our second day, I decided we needed to see where we would be living in a week or so. We needed to have a nice positive experience. We drove the the neighborhood we will be living in and walked through our new home. A little dated, but clean and a cute neighborhood. We went into the local super market. Clean with other moms shopping. We went to the local school - or what I thought was the local school. It is the closest to us. I loved the staff in the office and the principle was a lady I can get behind and support. Unfortunately our two block by two block radius is the one spot that takes a bus to a school in the "city". That same little two block by two block radius is surrounded by homes that go to the school I love so much. This was very disheartening to learn. It also makes you wonder why? Do they really dislike one of my neighbors? Why just a tiny circle of homes in the greater neighborhood?
There is something called open enrollment in South Dakota, which essentially means we can enroll at any of the schools. However, I also learned yesterday there is limited open enrollment space. Which at this one school is booked up.
The principle was a nice lady. We went into her office to go over any questions I might have. We went over how the district deals with special diets. They will cater to a GF diet.
What I did not realize, being some what naive, is that this might have been an informal interview to get my kids into the school. I have a tendency to be too honest and open sometimes. I mentioned how we were unsure if we were going to continue with kindergarten with our youngest. The principle was very nice and said the kindergarten teachers could give her an informal screening and the district offered for free a very comprehensive developmental screening.
Unfortunately Ramona is struggling with this move and does not want to go to kindergarten. She really wants to go to pre-K. Visiting this school was not a happy moment in her disrupted life. How does Ramona express this sentiment. Well she puts her arm on the table, burrows her face in her arm with only her big blue eyes poking out and growls at the principle. Because, after all, that's what I would do. At first the principle laughed about it. But then Ramona decided that the growling was not having the desired affect so she moved onto strange gurgling noises. This lovely principle, who happens to have a set of six year old twin kindergartners at this particular school went from glancing at my youngest to just plain watching her while we talked. If the principle was on the fence the gurgling might have solidified our renewed search for a school. Oy Vey.
And so, today, Day Three... I will be calling all the schools in the area we are living and finding out which ones have space in open enrollment to avoid trying to get my kids on a bus to go into the city for school. Where, let's face it, the strange old lady is waiting.
Wish me luck!
Monday, December 6, 2010
South Dakota Day One
DayOne:
I got lost and ended up in another "city". Gosh, not even going to bother with that story, much like the city, there isn't much to it.
I noticed that McDonald's in the northern Midwest is akin to Starbucks on the west coast. Literally there was a McDonald's per freeway exit. I think there might be more. Sioux Falls is not that big - so it seems excessive. There was a small piece of me that wanted to use my elliptical just because I was driving by so many McDonald's signs. Don't get me wrong. This is not a criticism. Simply an observation. In fact, a perk to such cold weather, I didn't almost hit a single spandex clad "motor vehicle" on the freeway.
Today was interesting when lunch time rolled around. The girls and I were very hungry and I was very lost. I did not know what street I was on, where that street might lead, what the speed limit was or why my husband bought a car with so many blind spots! It did not help that the panic began creeping in when I realized that I did not know where to eat! I was not sure where a single gluten free menu existed. In fact our excursion was to find GF food in the grocery stores and stock up at home. However, because I am a capable person who can handle anxiety I pulled off at the first restaurant I sort of recognized. I ended up at Olive Garden and they have a gluten free menu. Weird since Olive Garden is an Italian place. The GF pasta was even good. Beezus was very happy. There was talk about missing California at lunch. The girls both had already started to realize that this move might not be as much fun as they were hoping for. I kept things light. Overall we had a great time out. The kids don't often get to eat with mommy in the middle of school day at a restaurant. My man has done some research and surprisingly there are at least two gluten free pizza places out here that deliver. Also we found a coop GF store which gives 20% off special orders if you are a member. There are some products I have not found, but many that I have. We aren't going to starve and I have bought myself more time to not learn to cook bread well! Yeah!
Other Updates:
We did in fact fly with all three cats in their carriers. We brought them on to the plane and stowed them under the seat. They were mostly perfectly terrified and quiet. Squirrel was the only animal that tried to break free. We did have one hitch at the airport. We went through the wrong security gate. Apparently they have multiple ones at SF. So, after having gone through with two kids, two computer bags, three cats and a carry-on we had to do it again! The second time the little man working at security wouldn't let my man go back and forth, so Beezus got to carry her own cat through. It was a tiring experience, but we were lucky and we hit our connecting flight.
Athena came out fine. A little tired, but super happy to see us. She is doing well with apartment living. She has a bed time in her crate in the girls room. She seems to enjoy sleeping near them.
Tomorrow we get to see our new home.
I got lost and ended up in another "city". Gosh, not even going to bother with that story, much like the city, there isn't much to it.
I noticed that McDonald's in the northern Midwest is akin to Starbucks on the west coast. Literally there was a McDonald's per freeway exit. I think there might be more. Sioux Falls is not that big - so it seems excessive. There was a small piece of me that wanted to use my elliptical just because I was driving by so many McDonald's signs. Don't get me wrong. This is not a criticism. Simply an observation. In fact, a perk to such cold weather, I didn't almost hit a single spandex clad "motor vehicle" on the freeway.
Today was interesting when lunch time rolled around. The girls and I were very hungry and I was very lost. I did not know what street I was on, where that street might lead, what the speed limit was or why my husband bought a car with so many blind spots! It did not help that the panic began creeping in when I realized that I did not know where to eat! I was not sure where a single gluten free menu existed. In fact our excursion was to find GF food in the grocery stores and stock up at home. However, because I am a capable person who can handle anxiety I pulled off at the first restaurant I sort of recognized. I ended up at Olive Garden and they have a gluten free menu. Weird since Olive Garden is an Italian place. The GF pasta was even good. Beezus was very happy. There was talk about missing California at lunch. The girls both had already started to realize that this move might not be as much fun as they were hoping for. I kept things light. Overall we had a great time out. The kids don't often get to eat with mommy in the middle of school day at a restaurant. My man has done some research and surprisingly there are at least two gluten free pizza places out here that deliver. Also we found a coop GF store which gives 20% off special orders if you are a member. There are some products I have not found, but many that I have. We aren't going to starve and I have bought myself more time to not learn to cook bread well! Yeah!
Other Updates:
We did in fact fly with all three cats in their carriers. We brought them on to the plane and stowed them under the seat. They were mostly perfectly terrified and quiet. Squirrel was the only animal that tried to break free. We did have one hitch at the airport. We went through the wrong security gate. Apparently they have multiple ones at SF. So, after having gone through with two kids, two computer bags, three cats and a carry-on we had to do it again! The second time the little man working at security wouldn't let my man go back and forth, so Beezus got to carry her own cat through. It was a tiring experience, but we were lucky and we hit our connecting flight.
Athena came out fine. A little tired, but super happy to see us. She is doing well with apartment living. She has a bed time in her crate in the girls room. She seems to enjoy sleeping near them.
Tomorrow we get to see our new home.
Revising
Hi Family and Friends,
I am making this our main family blog/site. I hope to upload pics, updates, stories and other family related news. We are ditching the gluten theme and just going with family.
I have attempted to make this an invite only site. You computer savvy people can check and make sure that it is in fact not open to the public??? Because with time I have become semi leery of the posting so much information on my family I will refer to daughter one as Beezus and daughter two as Ramona. I love those books and feel that especially in daughter two's case the personality fits enough. Especially recently. I am rolling my eyes and I can actually feel a headache come on when I think of just how much daughter two reminds me of Ramona. Oy Vey.
Any how I will have updates on our new South Dakota adventure soon!
Yours Truly,
Me
PS - I promise, if for some reason I cancel this site, to send out a really, really nice email before hand to prepare everyone. I know when I cancelled shutterfly it sent out a nasty email. I apologize for that.
I am making this our main family blog/site. I hope to upload pics, updates, stories and other family related news. We are ditching the gluten theme and just going with family.
I have attempted to make this an invite only site. You computer savvy people can check and make sure that it is in fact not open to the public??? Because with time I have become semi leery of the posting so much information on my family I will refer to daughter one as Beezus and daughter two as Ramona. I love those books and feel that especially in daughter two's case the personality fits enough. Especially recently. I am rolling my eyes and I can actually feel a headache come on when I think of just how much daughter two reminds me of Ramona. Oy Vey.
Any how I will have updates on our new South Dakota adventure soon!
Yours Truly,
Me
PS - I promise, if for some reason I cancel this site, to send out a really, really nice email before hand to prepare everyone. I know when I cancelled shutterfly it sent out a nasty email. I apologize for that.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Move and Movie
Move:
I have not been thinking about GF diet or the GF lifestyle recently. My family is going through a lot of stress and this stress takes up most my available energy. My husband has two possible jobs he is juggling and I have one possible job. To clarify, when I say possible I mean we are in the process of second or third interviews – there are no offers yet.
Most of our stress originates from where my husband (aka “the man”) will get a job and how will we manage to move where ever that job is. Yuck. Just thinking about a huge move is exhausting. I am pretending we are not potentially moving from the SF bay area to South Dakota. I find that if I pretend the move is not happening then I can stay sane while we wait to see what fate has to offer us.
Moving with a family is just stressful. First of all, school starts in a couple weeks so no matter what we will move mid school year. I want to make sure when we move we place the kids in the school they will stay in once we are living in South Dakota to keep from moving them around to much. Two, I feel truly intimidated by finding a neighborhood and school while living in SF. It is too expensive to fly both of us out there right now just to peruse. So I will be relying on the pictures the man takes and on online resources. Three, our home is not ready to sell yet and getting the funds and time to fix it is impractical. In fact the worst part of the moving scenario is trying to figure out what the heck we do with the house we have! I shudder to think how to handle that.
Then again this all might be a non-existent worry. The man might not get an offer in South Dakota. Of course if he does then we get a month to figure all this crap out. Yuck, head ache.
Movie:
Recently I took my girls to the movies to see Ramona and Beezus. This was great because, daughter number one went into it – by it I mean the movie theater. Daughter number one does not really like the theater. She doesn’t like how it gets dark or the loudness of the movie and she really does not like not knowing what is going to happen next in the movie. However, we have really progressed from the little girl who would not even enter the theater to the little girl who will timidly enter it when she knows what the movie is about, is given yummy treats and is reassured we can leave if she doesn’t like the movie.
This was a great movie for us, because our family can relate a lot to the characters and their struggles.
We have been reading the Ramona books at home and I found the movie was fairly true to the books. The books are about two sisters who have a typical sibling relationship with rivalry. It shows each child make personal growth as they both work to find the space they need as individuals and learn to accept each other flaws. I think daughter number one can relate to the Beezus, the older sister in the movie, who is a bit of a stormy character with a lot of opinions and is always coming to terms with her emotions. While Ramona reminds me of all the reasons I worry about my youngest in kindergarten. I am not sure my younger daughter is at the age in which she can appreciate a longer book without many pictures – which is a shame, because she should sympathize with everything Ramona is going through! Beverly Clearly does an amazing job depicting the relationships in the family and the psychology of the two children as they navigate their different adventures.
I especially like reading this series to my own kids because the family in the book is struggling with the same sort of money issues. I know that our kids notice what is happening and they talk about our job hunt in the blunt way children do. Things like offering us the change they find in the house to make ends meet. Sweet and somewhat short sided. In fact in the movie daughter number one said, quite loudly in the theater, “they are looking for a job like you and daddy”. I felt a little conspicuous, but then it occurred to me that the reason I like the kids seeing the movie is I want them to know that isn’t weird or embarrassing it is just another stage in life AND most importantly we will get through it as a family. The movie definitely shows that lots of families struggle with things like jobs. Ramona and Beezus the movie also broached the topic that families move sometimes to follow a job – not sure if this happens later in the books. Of course this movie ended with a “happy” no-one-has-to-move-to-a-new-state ending; however, it makes the concept something I feel we could talk about now.
Actually what I didn’t expect in the movie – maybe because we haven’t read the later books in the series yet – is that Picky-Picky, the family cat, dies. I did not realize how hard the kids took that. In the theater they were upset a little. On the way home it turned into a full melt down for my youngest. The death of Picky-Picky led to a couple days of discussing heaven and pet loss, as well as, lots of reassuring my kids that our pets are all young and have a lot of time left in them. In some ways the death of the family pet might have been a blessing. The movie really dramatized the children potentially having to move, it built a lot of anxiety around this and I think the loss of the cat distracted my kids from getting too caught up in that. So thank you Picky-Picky for kicking the literary bucket.
I have not been thinking about GF diet or the GF lifestyle recently. My family is going through a lot of stress and this stress takes up most my available energy. My husband has two possible jobs he is juggling and I have one possible job. To clarify, when I say possible I mean we are in the process of second or third interviews – there are no offers yet.
Most of our stress originates from where my husband (aka “the man”) will get a job and how will we manage to move where ever that job is. Yuck. Just thinking about a huge move is exhausting. I am pretending we are not potentially moving from the SF bay area to South Dakota. I find that if I pretend the move is not happening then I can stay sane while we wait to see what fate has to offer us.
Moving with a family is just stressful. First of all, school starts in a couple weeks so no matter what we will move mid school year. I want to make sure when we move we place the kids in the school they will stay in once we are living in South Dakota to keep from moving them around to much. Two, I feel truly intimidated by finding a neighborhood and school while living in SF. It is too expensive to fly both of us out there right now just to peruse. So I will be relying on the pictures the man takes and on online resources. Three, our home is not ready to sell yet and getting the funds and time to fix it is impractical. In fact the worst part of the moving scenario is trying to figure out what the heck we do with the house we have! I shudder to think how to handle that.
Then again this all might be a non-existent worry. The man might not get an offer in South Dakota. Of course if he does then we get a month to figure all this crap out. Yuck, head ache.
Movie:
Recently I took my girls to the movies to see Ramona and Beezus. This was great because, daughter number one went into it – by it I mean the movie theater. Daughter number one does not really like the theater. She doesn’t like how it gets dark or the loudness of the movie and she really does not like not knowing what is going to happen next in the movie. However, we have really progressed from the little girl who would not even enter the theater to the little girl who will timidly enter it when she knows what the movie is about, is given yummy treats and is reassured we can leave if she doesn’t like the movie.
This was a great movie for us, because our family can relate a lot to the characters and their struggles.
We have been reading the Ramona books at home and I found the movie was fairly true to the books. The books are about two sisters who have a typical sibling relationship with rivalry. It shows each child make personal growth as they both work to find the space they need as individuals and learn to accept each other flaws. I think daughter number one can relate to the Beezus, the older sister in the movie, who is a bit of a stormy character with a lot of opinions and is always coming to terms with her emotions. While Ramona reminds me of all the reasons I worry about my youngest in kindergarten. I am not sure my younger daughter is at the age in which she can appreciate a longer book without many pictures – which is a shame, because she should sympathize with everything Ramona is going through! Beverly Clearly does an amazing job depicting the relationships in the family and the psychology of the two children as they navigate their different adventures.
I especially like reading this series to my own kids because the family in the book is struggling with the same sort of money issues. I know that our kids notice what is happening and they talk about our job hunt in the blunt way children do. Things like offering us the change they find in the house to make ends meet. Sweet and somewhat short sided. In fact in the movie daughter number one said, quite loudly in the theater, “they are looking for a job like you and daddy”. I felt a little conspicuous, but then it occurred to me that the reason I like the kids seeing the movie is I want them to know that isn’t weird or embarrassing it is just another stage in life AND most importantly we will get through it as a family. The movie definitely shows that lots of families struggle with things like jobs. Ramona and Beezus the movie also broached the topic that families move sometimes to follow a job – not sure if this happens later in the books. Of course this movie ended with a “happy” no-one-has-to-move-to-a-new-state ending; however, it makes the concept something I feel we could talk about now.
Actually what I didn’t expect in the movie – maybe because we haven’t read the later books in the series yet – is that Picky-Picky, the family cat, dies. I did not realize how hard the kids took that. In the theater they were upset a little. On the way home it turned into a full melt down for my youngest. The death of Picky-Picky led to a couple days of discussing heaven and pet loss, as well as, lots of reassuring my kids that our pets are all young and have a lot of time left in them. In some ways the death of the family pet might have been a blessing. The movie really dramatized the children potentially having to move, it built a lot of anxiety around this and I think the loss of the cat distracted my kids from getting too caught up in that. So thank you Picky-Picky for kicking the literary bucket.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Pamela's Muffins Altered with Chocolote Chips and CInamon
My first recipe and survival tactic for a gluten free diet is Pamela's muffins.
1. Pamela's: http://www.pamelasproducts.com/
This is a brand that makes GF premixed flours. They have mixes for cakes, pancakes, waffles, breads and muffins.
I have found that Pamela muffins work great for lunches, play dates, swim team and just about anytime I need something quick, easy and practical.
Following this link (http://www.pamelasproducts.com/recipes/pamsmuffins.html) and you will get the recommeneded recipe through pamela's website; however, I was unimpressed with this recipe and instead altered the muffin recipe that was printed on the mix for pancakes and baking.
I use Pamela's Baking and Pancake mix. It is a premixed flour combined with dried milk powder and has almond flour in it as well - so not good for nut, soy or milk allergies. I pretty much double the recipe and add on some ingredients.
Muffin Recipe My Version:
3.5 cups Pamela’s flour
.5 cup butter
1 cup milk
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tbsn. vanilla
1/2 cup chocolate chips
*For flavor and moisture:
4 oz cup apple sauce
1 tsp cinnamon
Directions:
Heat oven to 350. Cook for 25-30 minutes (usually latter end) – apple sauce makes it wetter. This makes up to 20ish muffins.
Make sure all ingredients are GF.
The kids really like it. Of course you put chocolate in anything and it tends to make things more edible. What surprised me is a lot of my non GF adult friends really liked them. I always take that as a good sign that I am on to something.
Because I am not someone who enjoys the kitchen I like the Pamela’s mixes as they are fast and easy. Another mom taught me about Pamela’s and the magic of making muffins and storing them. My mom friend makes them in bulk and then freezes them for usage through out the week or even month. I find I have less and less freezer room since most bread products need to be stored in the freezer. Making it more tempting to someday get a seperate freezer unit!
That’s it for today. I will definitely talk more about breads and flours a rather tedious subject which I have made only barely adequate progress in.
Choosing a Gluten Free House Hold
My daughter has only been diagnosed with Celiac Disease (CD) since late February of 2010. We decided as a family to go GF in our house. We decided this for a bunch of reasons:
1. I want my daughter to have one place in the world where she is completely included. She will spend most days aware she can not have foods that are being serving at school, at a friends house, at an after school activity or at a restaurant. We decided she needed an environment in which she could feel completely comfortable – isn’t that what home is supposed to be?
2. I did not want to worry about cross contamination in my own kitchen. What I find to be the hardest point to drive home to other parents, friends and family is how easily cross contamination can be. My daughter was at a friend’s house and although I had tried to explain CD I was shocked when the other parent cut a bagel and then an apple with the same knife and offered it to my daughter. Don’t get me wrong. Sweetest woman in the world, but she just didn’t understand CD or the implications of cross contamination.
3. I want my daughter to know she has the support of her whole family. That she is accepted, loved.
4. Lastly, I want her too see we can all do this – it is doable! I want to model by example for her as much as possible.
So far in our GF journey I have noticed that many websites, books, articles and resources address the meal planning and food changes in the diet. I have not found any resources yet which address a child’s psychology needs in their adjustment to the GF life style. This seems strange to me, because food is so highly correlated with culture, personal identity, celebrations and even emotions. I would assume having a natural exclusion from foods, specifically those served in social settings, can have a drastic affect on a person psychologically. I am interested in how my daughter will cope with this, how she will personally identify with it. I know for my own food intolerances this can be emotionally draining at times.
I hope to find books that give some guidance to parents on how to help their children cope and internalize their new life style in a healthy way. In the mean time we are just keep it positive.
1. I want my daughter to have one place in the world where she is completely included. She will spend most days aware she can not have foods that are being serving at school, at a friends house, at an after school activity or at a restaurant. We decided she needed an environment in which she could feel completely comfortable – isn’t that what home is supposed to be?
2. I did not want to worry about cross contamination in my own kitchen. What I find to be the hardest point to drive home to other parents, friends and family is how easily cross contamination can be. My daughter was at a friend’s house and although I had tried to explain CD I was shocked when the other parent cut a bagel and then an apple with the same knife and offered it to my daughter. Don’t get me wrong. Sweetest woman in the world, but she just didn’t understand CD or the implications of cross contamination.
3. I want my daughter to know she has the support of her whole family. That she is accepted, loved.
4. Lastly, I want her too see we can all do this – it is doable! I want to model by example for her as much as possible.
So far in our GF journey I have noticed that many websites, books, articles and resources address the meal planning and food changes in the diet. I have not found any resources yet which address a child’s psychology needs in their adjustment to the GF life style. This seems strange to me, because food is so highly correlated with culture, personal identity, celebrations and even emotions. I would assume having a natural exclusion from foods, specifically those served in social settings, can have a drastic affect on a person psychologically. I am interested in how my daughter will cope with this, how she will personally identify with it. I know for my own food intolerances this can be emotionally draining at times.
I hope to find books that give some guidance to parents on how to help their children cope and internalize their new life style in a healthy way. In the mean time we are just keep it positive.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
I have decided to start a blog.
This is a big step for me to go to a more public forum than the typical secure family website. I feel a blog is the next logical evolution in my Internet share site profession.
I have been inspired to blog on a theme. My understanding is there is no such thing as idly blogging anymore. In the past "my" theme was always my children and their various adventures. Yet, as my children get older and form their own identities and opinions, as well as, a certain amount of self consciousness it no longer feels appropriate to utilize stories related to their bathroom habits, most embarrassing episodes or even some of the private little moments they share with their father and I. Not to say I will totally abandon family tidbits. However, I think I will graduate to a more cohesive theme.
Thus, I timidly step out into the Internet left to pick my own topics to explore.
I have decided to attempt a family, health and gluten free living theme. This will not a "cooking" blog, as I am no cook. Yet, there have been people who want to know recipes or other GF families that want to share recipes, so I will include some of what we eat in the house in the form of recipes or online resources. I have found that some GF meals are more labor intensive, but are not all that different from their gluten counter parts.
I would ideally like to provide a peak into our family and our gluten free existence through stories, trouble shooting, short cuts, brand information, label grievances, recipes, on-line resources, book and restaurant reviews.
I hope to occasional offer a laugh, insight, education, article, book or simply something to read and criticize in your own home. I hope to gain writing experience and perfect my grammar to appease my in-laws ;-)
I have always loved sharing parts of my life and my family. Please read, laugh, comment, judge, but at least stop by on occasion. I will try to post updates and comprehensible blogs every week to every couple weeks.
I have been inspired to blog on a theme. My understanding is there is no such thing as idly blogging anymore. In the past "my" theme was always my children and their various adventures. Yet, as my children get older and form their own identities and opinions, as well as, a certain amount of self consciousness it no longer feels appropriate to utilize stories related to their bathroom habits, most embarrassing episodes or even some of the private little moments they share with their father and I. Not to say I will totally abandon family tidbits. However, I think I will graduate to a more cohesive theme.
Thus, I timidly step out into the Internet left to pick my own topics to explore.
I have decided to attempt a family, health and gluten free living theme. This will not a "cooking" blog, as I am no cook. Yet, there have been people who want to know recipes or other GF families that want to share recipes, so I will include some of what we eat in the house in the form of recipes or online resources. I have found that some GF meals are more labor intensive, but are not all that different from their gluten counter parts.
I hope to occasional offer a laugh, insight, education, article, book or simply something to read and criticize in your own home. I hope to gain writing experience and perfect my grammar to appease my in-laws ;-)
I have always loved sharing parts of my life and my family. Please read, laugh, comment, judge, but at least stop by on occasion. I will try to post updates and comprehensible blogs every week to every couple weeks.
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