365-4 | Peaches Prattlings

{March 11, 2016} I am gluten free free!

Or should I say I am free from being gluten free!

I don’t know if you remember me talking about some of my issues and the tests I’ve taken. No studying was required, whew. If you didn’t know, I’m nauseous all of the time. When I say that, I don’t mean a lot, I mean all the time…24/7..I go to sleep nauseous, I wake up nauseous. Please don’t feel sorry for me, it sucks, but that’s the way it is.

The thing is, even though it’s been going on for years and you sort of get used to it, you still want it to stop and I finally decided to do something about it. Well, now that I made that decision, I want instant results and it’s a process.

I’m not sure which tests I’ve told you about, but I’ve done two SIBO breath tests, drink icky stuff [super sickly sweet glucose and the other fructose], endoscopy [camera down the throat] and a gastric emptying [they feed me food and radiation and watch my stomach empty, ooh, exciting!].

The breath tests take about 2.5 HOURS [drink and then breath into a bag every 15 minutes, ooh, I know you’re jealous!]. The endoscopy they put you under, well they did me! Whatever they gave me…wahoo! I was high before and after! Legally! The gastric emptying…I was warned it would be boring. [Eat, go in the open MRI for about 45 minutes, back to the waiting room for 30-45 minutes, back in the machine 15 minutes, back to the waiting room 45 minutes. This went in for FOUR HOURS people! Now you’re really jealous!]

So, after all that, the only test that produces results…I am fructose intolerant! That means I produce too much fructose, I’m fruity! And you thought I was just nutty! I don’t remember normal levels, but mine are off the charts. See…I’m an overachiever!

What does this mean? I have to avoid things that have excess stuff. No more honey, what?? Nooooo. No more apples! What? Do you know how many things are sweetened with honey and apples, do ya! It’s a conspiracy, muwahaha!

Ok, so my biggest fear was both realized and allayed. I was terrified I would be told I would have to give up fruits and vegetables, I’m a vegan! What!? Nope, just some fruits and veggies, others just in moderation. I can do that. The other fear, I might have to eat meat. I’d probably end up starving…

So, the next step is to talk to a nutritionist, see if a change in diet will help. As some of you know, one of the things I had to give up was wheat, so I did. Now, if you didn’t know, going gluten free, buying gluten free products is easier than reading a label, so gluten free I went. And I have to tell you, there is actually some decent gluten free stuff out there! People even found gluten free stuff for me, bless ’em!

Imagine…it’s hard enough being vegan on the road or visiting someone, but now I have to have gluten free? Seriously!? But…ya do what ya gotta do, right? Right. So…gluten free I go.

By the way…when PSM and I were in Europe…think I adhered to that? NOT ON YOUR LIFE!! it was fabulous!! I ate bread, pastries, croissants…oh my!

So…I followed over the last few months, admittedly I cheated a few times. Two shirley temples, hold me back! And one veggie burger on a bun, oh yeah! But, bottom line, nothing worked. I am still nauseous, I know, poor me. ha ha

I talked to the nutritionist yesterday and we agreed that it’s not working, so…I can eat what I want! Wahoo!!! [And I have more money in my pocket, that gluten-free stuff can be expensive!!]

Ok, now not everything I want…I still need to watch the high fructans and polyols, etc, and don’t eat too many servings or portions and still avoid honey and apples, boo, but I can eat what I want within reason and then I go back to the GI next month to see what’s next, who knows what the next test will be, but it’s an adventure.

But…until then…bring on the bread…the pasta…the gluten!

This is what I will look like when I finally eat real bread!

This is the NO-NO list

This is the “within reason” list.

{March 10, 2016} Almost 30 years?! What!!

Tonight, wow, what a trip! I saw someone I have known for almost thirty years!

I met SD freshman orientation at SUNY Fredonia August 1989!! We spent the weekend together with a few other people, closely, while we met so many others in our freshman class, but we became fast friends and fell for each other, it was love at first site!

It was a very brief romance, but the friendship remained. Tonight when he introduced me, I was his first and only girlfriend, exactly how he described me to his husband, to perfect!

Tonight, I got to meet his husband and their son, JD, what a doll baby!!

SD posted on Facebook the other day he would be singing some torch songs at Merge, a vegetarian/vegan restaurant. I didn’t realize it, but I’d been there before last year with the team.

I knew I would have to go, of course! I got done with work, changed and headed out to the restaurant and when we saw each other, it was at no time had passed. When I looked at him, I saw the 18 year old boy in 1989.

We caught up for a bit, then it was time to sing. He introduced me to a few people, I ended up talking with a coworker for a while, very nice guy.

What a wonderful performance, he really does have a fabulous voice and he’s so good with the crowd, it was so terrific to see him up there, it brought back memories.

I got a chance to chat with his husband for a few minutes after the performance and then their son, very inquisitive and precious.

Then it was time to go, with the promise to get together next week, fingers crossed.

Almost thirty years, nah, it was just yesterday. Sigh

{March 9, 2016} Curtains Up

An interesting experience tonight.

Shea’s Theater in Buffalo held what they call their annual Curtains Up event. This is when they reveal their next season of shows.

There were a few shows posted and then they revealed the shows one by one. There is an award called The Kenny Awards, http://kennyawards.weebly.com/, an award that honors talent in high school students in western New York.

A few students from each school who are in the theater program presented the next show coming. The president and musical director presented as well.

There were some presentations from shows on Broadway that were coming to Shae’s next season, Finding Neverland, Cabaret and Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder.

Aside from the sound being horrible, it was an enjoyable evening. People in the crowd were season ticket holders and seemed to enjoy this event greatly.

Hmmm…maybe some other theaters and cities well do the same.

{March 8, 2016} What did you do for dinner?

I went to Canada!

One of the things I love about traveling for work is trying new places to go and eat. I did that tonight.

Today I was teaching at a hospital right by the border, so, what to do for dinner…head in the direction of Canada, ask border patrol for a suggestion, Strada West it was.

I traded with the agent, she gave me toys place and I told her about Manis/Massages and Martinis, fair trade.

Eat and sip is the tag line. Do they cater to vegan and gluten free, yup! Had a seat at the bar, ordered a side salad and an eggplant sandwich on a gluten free bun, a good one! It had avocado, lettuce, peppers, some really bitter greens and brie. I took a chance on the brie, I’m surviving. The hand cut fries were really good, brought the rest back to the valet at the hotel.

Back to the border, nothing to declare and on to the hotel to relax and talk to you.

What does tomorrow hold?

{March 7, 2016} Too cool, need to find this in more places

Tonight I did something different and fun.

I went to a place near my hotel called The Chocolate Bar. It’s a bar/restaurant that specializes in chocolate, as you might imagine. Drinks, food, dessert.

Mondays they have a promotion, Martinis abs Manis, buy a martini, get a free mani, fabulous? Yes! Wednesdays is Martinis abs Massages. It’s a hook and a gimmick, but it worked! Worth it, oh yeah!

They need to do this in more cities!

I found out about it from someone in one of my classes today, she was meeting a friend there herself. I had been wanting to go, I know, I don’t like chocolate, but I was curious.

I got there, ended up seeing the girl from class, we chatted while she word for get friend. The menu was extensive, well, the chocolate menu that is.

I ordered my first martini ever, chocolate and peanut butter. It tasted like a Resee peanut butter cup, except with vodka, um, not my thing, but I tried it. So I got a hot chocolate with amaretto, better. They had virgin martinis, but they were made with milk, oh well.

If you bite the ends off the chocolate stick, you can use it as a straw! That was tasty!

I ordered sweet potato fries with three sauces for dipping sauces, dark chocolate, which had a kick, rosemary butter and maple mayo, that was the best. I keep trying things, like chocolate to see if I like it, you know, tastes change! Not in this case!

Then I ordered a salad, very-berry, it was good, lots of berries and nuts in a giant martini glass! Tasty!

They had Willy Wonka in a loop in the bar, along with the I Love Lucy episode in the

chocolate

factory and some

episode of Sponge Bob selling chocolate on in the bathroom.

There were some interesting people at the bar while I was there, always fun to people watch.

Then it was my turn for a mani. The girl who did it talked 90 to nothin! She was very nice and chatty and when we talked about travel I asked if she traveled a lot, yup, to Florida and NYC all the time, but she wants more. I think she did a great job, it’s very dark green with a gold party nail, St Patty’s day is coming up, maybe this will give me a touch of luck!

Back to the hotel with my leftovers, way too much food! The valet and front desk were happy!

I wonder what my next adventure will be!!

{March 6, 2016} Personal space

We all have it, please go get your own.

I was at LaGuardia Airport and sitting at one of the tables, charging my phone. It’s cool, there are so many charging ports and ipads you can eat, play, stay entertained while you wait for your flight.

I sat down at one of these tables at the same time this woman stopped at the table. She was on the phone and I was thinking, ok, she’s going to move soon.

Nope.

She proceeded to stand there, got off the phone, put the phone on the table in front of me [these are small one person booths], then took out get charging cable and put on the table. Huh?

She then reached across from me to plug her charger in! What!? Let me tell you, there were other places she could have plugged in, instead of with me. She then proceeded to just stand there, pretty much over me.

I asked if she should like to sit there, I was willing to move and she could have the seat. “No, it’s ok, it’s fine, I’ll stand here.” What?

A moment later, a guy on the other side of the half wall got up and I pointed to it and told her she could use that one and sit at it, have a seat all to herself. She took me up on my offer.

Now, let me say this…I don’t have a problem sharing space. When I’m at a gate that has the charging ports on those stands, we’re all crowded together, sometimes standing right in front of each other.

But…when we reach over to plug in, we are courteous and ask, or at lease we are aware of each other and those charging stands are not at a personal table. If she has asked, I would have said yes, but she didn’t and she just stood there like this was ok and almost crowded me into the booth. Imagine if I had ordered food!

All I kept thinking of was Dirty Dancing “This is my dance space, this is your dance space”.

Really?

{March 5, 2016} What a day!!

It started early, ended late, lots in the middle, perfect.

It started early because my sleep is messed up. 3:15am, 4:30am and finally, I gave up at 6:20am and got up. Well, didn’t get up and out of bed, just no more sleeping.

I got up, dressed and headed out to meet PSMs sister-in-law and nephew for brunch not too far from them, because after we ate, we went back to their place and I got to visit with Mollie! She looks great, she’s lost a little weight and still the same lovable, sweet dog she always was.

She ran around, was excited to see me, then she was done, it was time to lay in the sun, I totally get that!

After our visit, I headed to see if I might catch GES and the family at home, I did. It was a whirlwind visit, well, I walked in add they were getting ready to go out, here and there. I picked up some stuff, dropped off and headed out.

I went to the Art In Bloom exhibition at the local library, amazing! Each piece had an assignment a piece of art to be created and then reproduced in flora, amazing!

Then it wad back to my place to drop off groceries, yup, did that somewhere in between!

Got a text from KAB, what I sent her for the baby shower made it! Go amazon prime! I can’t wait to see pictures!

Caught up with HH on the phone, then headed out for GNO, or Girls Night Out, for those of you not in the know. JB, SB, LI, KM and I sent to a pretty good Mexican restaurant, El Sarape in Braintree.

We had a blast! After waiting a while for a table, and we had a reservation, the place was packed! We got our table and then cane close to closing the place down. We looked at our watches and it was 9 then all of a sudden it was almost 11pm, not bad.

We caught up, laughed, drank, ate, laughed, talked about planning girls weekends, it was great! There were only a few times I was lost since they have all known each other for years, but they filled me in on stuff. Such a great time!

Back home, take care of some stuff, talk to to you and now on going to crash. Tomorrow is laundry, straighten up and head out…back to Buffalo.

G’night!

{March 4, 2016} Waiting ok…but for how long?

Here I sit, waiting…and waiting…and waiting…

We landed over 30 minutes ago, first, we circled in the air, a little snow in Boston and everyone was circling and diverting. Now, we’re finally on tree ground and we wait.

There is some de-icing happening, I think…but we sit. Don’t you just love this? I did, however, get up to use the facilities because, as I told the flight attendants, and it made them laugh heartily…”I’m trying to avoid a very different type of cleanup” when we get off the plane.

Ok, it’s been 45 minutes, are we there yet? Ooh, here comes the de-icing truck! Now, just the food trucks for the other planes.

Why couldn’t I be stuck in first class for this leg of my trip?

I hope I get off the plane soon, I don’t want to be blogging from here tomorrow!!! Ha ha ha!

See…so close!

{March 3, 2016} You sound familiar

I was recognized, does that mean I’m famous?

For the project I am currently on, I recorded the voice overs for several CBLs, Computer Based Learnings, that are pre-requisites for some of the classes I am teaching.

The other day, one of the students said to me, before class stated that I liked familiar. When we didn’t make a connection, he jumps and says “It’s your voice that’s familiar”.

“Did you take the pre-requisite?” Why yes. “Does it sound familiar? Ha ha

I’m famous!

{March 2, 2016} Did I just date myself?

Oh yeah, but I do it all the time! Don’t you?

When I teach, I bring stuff up I know people will laugh about, or at least get a chuckle. This is also dependent on their ages.

It was really funny yesterday because the class was full of women, 40s and up, I knew they would know what I was taking about. But I also knew that the intern, very young guy, wouldn’t have a clue!

Do you remember the old Prell commercial “and they told two friends, and they told two friends and so on, and so on”.

My favorite is talking about the records I had a kid, one in particular. So, now, we’re talking 45s and LPs.

But my favorite is talking about the story albums I had as a kid.

The reason I bring it up is depending on where I am teaching, I might need someone to navigate from my pc as I am at the front of the room where the slide deck is showing.

So, I ask the class if they remember those albums we had as kids, sometime’s 45s and others the LPs. Do they remember the stories that you would read along with? “When you hear this sound, turn the page” “ding”. My favorite, Cinderella.

So, the class laughs with great memories and nostalgia and then I say “ding” and the navigator goes to the next slide. And when I don’t say it, the class does!

A long way to go for that one!

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