ADVIL

  OH.MY.GOSH.  I HAVE BEEN POISONING MYSELF FOR YEARS.

So discouraging because many of the gluten-free drug sites list advil as safe.  The tablets and  caplets are safe.  

From the Advil website::

I am allergic to gluten. Is it all right for me to take this product?
Advil® Liqui-Gels® and Advil® Migraine and contain a wheat derivative, and are not gluten-free. You should check with your doctor if you have any concerns about taking this product.

GLUTEN IN ADVIL LIQUI-GELS!!!!

 The type on this message is all over the place.  I have no idea why!

Thinking about a change….

I have heard from several of you that it is difficult to leave a comment on the blog, with all the signing in, etc.

So,  I am thinking of switching to an easier blogging site and would like to know what y'all think!

You can contact me through e-mail by clicking on the little envelope on the right, or leave a comment (if it's not a hassle!) on the blog.

DO you have a favorite blog site?  Wordpress?  Typepad?  Tumblr?

Would love your input and ideas.

Also, leave the name the same?  Change it?  Suggestions?

ON a totally separate note….

My daughter will be a freshman in high school in less than a week.  OH MY WORD!!!!

Where did the time go!?!?!  Isn't she beautiful????

He is Enough

Today was a good day.

Today I was able to celebrate.

I have struggled with celebration lately.

Pain does strange things to the mind, and I have, for the better part of the last 10 years, dealt with pain on a daily basis.  Please don't feel sorry for me.  There have been many lessons in the pain.  Sometimes, though - okay, a lot of times, I am begging for relief.  Praying for deliverance.  The past 4 weeks have been prayers like that.
 
I told my dad, and a few friends, that I didn't think the "Trinity" and I were on speaking terms lately.  I said this jokingly, but felt it deep inside.  I am still feeling it.

However, today, I heard a whisper.  "I am enough."

"I died for you."

"I am here.  Even when you don't feel me.  I am here."

So tonight, as I ready for sleep, He is enough.

I want to be able to look back, in the not-too-distant future, and be able to say....

See what God did?  He brought me back to HIM.  He hasn't moved.

Shout for joy to God all the earth!

Sing the glory of His name; give Him glorious praise!

Say to God, "How awesome are our deeds!

So great is our power hat your enemies come cringing to you.

All the ends of the earth worship you and sing praises to you;

they sing praise to your name."

Come and see what God has done:

He is awesome in His deeds toward the children of man.

He turned the sea into dry land;

they passed through the river on foot.

There did we rejoice in Him who rules by His might forever,

whose eyes keep watch on all the nations -

let not the rebellious exalt themselves.

Bless our God, O people;

let the sound of His praise be heard,

who has kept our soul among the living, who has not let our feet slip.

For you, Oh God have tested us; you have tired us as silver is tried.

You have brought us into the net; you have laid a crushing burden on our backs; you let men ride over our heads.

We went through fire and water, yet you have brought us into a place of abundance.

Come and listen, all you who fear God;

let me tell you what He has done for me.

Psalm 66:1-12,18

Gluten-Free Cosmetics and Percocet

So, my little hiatus was a bit longer than expected!

The hubs and I had a GREAT time in Florida just being together.

It was so pretty while we were there, but I have to be honest.  I slept more and cried more in one week than I have in the last year.

My "little" knee procedure has turned out to be, well, in a nutshell, a BIG Pain in the bootie. (Those are my nice words.)  I was unable to walk on the beach because my knee was so unstable.
Y'all - the beach is my most favorite thing in the world.  I truly feel God created it as some sort of healing place for me.  It's so big and I just feel so good when I am there.  So, I had a bit of a pity party that week.

Now, before you tell me all I have to be thankful for and that at least I was with my hubby and blah, blah, blah...I KNOW ALL THAT!!!!  The next part is that it turned out to be a relaxing, healing, great communication time and we really just focused on each other.  YIPPEE!

AND......

The Percocet helped.  A LOT.

Now, to the Gluten Free Cosmetics.

I have to be honest here.  They are pretty dang expensive.  At least the ones I have found can be.
HOWEVER, here is the plus side.  I have found that I use less and my skin looks SO MUCH better when everything I am using is gluten-free, that I just bite the bullet and buy it.  We have even made a little category in our budget (we are in the Dave Ramsey camp) for gluten-free cosmetics!

NARS SHEER GLOW FOUNDATION

$42 at Sephora.  YIKES!  I know, but it only takes a little.  This is more of a sheer foundation-not heavy.

ILLUSION TINTED MOISTURIZER - SPF 15

$55 at Sephora - again...yikes.  However, I will tell you that TODAY, I wore this with a little finishing powder and some blush and my 14 year old DAUGHTER - said, "wow, mom your make-up looks really pretty today!"  I'll take 2.  :)

100% PURE

An entire line COMPLETELY gluten-free!  I have tried several of their products and love them.  My only issue is that I can't see, smell or touch it before I buy it.  However, they DO have a 30 money-back guarantee - no questions asked!

ECCO BELLA COSMETICS

Again, these are a bit pricey and you can't see, smell or touch them, but 99% of everything is gluten-free.

Do YOU have some gluten-free cosmetics YOU use?  I would love to know about them.  

Happy Spring and the BEST make-up is a little bit of sunshine and a smile.  :)

Spring Break Love Fest

It's 1:14 am on 3-17-2012.  It's approximately 12 hours until my honey and I are alone, on a airplane, getting ready to enjoy some R&R ....ALL BY OURSELVES!!!!


Mind you, I will be medicated with a little nerve pill.  My funny friend and I were comparing stories about our neurosis with flying and leaving things left undone.  She's a white-knuckle flyer as well.  We worry about what could/but probably WON'T happen if we die on vacation.

I was updating our will about 2 hours ago!

I took some percocet to kill the knee pain, and then decided to clean my showers and tub.  While I was in the tub, I noticed some dust on the windowsill and had to swiffer that puppy.  While I was dusting I saw some dog hair on the floor, so I swept and vacuumed.  While I was vacuuming I remembered I hadn't changed the sheets in the guest bedroom.  Seriously, if our plane goes down and people bring casseroles....someone may have to stay overnight to comfort my children....and they can't sleep on old sheets!

I came through knee surgery, obviously.  I still have a VERY swollen knee, and, thanks to my sweet doctor, a cane.  There was a quite a bit MORE wrong with my little knee once he got inside.  SO, what I thought would be a a quick little fix-me-up, has turned into a 6-8 week recovery.  POOP.

But - get this....
When I was planning our little vacation, I Googled "Top Spring Break Destinations for Retirees" and St Augustine, Florida was at the top of the list.  So....I will fit right in with my cane!  :)

Weight update????  I have lost 18 pounds now.  Yippee!!!

Even without being able to work out the last few weeks, I have stuck with being careful about what I eat and have been able to keep losing weight.  This makes me happy.

I have found some neat cosmetics these last few weeks....I will post when I return.  I gotta get some sleep!

Hope you are well.

Take care of yourselves!  Happy St Patrick's day and Happy Spring Break!

I'm baaaaaaaack, well sorta.

I bet y'all thought I fell off the bandwagon.

 au contraire


I am fully on the bandwagon and down 11.2 pounds so far.  2.5 inches in my waist gone and another 2.5 inches in my hips.  Woo to the Hoo!


However, I HAVE had a few hiccups in the last few weeks.


First, the root canal.  While, normally, this isn't a HUGE deal.....I am 4 weeks into mine and it STILL isn't fixed.  I had it done, had a temporary filling put in - it got infected.  Can I just tell you something?  That is some of THE WORST pain I have ever experienced!  So, I went back in and had all the packing removed...cleaned it out (Ouch) and re-packed again.  
By the way - I was on an anti-biotic this entire time.


Enter antibiotic #2  Clindamyacin.  This drug is from the devil.  My face swelled - I called the doc.  He said it was from the tooth.  Okay.
My tongue swelled - also from the tooth (really?)
Then came the, um, well, potty visits.  When I hit 15 in 8 hours.  I was done.  Called my regular MD.  He said I was having an allergic reaction and to stop immediately.  My throat is STILL sore and my tongue still has spots on it.
Back to the dentist.  Ream and repack.  New antibiotic.  Finished it.  Supposed to return 2 days after to complete the root canal.  


Yeah, NO.  Infected again.  Just finished antibiotic #4.  Here's hoping!


Meanwhile, during this epic journey into toothdom, I was exercising, heard a very loud POP!, and my knee gave out and I went down.

I have been sporting this little jewel for a week.


Having outpatient surgery tomorrow.  SHEESH!


My sweet hubby got waaaaaay more than he signed on for when he married me.

And, today is his birthday.  Love this man!


Just so this isn't just a "poor me" post..... I HAVE found some cool Gluten-free things recently.
:)




ORGANIX products.  Their website lists their line as entirely gluten-free.  Woo HOO!  I buy their products at Wal-Mart.

Chebe Bread Mixes.  YUM.  WOW.  My favorite is the cheese bread.  Bought these at Whole Foods.

Brad's Organic Salsa - this stuff tastes fresh.  It is VERY yummy.  I actually found this at TJ Maxx of all places, but will be buying some online when I run out.  (Which probably won't be too soon, since I bought 8 jars of it!)

Two more things.

Have y'all shopped at ALDI?  Now some folks around here turn up their noses.  However, they have LOTS of gluten-free foods, and all of them I have tried have been great AND very reasonably priced.

I had the GREATEST experience EVER at The Cheesecake Factory in Oklahoma City.

My daughter and I were there with her school for some basketball games.  Everyone wanted to go here and I was DREADING it because I didn't think there would be much to eat and it was 8:30pm and I was starving!  

We got there and my server told me I could have a dry salad or salmon with lemon juice.  Um, no.

SO, I told my friend and daughter that we passed a Whole Foods on the way in and I was just going to run there and get something so I could have it when we got back to the hotel.

I then asked the manager if he could get me back there.  He inquired as to why I was going and I explained the situation.

His answer was, "who told you that's all you could have?!?!"  

Well, THIS was awkward, since the server was standing right there.

He explained, in front of her, that almost everything at The Cheesecake Factory was made in-house and if I told him what I wanted, he would tell me how we could make it Gluten-Free and would see to it himself that fresh pots, pans and utensils were used.  As well as precautions taken so there would be no cross-contamination.

WOW.

WOW.WOW.WOW.

I got my meal.  It was a version of chicken tacos - they were so delicious.  The manager brought me the meal and checked on me twice to make sure I didn't have any issues.

I was SO pleased.  What a GREAT experience!

Well, off to dust and pick up before my surgery tomorrow.  

woo.hoo.

Have a great weekend!

p.s.  I just re-read this post, it is VERY choppy, badly written and poorly punctuated.  I am truly sorry.  However, I am not going back to fix it.  I have too much dust to get rid of.

Do we actually get RID of dust when we dust?  Or do we just spread it around?

Weigh-in and 3 more G-Free Yummies

So, today was weigh-in #3.

1st week - 3.2 pounds.

2nd week - 3.2 pounds.

I got e-mails all week telling me not to give up.  That, based on the stats from this program, that this week would be a LOW weight loss week.
Also, I did something to my left knee last week, and I have been eating the advil and icing my knee.  I haven't been able to do much aerobic activity because of the pain.  UGH!

Last night I was crying in bed to my hubby because I was discouraged.  I was afraid, again, that I wouldn't lose any weight.  And...maybe something y'all don't know about me - I AM SUPER COMPETITIVE.

As in, I made our kids cry when they were younger and we would play Monopoly.  I was out for blood.

There are 10 other people going through the program with me, and I want to beat them.  I want to annihilate them. I want to WIN!
There - I'm glad I got that out so now you know where I'm coming from.

I was praying....not to lose weight,  (although I have prayed that before) but that my hard work and diligence would pay off.  I did resistance exercises EVERY day.  I was even out of town two of the days and did all kinds of floor work and leg lifts and crunches and planking!  UGH

To make a long story short, or just to finish it.....I weighed.

I LOST 3.4 pounds. 

 I SAID......I LOST 3.4 POUNDS!  

In 3 weeks, I have lost 9.8 pounds.  I am so proud and it has been hard, but so worth it.

I am so thankful to be feeling good and on my way.

Now, on to the yummy foods I have found this week that are gluten-free.  I found all of these at a Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market.

Aidells Chicken and Turkey Meatballs.  These are yummy - I eat 6 at a time and they are VERY filling.  WARNING:  These pack some serious garlic, so a mint will be needed.  :)

Earl Campbell's Hot Links - my hubby and son REALLY like these!  These are good - I can just eat one.  They aren't super spicy, but they do have a bit of a kick.

Head Country BBQ Sauce.  Yummy, tangy, sweet and a tiny bit of spice.

Hope this post finds you well and enjoying your Monday.

Have a great week!