It's that time again....

(no, not time to change your underwear. Thank you, Animaniacs)

It's allergy testing season. Last year it was in November. This year I didn't really want to make the appointment so it's a few months later. And you know why I didn't want to make the appointment? Because then I get the results. And then I feel defeated by allergies. Again. How many times can I feel defeated by them? How many times can I plead with them to just go away?

I'm having a little bit if a meltdown this very second. I'm feeling sorry for myself. I'm feeling sorry for Bravo. I'm angry that we have this fear and these limitations in my life. You know what I want to do? Tell my 3 year old that we've had a crapy go of things and then take him out for ice cream. But that would kill him. Or maybe we could eat at the food court. Nope. Death. Alpha gets to go on play dates without me. His friends grandma took him and his friend to McDonalds. Bravo will never get to do that. Will not get to go to a friends house for lunch. Will not get to do a lot of things. Because his body hates him.

I play this game a lot. The "if I got to pick 5 allergies to keep what would they be?" they would be: peanuts, tree nuts, shell fish, alfalfa, and clover. And really that's far more than 5 because there's lots of kinds of nuts and lots of different shell fish. But that list is only half (well, less than half) of what we have to avoid.
It's a pointless game. But I play it anyways. If I got to pick just one to outgrow hands down it would be milk. That's a whole food group! But I'm pretty sure that milk will be a life long allergy.

We were given the option of challenging soy this year. But I don't have it in me to put him or us through that. Nothing else has improved. So I'm thinking this years challenge if we were to go through with it would end like last year's challenge did. Badly.

I try to console myself sometimes with "it could be worse". But that doesn't actually help. Then I try to just suck it up and say "it is what it is". But that's obvious. And doesn't help.

So I keep riding this emotional roller coaster 'cause I have no choice.

I'm now trying to figure out how to navigate bravo through this. He's getting.... I don't know. Angry I guess. Angry about his allergies. He states that they're not fair. He makes up songs about forbidden foods. He tells me that he will just pretend that he's not allergic. He straight up told me that he wasn't going to have allergies anymore and then touched alpha's hand (which had milk on it). I don't know how to parent him through this. I need a guide book. Or maybe I'll just blindly grope my way through this and then write my own guide book.

Ugh. It's midnight and I need to sleep. But on these nights sleep is hard to come by. And this is why I didn't want to do his stupid annual test. Because even though I KNEW that nothing would be outgrown it turns out I had buried hope. That has now been smacked into my face like a pie.

mugs of life

I'm pretty sure anybody who has read more than 3 of my posts is fully aware that I am a giant dork. Especially posts about me instead of my crazy family.

This will reinforce that.

There was a time in my life that wasn't great. I had compromised on a lot of things about me. I had let go of things that made me me. The result was a depressed Chrissy in a bad marriage who had totally lost herself in life. But you know what really stands out about that period in my life?

All of my mugs matched. The mugs matched each other and they matched the saucers which matched the plates which matched the bowls and I hated it. First thing I did when I started to get my brain back was to go to the thrift store and buy 4 mugs that made me happy. One of Matt's favourite shopping hobbies is going to thrift stores to buy mugs or glasses for me. We have some gooders now.

One day I'll do a drinking glass edition, but I'm going to start with the mugs.

I love that they don't match. I love picking out my
Mug based on my mood. I love that some of my mugs have stories.

Like this one.
Matt and I went to north Dakota a life time ago to visit a friend and I told her I thought the mug was fun. So she created an elaborate plan that included transferring her water to 3 different cups and mugs and eventually got it in her purse and stole it for me.

Or this one. It just makes me happy. Because sometimes I'm in a "Hello, World" type of mood. And it was $0.75 at goodwill but the lady saw it was chipped so I got it for a quarter. Score!!!

This one Matt loves. I think it's the ugliest thing in the history of ever and I refuse to drink out of it.

 

These ones..... Every 2 years at winners we have found a Beatrix potter mug. If the trend continues 2013 will bring the next one.

These 2 are my comfort mugs. Ones that suit a rainy day or a day when I'm just sort of crumby.

 

This one, why does it have a cow on it? A guy I used to support gave it to me at Christmas. I think it's from Dollarama.

 

This mug makes me happy. It has owls on it which make me happy. Alpha and Bravo have decided that these owls are our family. 4 babies of varying sizes, and a mommy and a daddy owl. When they're sad or sick this is the mug they want to drink out of.

 

And then there's this one. Bordering (or has it crossed the border) of questionable stereotypes. And just really really funny. I rescued it from work. It had been chosen as the mug that nobody would want to drink out of and was used instead to hold the dish scrubbers. So I traded with a boring mug from my house and brought this beautiful doozy home. I think it's one of my very favourites.

 

 

 

Food Friday.... It came to me in a dream

Fried Oatmeal

I woke up the other night from my terribly fragmented sleep (thank you, molars, teeth, croup, and a 2 yr old who discovered he doesn't have to stay in bed....) and the dream I was having was wonderful. I had cooked bars of oatmeal, all crispy and fried, and rolled in cinnamon sugar and in my dream we dipped them in apple sauce. I woke up thinking "ooooh. That sounds good!"

So. I made them. And they're every bit as good as I dreamt! excuse the crumby photos. My camera battery was dead so I used my ipod.

ingredients (scale down as needed):

4 cups oatmeal

8 cups water

pinch of salt

 

1/3 cup flour (optional- but it's crispier if you use it)

 

1/2 cup sugar

2 tsp cinnamon 

(Maybe. I forgot to measure this. more or less depending on how cinnamonny you like it)

1. put oatmeal, salt, and water into a pot. bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 5-7 minutes stirring frequently until cooked.



2. Pour oatmeal into a 9x13 pan. If you make less oatmeal use a smaller pan. You don't want it too thin. Put in fridge and chill until cold and gelatinous.

3. remove from fridge, loosen edges with a rubber spatula, and plop onto a cutting board. cut into fingers. don't cut too wide or it's hard to brown all sides.

4. preheat griddle or frying pan, melt margarine or butter or oil on med-low heat. enough to melt the butter/ margarine, not enough to burn it. Roll cold oatmeal chunks in flour, then put in hot pan. brown on all sides cooking until golden and crispy.

 

 

5. Roll in cinnamon sugar coating all sides. Eat while warm and crispy. Yummy!!!!!