Lightening Online

We recently went to a 40th Birthday Party where the invitation said “wear a funny or fancy accessory”.

I thought it was a great idea as it was very simple and yet you could go “all out” if you wanted to.

We had a lot of fun in Cheap as Chips.

If the above photo doesn’t look “quite right” to you, that would be because we swapped kids with another family so Lleyton isn’t in this photo but we have a bonus girl. 

I’ve always wanted and excuse to try a blonde wig!  Here’s what I look like as a blonde:

The little pink bag was my favourite part of the outfit!

And a close up:

Think I might stick with brunette with a few blonde streaks!  LOL

It was hilarious on the night because people kept doing a double take, not realising who I was.  And the poor kids I spoke to that I knew but they didn’t have a foggy who I was!  Freaked one little boy out I think!

And to finish you off with a smile:

Trailer Boy wanted to try on my dress ups. 

Isn’t he just adorable?

Probably.

Given I haven’t had time to wash my kitchen floor in WEEKS, let alone keep up with reading blog posts or writing many.

But how come nobody told me about this:

Aussie Mummy Bloggers

or this:

Aussie Bloggers Conference

????

I mean, they could have sent me a personal invitation or something couldn’t they? 

And does my absence from this:

Signify my falling out of the “inner blogging circle”???

(just kidding, I was never IN the “inner blogging circle” - if one even exists)

So, is anyone planning to go?

It looks like a lot of fun.

There’s been talk of something like this for years.

So, good on them for getting their heads together and getting something organised.

Yesterday I had to go into hospital for day surgery.

Nothing too serious but just the thought of having to have an anaesthetic was enough to make me a little nervous.

That and other stuff I’d rather not talk about publicly.

My admission nurse was absolutely lovely.

Really helped put me at ease and answered my questions honestly and thoroughly.

The nurses in the surgical section were great too.  Especially the anaesthetists nurse.

I haven’t had an anaesthetic since I was a young child having my tonsils out.  And I can’t remember much about that at all.

This nurse just kept up the small talk until I was completely out to it.

One minute we were talking about alpacas and the next someone was calling my name in recovery.

I didn’t even have time to think “oh, the anaesthetic is kicking in”.

I was a bit disorientated when I woke up.

And my eyes kept leaking.

I felt fine (like, not upset or anything) but was crying.

According to one of the lovely recovery nurses, it’s caused by the anaesthetic.

They were so wonderful in recovery too.  Kind.  Gentle.  Compassionate.

Then another nurse came from the Day Surgery Unit to take me back there.

She was short, abrupt and didn’t smile. 

She asked me if I wanted a drink and seemed quite impatient when I didn’t really know.

I was still a bit groggy and just didn’t really know.

She came back a while later and I said yes to a cup of tea.

She brought me one with a sandwich.

My file says “no wheat”.

She got grumpy about that and asked me if anyone had ordered anything for me.

I had no idea.

Then I had to ask her if anyone had rung Farmboy.

The admissions nurse had said that someone would ring him when I got back to the ward.

I’d been back over half an hour and he hadn’t turned up.

Her response?  “No-one told me we were supposed to ring him”. 

It was written on my paperwork.

She brought the phone over to me.

I was still groggy and not sure I could remember his mobile number.

I managed to call him and he was most surprised to find me on the other end (figuring it would be a nurse).  He wasn’t very happy that they had offered to call and then didn’t.

I learnt a couple of things through this whole experience:

1.  It really makes a HUGE difference how the nurses treat you to your overall experience in hospital.

2.  It should be a prerequisite for nurses to have a cheerful, sunny disposition.

3.  The art of small talk is a very good skill for a nurse to have.

Thankfully, my discharge nurse was also lovely.

I guess I can’t complain with 1/6 nurses not being all that wonderful to deal with.

My mother in law was appalled that I was only having day surgery.  She had a similar procedure when she was my age and stayed in hospital 2 nights.

I’m glad though.  It’s so much more restful being at home in my own bed.

And thankfully Farmboy is pretty capable of looking after things on the home front these days.  Plus of course, the kids were at school all day today.

I’ve drifted in and out of sleep today.

Those drugs they give you to put you out to it are pretty amazing stuff.

Could do with that more often I think!  LOL.

They even gave me some free pain relief drugs to bring home.

Funnily enough, the biggest cause of pain right now is my mouth and throat (which is not the area they operated on).

I’m guessing maybe they put a tube down my throat cos that’s what it feels like (that something has scraped my throat).  It’s making eating rather uncomfortable.

I can’t believe it’s already 2 weeks into this exclusion diet.  The 2nd week has certainly had it’s ups and downs.

Day 8

I was out all day today.  Finding that my energy levels seem to be a bit more even now.  There hasn’t been a big boost in energy but I’m not having the same dips in my energy.  Took Ryvita’s and cheese for my lunch.  That worked fine.  Even came home and cooked tea which is unheard of for me if I’ve been out all day (usually collapse in a heap).

Day 9

Feeling flat and sluggish with headaches.  Not a great day at all.  Really struggled my way through netball training.

Day 10

Feeling a lot better.  Had lunch out at the pub.  A nice big juicy steak.  Discovered the local pub’s chips have wheat in their coating (they’re SO yummy too!!!! ).  So they are “off the list”.  The steak was good though.

Day 11

Had my first attempt at cooking Quinoa which turned out really GREAT.  Had to do lots of cooking for the Youth Group Progressive Dinner.  We are hosting mains and I’m cooking mornays.  Realised that a lot of “buffet” style food has wheat in it.  Did make a fried rice which I could eat (and had some leftover for the freezer).  I now have 3 meals (2 fried rice and 1 quinoa) in the freezer for days when the family has something I can’t have or I need to take my own food somewhere.

Helped out with sheep work in the morning (lifted 180 odd lambs for tailing).  Was exhausted when we’d finished and not sure how I’d get the rest of my days tasks done.  Found that after a period of sitting down resting, I had enough energy to get going again.  In the past, once I get tired, I’m usually tired for the rest of the day.  My body doesn’t seem to regenerate very quickly so this is a good outcome.

Day 12

Another pooled lunch at church so took my own again.  I do feel like a bit of a freak bringing my own food.  Some friends seem to be more supportive than others of what I’m trying to do (some just think I’m a nut I think).  The hardest thing I find with bringing my own food is that it makes me look “different”.  I’m not comfortable drawing attention to myself in any way (says she who shares her life with 100s of strangers LOL).

Day 13

Had a session with my trainer at the gym.  My wrist is sore from lifting all the lambs but I was happy with what I was able to achieve regardless.  Have lost 2 kg since I started on the wheat free diet.  I’m not sure whether it’s anything to do with the wheat or that I’ve been forced to eat more healthily.  Still, I don’t mind what causes it.  Hope it continues!!!!  One thing I have noticed is I don’t seem to need as much food to be satisfied anymore.  I used to get this gnawing feeling that I thought was hunger but now I’m wondering if it was caused by a reaction to the wheat in my food.  I’m not getting it now.

Discovered that our local supermarket stocks quite a range of gluten free foods.  Even though I don’t have to stick to “gluten free” as such, gluten free foods are free of wheat which means I can eat them.  Bought a packet of gluten free pastry to try.

Day 14

Got more housework done today than I have in a long time.  The house is looking good again which helps me to feel good.  Decided to make pasties for tea using puff pastry for the family and making up the gluten free pastry mix for myself.

My gluten free pastry was a big FLOP!  It turned out hard and not very nice tasting at all.  :(  I was pretty disappointed.  Found out that larger supermarkets stock ready made gluten free puff pastry so I will try that when I get a chance to buy some.

Day 15

Another disappointing failure today when I went out to lunch with friends at one of my favourite cafes (in a regional centre about 2 hours from here).  I spoke to the staff about wheat free options which all seemed fine.  I was told to order whatever I liked and have the cashier mark it as wheat free and if I had ordered something with wheat in it, the kitchen staff would let me know and offer alternatives to make it wheat free.

I ended up ordering a fish dish with cous cous.  Not having had cous cous before, I had no idea it was made from wheat and the kitchen staff didn’t let me know so I ended up eating it.

Had a stomach ache within an hour.  Nothing too serious.  Just that gnawing, hungry type feeling and some sharper cramp type pains.  Had it on and off all day.  Noticed that when I ate, it abated for a while but would return a few hours later.  No wonder I was confusing it with hunger when eating makes it feel better.

On the plus side, I think we can conclude that the wheat free diet is having a positive effect.  And I found out that that particular cafe can make gluten free pizza bases if I call ahead to let them know I’m coming.  Have to decide whether I should ring and complain about the cous cous though.  Feel a bit stupid that I didn’t know it had wheat in it.

Had afternoon tea at a bakery and they had a couple of gluten free cake options.  I chose an apricot slice and it was DELICIOUS.  Gluten Free eating seems to be getting easier and easier these days so that’s another plus.

I was able to buy some gluten free flours, gluten free pasta and some more quinoa.  Going to try cooking the quinoa dish for the whole family this week and see how it goes down.  Most gluten free products are rather expensive though so I probably won’t introduce them to too much of my food.  I’m not sure if it’s more expensive to make or whether it’s just not made in big enough bulk to make it cheaper.  Once I get more settled with what products I do and don’t like, I’ll have to do some research and see if I can find cheaper sources for them.

Day 16

I haven’t lost any weight for a few days now so that side of things may have slowed down considerably.  I guess it could be down to the drastic change in diet that I lost the first 2 kg.  Then again, my weight can fluctuate quite a bit so we’ll only know over the long term what the weight loss effects of the diet are (and they’re a secondary thing - a bonus really).

I am a bit tired today and my body seems to be working hard to expel anything inside of me.  It may be the result of the wheat I ate yesterday or could just be my body (you can never really tell with my body).

As I type this, I have some gluten free chocolate brownies in the oven which smell magnificent.  I hope they taste just as good.  Will let you know how that goes.