You'll Crack Your Head Open!

Recently, my SIL came to visit with her kids and her mom.  We had such a great time seeing them.  Most of our kids are very close in age, which makes things a lot of fun for everyone.   My older nephew is also very helpful and great with the little kids.  The little kids are all past the constant temper tantrum and getting in trouble stage (for now), so the adults can also have fun and talk without constantly having to deal with one thing or another.  Which is new for all of us.

So we took the kids to the little zoo nearby and everyone was really great.  They all stuck together really well.  There were no toddlers running off without looking back.   No screaming fits.   Which is very impressive with six kids between two and six.

This zoo is an animal sanctuary.  They help injured animals and either rehabilitate and release them or keep them at the zoo if they can’t be released.  They do have a couple of exotic animals, but it’s mostly American wildlife.  Things like bears, wolves, mountain lions, birds, wild pigs, etc.

Here we have a bunny that one of the docents is holding for the kids to pet.

Looking at the wolves.  (Don’t worry, they’re behind TWO fences).

Wolf

Mountain Lion.  He has a big enclosure, but it was hot out so he was hanging out in his little house.

A mommy peacock and one of her babies.

Baby Peacock

A beautiful WHITE peacock.  Isn’t he gorgeous?

Snowcones after the zoo.  That’s one of my SIL’s in the orange.  The visiting SIL in the cool sunglasses, and then there’s me.  Yikes.  That’s a whole blog post in itself.

Waiting for the train.

Choo Choo!

The Little Filly graduated from Kindergarten.  She was so cute.  All the kids were.  She had a great kindergarten class.  The kids and the parents were all so nice.  The teachers ended up being awesome as well, despite my initial concerns.  (Notice:  I’ve blurred out the other kids faces in the pictures just because I wouldn’t want my kids pictures posted on someone’s blog who I barely know.  Not because they aren’t adorable.)

Hmm..  Okay, I guess I can’t blur out their faces.  But I can do a circle kinda thing.  Not as snazzy and a little distracting, but it works.

Singin’ a kindergarten song.

Waiting her turn.

I did it!

Proud Grandma and Grandpa!

We’re all so proud of you!  We Love You!  Mommy, Daddy, Brother, Grandma, Grandpa and “Mick”.

After last week’s successful move of my old blog to my new and improved blog, which required reading directions several times and exporting and importing and much wringing of hands, I thought that this bloggy tech stuff wasn’t going to be too hard after all.

That was until one of my BFFs told me she tried to subscribe to my blog and got an error message.  I thought it had gone to one of those big old long pages of code rather than a self-explanatory page with instructions.  Since I’m so much more techy than she is I told her that I’d get it set up for her.

The first thing I did was check my RSS feed button.  Because a little voice in my head piped up when I thought about how techy I was getting.  It didn’t exactly say anything in words, but I clearly heard a “Pffsh!” and I got the distinct impression of eye-rolling.  So I thought I’d better check my feed button just in case.

Yep.  Doesn’t work.  Apparently what I had figured out how to do was put the picture of the cute little orange button on my sidebar.  But it doesn’t do a thing.  It just goes to an error page.  Not a page of code.  Just a plain old 404-page not found.

Well, at least I’m techy enough to know that that means my button isn’t connected to anything at all.  It’s just a picture.   Sigh…

Hopefully I’ll get this figured out next week.

*UPDATE!* – My hubby got up this morning and fixed my RSS feed button thingy (technical term).  So if anyone wants to subscribe, it will now actually work.  Yay!

I  love this picture.  She is the most confident, self-assured person I’ve ever met in my entire life.  She’s amazes me.  I want to be her when I grow up.  She thinks that grandma’s house, a 40-minute drive, is very, very, VERY far away.  Once she knows how very big and wide this world is, there’s going to be no stopping her.

The cake supplies that I ordered for her 6th birthday party came today.  It’s a Little Mermaid plastic figurine sitting in a seashell – so CUTE.  She picked it out herself.  In the picture, they show just putting that up in the corner of a 1/4 sheet cake, using ocean colors for the frosting, scallop borders and writing the message on the cake.  I can totally do that.  I’m also going to run to Michael’s tomorrow for some Wilton Color Mist spray (GF), so I can get all artsy n stuff.  The green is a little too green, but I think I can do something with the blue.  Maybe I’ll make the main frosting color a sea green and then do some sprays of blue over it.

I was going to get all the matching plates and napkins, but I decided to get the plain pink instead.  The Little Filly truly doesn’t care about or notice things like that quite yet.  So why spend the money on it when it can go to something else she’s going to enjoy more?  The funny thing is that on the website there were two different colors of pink.  I had no idea which to order because the colors are so hard to trust online.  But the pink I ordered ends up being the absolute perfect shade of pink.  It was like I matched it up myself in the store.  So that makes me happy.

I also ordered the matching gift bags which will be filled with little toys and GF candy from the dollar store.  All the kids will get the same mermaid bag, but the boys will have boy stuff in the bag.

We’re doing the actual party at a bounce place, which is perfect for her and all of her little bouncy friends.   She’s so excited to be seeing everyone.  I’m looking forward to seeing all the kindergarten moms and dads I made friends with last year too.

I don’t freeze meat.  It’s not that I’m against the freezing.  It just takes a blessed forever for meat to defrost.   I’m just not very patient.

I’d work on that character flaw, but it would take FOREVER.   And I’m not, well, you know…

To get around that, I buy all my meats fresh and put them in the refrigerator.   It works great, except for one thing – I tend to forget when they are going to expire.   I’ve had to throw away more meat than I care to admit.   Which made my system not work for me at all.

So now I keep a piece of notepaper on my fridge with the sell by or use by dates AND the day of the week written on it.  As a SAHM, I really need to know the day of the week rather than the date.  Because the only time I need to know the date is when I write a check, which is virtually never.   Tell me the chicken expires on Tuesday and I can work with that.  Tell me it expires on July 1st and I have no idea.

I’m also going to start writing down when other things are getting ready to expire, like dairy products and mayo.

That’s what works for me.  For more Works for Me Wednesday tips, head over to Rocks in My Dryer.

At first glance this looks like an ordinary family picture.  A dad and a couple kids sitting out by the pool, enjoying a moment in the sunshine.  But look closer…

Yes folks, that’s not one, but TWO laptops.  Daddy and the kids are watching Cheaper by the Dozen 2 on the snazzy media network we’ve got.  And that’s mommy’s laptop on the right.

Yea, I totally fit in here.

My son.  He paces from one pool entry to another.  Yellow swimmies firmly placed on his thin arms.  He watches his sister swim freely from one entry to the other.  She makes it look so easy.  He sits on the steps, splashing and watching.  He jumps on the bottom step, with water up to his chest.

He gets out and walks over to the other pool entry.  There’s only one step there and it’s a little bit deeper.  He splashes his sister and she splashes back, floating on her back and kicking her legs to propel her across the pool yet again.

He stares at the water.  He moves it back and forth with his hands.

He bends his legs, crouches into position and waits.  He stands again and watches his sister at the other end of the pool.

Crouching into position again, he pushes off before he can change his mind again.  Out in the water by himself he paddles, paddles paddles and kicks, kicks, kicks, turning back to the safety of the step just as soon as he’s left it.  His eyes grow big and his breathing is shallow and quick.  His voice becomes loud and strained, “I’n afraid o’da water!  I’n afraid o’da water!”  Arriving back at the step mere seconds after he first left it, he begins to cry from sheer relief.  He looks at his momma from across the pool and accuses her.  “I don’ wanna go swinneen!!!  I! don’! Wanna!!!! Waaaaaa…...!!!!!”

He grudgingly hears his momma’s reassurances.  He doesn’t have to do anything he doesn’t want to.   No one is going to make him do anything.  He eyes her suspiciously.  He glares at the water, snuffling his tears and wrinkling his forehead.

Then he crouches into position and pushes off once again.

I called!!!  I totally did it.  It took me an hour to prepare to do it because I have a process for making phone calls.  It works really well for me, and it’s pretty cool, if I don’t say so myself.

Knowing how I am, I know that I can’t just throw caution to the wind and pick the phone up.  Because when I’m nervous and try to talk on the phone, chaos ensues.  I talk too fast.  I stutter and stammer.  My voice gets pitchy.  Worst of all I try to over explain and just end up talking way too much.   If the person I’m talking to asks a question I’m not prepared for it just gets so (SO) much worse.

I have to know exactly what it is that I want to say.  I also have to brainstorm what the other person might say.  And my replies.

I discovered this process when I worked the phones at a catalog company for five years.  When you’re in training, they give you scripts to work with.  They write down exactly what to say.  They also write down what the customer will probably say and exactly how to respond.  They also throw in common customer problems and questions and give you exactly what to say in those instances.  Once you’ve worked there for a while, you don’t need the scripts at all anymore.   You can wing it. Because you’re used to it and have answered just about every question the customers can throw at you.  But boy do you need the scripts those first few weeks.

So now when I need to make a phone call and I’m nervous about it I write myself a script.  That’s after I avoid it, try emailing instead, google, talk myself out of needing the information, etc.

Here’s the script I wrote for myself last night:

Hello. Can I speak to a manager?

Why do you need to speak to a manager? I’m coming in for dinner with my family tonight and I have some dietary restrictions. I need to talk to the manager so I can find out if you can accommodate me.

This is the manager. How can I help you?

Hi. I’m coming in for dinner tonight with my family. I have some dietary restrictions that I need to know if you can accommodate (work with).

I’m on a gluten-free diet. Are you familiar with that?

I have a medical condition called celiac disease and have to be on a gluten-free diet. Which means I can’t eat anything made with wheat or flour. So no flour tortillas, no meats dusted with flour, no seasoning blends with wheat in them, no marinades with soy sauce.

I also need to make sure that the cookware, utensils and work surfaces used to prepare my food doesn’t have any wheat on it. Just the small amount that would come from that is enough to make me ill.

I’ve been looking at your menu online and I was hoping that you can help me choose something that would be safe for me to eat. I see a couple of things that I’m interested in that I think might work. I just have to ask some questions about them. I will also probably need for you to look at some ingredient lists for me.

Do you have time to work with me over the phone, or should I ask to speak with you when I get there this evening?

Pretty snazzy huh?

Okay, now I’ve got my script.  It’s 3:45 in the afternoon, so it’s the perfect time to call.  Lunch is WAY over and even early dinner hasn’t begun.  I know that most likely the manager is going to be unrushed and able to help me.  If the manager is a snot, it’s got to be a personality issue and I’d be much better off eating before I leave than risking it.

I send my kids upstairs to play.  Because I need to be able to concentrate.  Then I pace around.  I may have eaten a K-Toos (gluten-free oreo) or four.  Then I prayed.  Oh yes I did!  I prayed that I would be able to communicate clearly and concisely.  I prayed that the manager would be helpful and unrushed.  I prayed that we would be able to understand each other clearly.

So I make the call.  The manager asked me to explain a bit.  Then she said that she knew someone in high school who had to avoid gluten.  So she starts telling me that I couldn’t eat the chips and I shouldn’t get anything fried because they fry everything in the same oil as the things made with flour tortillas.  So she knew exactly what I was talking about.  I didn’t have to explain cross contamination or anything.  There wasn’t much that I had to choose from because their marinades all have soy sauce in them.  I  pretty much had the choice between Veggie Fajitas and Cheese Enchiladas.  But that was totally fine with me.  I was going to be able to sit down and eat like everyone else.  YAY!!!!

When I got there I gave them my Triumph Dining Card for Mexican Restaurants.   She took it back to the kitchen and had the kitchen staff look it over.  Then she came back and told me that the staff was ready to make whatever I decided on.  They were going to wash their hands before they prepared my food, make sure to use clean cookware, etc.   It was awesome.

I got the Veggie Fajitas.  After all of the emotional roller coastering, I didn’t trust my stomach with that much dairy if I got the Cheese Enchiladas.  Especially after the ginormous margarita they serve there.

It was a really great night.  I was able to work through something that has always been very difficult for me.  I was able to eat food that I didn’t have to cook.  I was able to sit and enjoy a meal with my family without worrying.  AND I didn’t feel like a great big dork or that I was irritating anyone or putting anyone out of their way.

I was really proud of myself.  Now I just need to do this for a restaurant near my house.

We’ve got family in town.  My SIL is visting with her kids and her mom.   They’re here for a week and we’ve been having a lot of fun.  We took the kids to the zoo yesterday (which will be another post).  We’re going to the lake on Saturday.

We’ve been planning on doing a Girls’ Night Out.  At first we were thinking of doing pedicures, but that’s what we did last time.  Then we were going to go somewhere with live jazz or something, but there’s nothing close that’s not a little too wild and rowdy for us.  Now we’ve decided to just do dinner and hang out.

I’ve been feeling brave, and feeling like I need to branch out from the safe gluten-free menu restaurants like Outback, PF Chang’s and Spaghetti Factory.  I’ve been feeling like I need to push myself and actually TALK to a restaurant and see if they can or will meet my gluten-free needs.

So I told them not to worry about me.  Just pick a restaurant and I will call them.  If they can accommodate my diet I’ll eat there.  If not I’ll eat before I leave.  No big deal.   So they picked a mexican restaurant.  Which I hear from the GF world is one of the easier types of restaurants that can do GF.

But I know the whole “eat before I  leave” thing is a total chicken thing for me to do.  So I’m going to call.  I  think.  We’ll see.

Have I ever mentioned how much I hate talking on the phone?  Or asking for anything that requires people to go out of their way?  Or drawing possible negative attention to myself?  Or telling people something that sounds like BS and expecting them to believe me?

Didn’t think so.  It’s just a partial list of my issues.  But they all add up to the fact that just making this phone call and asking someone I’ve never met to make something gluten-free for me is giving me a teeny tiny bit of panic.

But it’s good for me.  I need to trust that any restaurant will be as helpful as they can.  They may not actually be able to help, but I’m sure they will if they can.

So I’m definitely going to call.

Maybe.

Did I mention that when I went to the store yesterday I  bought all the stuff I need for GF Fajitas?  Because that’s what I would order if I could.  And I might be able to.  I just have to have a conversation with the restaurant manager.

I’m feeling a little nauseous.

But I’m also thinking that eating food that I didn’t have to prepare myself sounds really good.  And since I’m getting myself all stressed out about calling, it sounds like I’m going to need a margarita.

For medicinal purposes.

There is a lot you can say about gluten-free bread.  Most of it not good.  I have bought and baked my fair share of loaves of GF bread that have been a dismal disappointment.

It wasn’t long after starting the gluten-free diet that I tried Pamela’s Amazing Wheat-Free Bread Mix.   It really is amazing.  It bends.  Just like real bread.  It also smells and tastes a lot like regular wheat wheat bread (as opposed to white wheat bread).

I’ve found other GF breads like I like just one way, like toasted with butter, but it doesn’t taste good as a sandwich bread.  Or it tastes good as a sandwich with meat and cheese, but tastes nasty as a peanut butter sandwich.  One of my favorite things about Pamela’s bread is that it has a real neutral flavor.  You can do anything with this bread.  It tastes good as toast with jam, pb, honey.  It holds up to making french toast or making a fried egg on toast.  It makes a great sandwich bread for anything you want.  My personal favorite is a BLT on toast.  It also tastes great just eating a piece plain.

Amazing!

I’ve also been known to make gluten-free hamburger buns out of it.  You just follow the mixing directions and divide it into some greased oven-proof ramekins like these.  Let the dough rest for an hour.  They will rise when they bake.  Bake at 325 until done.  I think it’s about 20 or 30 minutes.  I don’t have a kitchen timer, so I hover until they look right.

So that’s what works for me.  Head on over to Works for Me Wednesday at Rocks in My Dryer for more fun stuff.