Things I Love Thursday!

Okay, so this is totally cliche and "everyone's doing it," but it would seem that I need something to encourage me to blog once in a while, so here's my very first Things I Love Thursday post.

I have recently rediscovered just how much I *love* the National Park Service website. It's really one of the best out there.....easy to navigate, tons and tons of information about every single park, monument, recreation area, historic site, battlefield, etc, that the Park Service manages.

Some of the information available:

• Basic park information--how to get there by plane, train, or automobile, entrance fees, hours, road closures, etc.
• Reservation information for lodging and/or camping within the park, usually operated by a private company.
• Links and/or contact information for area hotels and camping outside the park.
• Reservation information and/or links to privately operated tours in the park.
• What to do in the park, including a handy list of ways to maximize your time. The lists include things like "If you have a half a day in the park......" up to "If you have several days in the park...." These lists give you a good idea of how long things might take and things you don't want to miss while there.
• Hiking trail information, including how difficult the hike is, trail conditions (back country or paved loop and everything in between), elevation gain, distance, how long the hike should take, and other information about the trails. Many times I've found that this information is more comprehensive than some of the brochures you'll get at the park.
• Maps and brochures to download, including the pretty one they give you when you arrive at the park!

Then there's the FUN stuff at the website! If you look at the links on the side of the page that say "For Kids," and "For Teachers," there's even more fun and information! (Links included show you what I used for our Mesa Verde trip).

• Under "Planning a Field Trip," you'll find information about how long activities will take.
• For some of the parks, you'll find classroom resources and materials. I've printed some worksheets for the kids to do (Bruce calls it my "Mesa Verde Homework." Brat!)
• You may also find fun worksheets for kids (under "for kids"), like a word search or maze or matching game.

So, if you're planning a visit to any one of the hundreds of public areas managed by the National Park Service, check out the website. The website is truly a sterling example of our tax dollars doing it right!

And, this summer, for two more weekends, the Park Service is waiving fees to all of the parks. How cool is that?! You can visit a park for free during the weekends of July 18-19 and August 15-16. For more information on that, click here.

Over a month? Really?

And this will have to be a short, drive-by post. I'm officially reclaiming my house today, come hell or high water!

So dang busy, and yet, so much I want to say, things swirling around in my head waiting rather impatiently for me to pay attention and let them out.

Shannon's birthday...have lots to say about my not-so-little-girl. I'll start with she's amazing. Truly. I'm awed and inspired by her grace and courage under difficult circumstances. I'm amazed by her every day and so thankful she's in my life.

Melancholy following me around. Yuck!

Mesa Verde next week...one of the reasons I'm short on time.

I'll leave you with this, my new favorite song, "It's the Climb," by Miley Cyrus.

Who'd a thunk it would be a teenage sensation who speaks to me today?!

But, really, I've been hanging on to the idea that I just have to get through this, get to the other side. Yet, my LIFE is what's happening NOW. It's not the top of the mountain that matters. It's the climb.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NG2zyeVRcbs

(and maybe, if I have time, I'll figure out how to embed the video in the blog. Maybe.)

Rambling thoughts

I'm in Idaho visiting my parents for a few days for my sister's graduation from nursing school. I'm so proud of her I could burst, and, while the timing isn't the best (it is crazy MAY after all), I wouldn't miss this event for all the world.

But, this visit is stitlted to say the least. It's superficial and surface and all of that, and it makes me sad. I simply can't share myself right now. I can share the details of life and gluten-free cooking and diabetes supplies and all of that, but I can't share what's truly going on with me. It's not safe for me to make myself vunerable here. I can't even bring out the book I'm reading without some comment from mom. I mentioned that I read fantasy novels and mom made this snorting sound like that's just a waste of literary life. Okay mom, whatever. I don't read murder mysteries like she does, but I don't criticize her reading choices!

Of course, there's a part of me that gets a perverse pleasure in showing her just how different we really are. Maybe I should bring out that book! LOL!

I'm not putting this very well.....I'm staying true to myself, but I'm just not sharing it with her. So, am I really being true to myself? I think, for now anyway, the answer is yes. I'm stronger these days, but I'm still a bit fragile. Right now, being true to myself means that I need to protect myself a bit. I'm just not up for defending my spiritual journey (The Secret), my emotional journey through my reading and writing, or my fragileness. Perhaps I'm choosing the path of least resistance. But, let's face it, I just don't have the strength to deal with it, especially since I shouldn't have to.

It's a bit frustrating, though, because I do have time on my hands. Time that I don't need to spend cleaning or doing laundry or chasing children. But, I can't really use that time to write or read for fear of the backlash. Uh-oh. Am I making that choice out of fear? Probably. *sigh* Something I really don't like to do....decisions based in fear are almost never the right ones. But, then again, fear is a protective mechanism, when it's appropriate fear.

Geez, I'm going in circles! Time to quit and grab my journal and write a bit.

The excitement never ends.....

LOL!

Last night, Bruce and I went to a banquet for his work. It was a lovely evening, with good food and a chance to be out amongst grown ups! I got to meet the man who went on the business trip instead of Bruce when Shannon was hospitalized and thank him.

We left the kids to take care of themselves, which was a first. We've left them here and there during the day, but not for an evening. We got Shannon a frozen GF pizza and Papa Murphy's for the other two. They did really well, with the house only mildly disasterized, and they didn't call us even once!

Tristan, who told us he'd do the dishes before we got home, actually started them about the time we walked in the door. A plate had cracked in the dishwasher and came out in two pieces. Tristan was fascinated by this silly plate....can we glue it? Why not? Look how smooth the edges are, etc....and he wouldn't put the stupid thing down. Finally, Bruce told him, VERY SHARPLY to take the blasted thing out to the big trash can before someone got hurt. And we went upstairs to change our clothes.

Shannon came running up the stairs about 20 minutes later......panic in her voice, "mommy, mommy, mommmy, mooooommmmmy"

Yep, he'd dropped it on his foot while (finally) taking it out to the trash, resulting in a lovely cut on the top of his foot. It was a little over an inch long, on the pinky toe side of his foot, about halfway between toes and ankles.

Did I mention it was 9:25? And Bruce and I were both in our PJ pants? :rolling eyes:

So, while Bruce got dressed, I called urgent care and found one without a wait and off the boys went. Tristan now has 4 stitches. They'll come out about 10 days, but because of the diabetes, it may take a bit longer to heal.

Really, just another Friday night at our house! LOL!

They say it's a process

and, Lord, how I hate that cliche. Especially since it seems to be true. I hate hate hate being a cliche!

So, this GF thing has started to normalize in our house. At first, all I could see were the myriad of things Shannon couldn't have....the bread and pasta and cookies and doughnuts and tortillas. Side dishes with dinner are still a struggle for me and I'm actually considering canning my own potatoes in an effort to speed up the dinner process.

But, now I see the tremendous number of things Shannon CAN eat. She can't have baked goods, and that's a pain in the backside. The pizza thing was a bit of a let down. The bread thing is frustrating and discouraging at times. But she's never been a picky eater, and we've found lots of things that she really likes. I've found lots of companies who clearly label their products--Kraft, Heinz, Nabisco, Feneral Mills, M & M Marsy, Nestle and Frito-Lay. More and more companies are getting on the labelling bandwagon, making my life much easier. Even Walmart's generic products are labelled well, and both their soy sauce and Worchestershire sauce are GF.

We've found some wonderful crackers made with Almond Flour from Blue Diamond. They're about $3 a box, which is a normal cracker price. I never pay that for regular crackers, but wait until they go on sale and stock up, so that's still a bit high for me, but Shannon loves them and I'm watching for sales on those too.

And, I found the cutest book at the library. It's called The Gluten Free Kid by Melissa London. It's actually a true story that started as a 12 yo's school project. Her parents took the idea and ran with it, publishing a book about Celiac disease for kids. Shannon loves this book! I'll be taking my Borders 40% off coupon and buying it, that's for sure.

So, today's a good day. Mostly anyway. I'll be baking another round of bread and hoping it turns out. If not, I've got a couple other recipes waiting to try, including a recipe for rolls that could be used for hamburger and hot dog buns. Wish me luck!

Another bread attempt--Update

I'm using a recipe from Bob's Red Mill, and I'm crossing my fingers it works. There seemed to be an awful lot of liquid in it, but now it's on the second rise and seems to be doing just right.

It's this recipe: http://www.bobsredmill.com/recipes_detail.php?rid=124

But I had to modify it just a bit. I didn't have an guar gum or soy lecthin, so I didn't include them, and I had potato starch, but not potato flour. Getting to 3/4 cup of egg took a bit of doing. Worked out to be 3 eggs, plus the white of a 4th. My dog is liking the yolks he's getting from all these recipes that use whites. His coat should be shiny shiny shiny!

Update--Well, Shannon didn't like it. I thought it was the best attempt so far, but she didn't agree. I think she's still comparing it to "regular" bread and it's really not the same. After a trip to the store today, I'll try again. There are dozens of recipes out there. We'll keep trying until we find one that works for her.

A light?

Maybe? Today I'm feeling inspired to get the house in order, at least a little bit. Over the weekend, Bruce remodeled my cabinets a bit to make them more accessible. You know that cupboard near the sink that's always got a tiny door and goes WAY back to the wall? Many kitchens have one of those. Well, Bruce cut a door in the back side, under our breakfast bar, so we can use that space better. I cleaned out several cupboards, got rid of a few things, and organized the rest. Now we've got a dedicated space for Shannon's waffle iron, toaster, and bread maker, plus all the containers of different flours and starches.

So, today, I'll work on a few other things around the house....laundry (there's always laundry), and tidying up the living areas, plus the master bedroom and bath.

But the light is that I'm feeling a pull to start scrapbooking again. Like an itch to get out the pictures and start cutting and pasting, matching colors and mounting things. I almost didn't recognize it, but there it is. You have *no* idea how great that feels!