We survived our first dinner!

So, in our quest to become a gluten-free, casein-free, soy-free, corn-free, peanut-free household, last night for dinner we had mashed cauliflower and hamburger patties.

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It wasn't EXACTLY like mashed potatoes, but it was close enough that it wasn't a horrible substitution.  We were also able to test DH's potential reaction to tomato, with some organic ketchup he picked up.  And.... we discovered that he could eat it, so it looks pretty likely that the culprit that started all this was the high fructose corn syrup IN the tomato sauce, and not the tomatoes themselves.  :)  Yay!

Friday's Letters

Another week gone, means another set of letters!

Dear Facebook "Likers",

Thank you for liking my blog's Facebook page!  I do hope you've made your way over here to read my full post!

The newbie blog author

Dear friend,

Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions, for being patient with me while I learn, and most of all, for being my friend!

Your friend

Dear gluten, soy, and corn,

It is with deep sadness that I must bid you goodbye. I hope you have a happy existence... in someone else's stomach.

The one who no longer wants to feel icky

Dear casein,

If you promise to be nice to us, you can stick around a little longer.  We really like our ice cream and cheese.

The one who doesn't want to see you go

Dear UWMC,

It looks like you forgot to send us half our bill.  Oh well, I know I shouldn't worry. I'm sure you'll send the other half soon.

The one who owes you money

Dear Husband,

Thank you for coming on this adventure with me, and for running to two different stores tonight when I forgot  various food items.

Your loving wife

Some Answers!

We have SOME answers!  The doctor from Urgent Care just called with his allergy test results from Monday.  Apparently my wonderful DH is allergic to: Soybean, Wheat, Peanut, Corn, Shrimp, Sesame seeds

I'm sure we'll be adding to that list once he gets the major test done.    FWIW, his mom is sensitive to soy, and corn, and his dad is allergic to shrimp, so all of that didn't really surprise me. 

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And life continues...

Well, DH is STILL breaking out in hives, but we think we know what is causing it this time, so we're changing our diet yet again.  Some of it we're changing for my health, and some we're changing for DH's health.  No more gluten (me), no more casein (both of us), no more soy (me), no more corn (DH), no more rice (DH), no more tomato (DH, at least until we get his allergy tests back).

I called our naturopath today and asked if they would take DH on as a patient so that we can get a more comprehensive allergy test than the little dinky one they ordered at Urgent Care on Monday.  They are going to take DH on, so they'll order those tests, and two others we need run.  He has an appointment on August 6th with the ND to talk about his test results.  We're praying for some answers so we can figure out what all DH can eat!  :P

Yesterday...

How about another story about Life in Little Hispaniola....

This past Saturday, DH broke out in hives about the same time we were sitting down to eat dinner.  He took one dose of Benadryl before bedtime, and we figured we'd see how things looked in the morning before we decided if we were going to church or not.

On Sunday morning, he was more broken out, so we just stayed home for the morning and hung out together.  In the early afternoon, we headed to DH's brother's house, and had lunch with them.  DH crashed on their couch while the rest of us watched Numb3rs on Netflix. :P

We left their place after DH had another dose of Benadryl (his third), and came home, and went to bed after a fairly calm evening.

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Monday morning, it was obvious that the hives were not letting up, so we decided to go to Urgent Care.  We were there for probably close to three hours, waiting, and then talking to the doctor.  We're fairly certain that the hives were caused by something DH ate, so we asked her to order an allergy test, which she did.  She also prescribed him some prednisone.  We went directly to the lab for the blood draw, and then went to Wal-mart to fill the prescription and get some groceries.

Once we got home, we made lunch, ate, and then DH took his first dose of prednisone.  Two hours later, it was VERY obvious that the prednisone was NOT helping, and may have even made the hives worse.  So, I called the Urgent Care location we had been at in the morning, and they said to take him to the ER.  I called DH's brother and sister-in-law, and sister-in-law drove us to the ER.

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The physician's assistant at the ER took one look at DH's hives, his eyes widened, and then he prescribed a bunch of different medications, including a shot of Benadryl, Singular, Zantac, and Vistaril.  The RN gave him the shot of Benadryl, and then we got to sit there for an hour.  DH got pretty drowsy, but he didn't fall asleep.  Within the hour, the hives went away almost completely!

We finally got to come home, where DH rested on the couch for a bit longer, and then we had dinner.  When we were sitting down to dinner it looked like the hives were picking back up again, this time on the bottom of his feet, but he took some more Benadryl, and they were gone this morning, so he went back to work.

And that was our weekend.  How was yours?

Friday's Letters

My friend Monica has been doing this fun little link-up for a few weeks, and I just thought I'd give it a try this week.  We'll see how it goes.

Dear Husband,

Thank you for being so patient with me as we deal with my health struggles. Thank you for being so active in helping to nurse me back to health.

Love, Your loving wife.

Dear Weather,

Please cool your jets. We humans haven't done anything to spite you, so there's no reason to fry us to bits.

Sincerely, the Sweltering Housewife

Dear Laundry,

Since Weather is showing no signs of responding to its letter, you're going to need to do me a favor and march yourself outside, downstairs, around the corner, and into the washing machine.  And while you're at it, share your letter with the dishes.  Maybe they'll get the hint then.

Sincerely, the Sweltering Housewife

Dear Student,

You did fantastic at your first crochet lesson yesterday. Your mom is so proud of you, and so am I!

Your teacher

Dear CFPN,

Thank you for allowing me the privilege of walking with you for the last five years.  It's been great getting to know you all.

Your fearless leader

Dear Lord,

I'm sorry I struggle so much to make our relationship a priority.  Thank you for loving me anyway, and blessing me and Husband so richly.  Thank you for your provision, and for limiting our medical bills.  :)

Your grateful daughter.

What is Our Society Coming To? (Part 1 of ?)

Today begins a series of posts on society, culture, and the moral decline I see that just keeps snowballing faster, and faster.  I'm planning to touch on different topics, but I'm not sure how many parts this series will have, so you'll just have to bear with me as I write.  :)

I ran across this post today, when a friend of mine shared it on Facebook.

Now, I'd heard of Magic Mike and "50 Shades of Grey" but I didn't really know what they were about until I read this review from Focus on the Family's PluggedIn Online site, and saw "50 Shades" mentioned on a few other blogs I follow.  I very quickly realized that neither of these two new releases (one is a movie, and the other is a book) were things that I needed to be putting in my mind.

So, I simply haven't paid attention to them, and I have no desire to see the movie or read the book.  But, Melissa Jenna brings up some excellent food for thought in her post on these things.

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1.  Christian women need to reject both of these works, and instead, use our voices in support of what is good, right and true.


If my Facebook feed is any indication, most of my friends (both IRL and online) share my perspective that we don't need "50 Shades" or "Magic Mike" polluting our minds.  But... what if we take that a step further.  What if, instead of rallying against what culture is promoting as "okay", we stand firm on what is RIGHT.  Both are good, but did you know the best way to spot a counterfeit bill is to work with real bills?  Counterfeit bill spotters don't spend their time going over bad bills.  They spend their time with the real thing.  I believe we should be doing the same.  Rather than making "50 Shades" or "Magic Mike" the center, or starting points, of our conversations, perhaps we should be devoting more time to talking about God's design for marriage, and letting God fulfill our needs spiritually, and work with our husbands to get our physical needs met.


2.  Why aren't church leaders publicly denouncing 50 Shades or Magic Mike, by the way?


I haven't seen anything from our church about "Magic Mike" or about "50 Shades".  Nothing from the pulpit, nothing from Women's Ministries.  And we just finished a 6 week "Campaign for Marriage".  But... that would have been the perfect time to address these issues, but nothing was mentioned.  I'm glad to see that many Christian bloggers have taken up the fight against "Magi c Mike" and "50 Shades", but it would be nice to see pastors actively admonishing their congregations to stay away from this "mommy porn".


3. Just because evidently this summer we’re all about objectifying men, that doesn't make it okay. It’s not like there’s a scale, and all these years, it’s been heavy on the objectification-of-women side, and we need to balance it out by objectifying men now.

I can't say it any better than the way Melissa put it here.  It's time to STOP the madness, and stand up for what is right, true, and holy.

Further Thoughts


Some comments on Melissa's blog have tried to point out that if we're throwing out "Magic Mike" and "50 Shades", that we should go all the way and stop watching TV, reading secular magazines, and hanging out on the internet.  Do I think that's a good idea?  Well, yes, and no.

I do think that God calls Christians to a high standard.  We need to be mindful of what we're putting into our thoughts.  Garbage in, garbage out, so they say.  But, I don't think that means that we're supposed to be walking around with our heads in the sand, keeping ourselves totally clueless about whats the "latest and greatest" in the secular world.  As Christians, I do think it is important that we know what our non-Christian relatives and friends are exposing themselves to, so that we can show them that God offers so much more than what the world does.  Does that mean that I'm going to head out to the local theater this weekend with a group of my friends and watch "Magic Mike"?  Absolutely not.  What it does mean, that when I have the opportunity to explain how damaging mommy porn can be to a woman's view of sexuality, not to mention her self-worth, I'm going to do so.

Some people may tell me,"Oh, you don't know what you're talking about because you haven't read the book or seen the movie".  But that's not the point.  The point is... is "Magic Mike" and "50 Shades" good, right, true, pure, holy entertainment that we would be okay watching or reading with Jesus, or does God call Christians to something way better, and far beyond the imagination of any secular screenplay or book writer.

What are your thoughts on how we should respond to "50 Shades" and "Magic Mike"?