Oh! Gravity

From the wacky dreamworld of Dawn....

I was sitting in a case conference for a student I knew but another school was attending and bringing the paperwork. In fact, the teacher brought an IEP printed in color. I was slightly jealous that I did not have the ability to produce such pretty documentation. Suddenly I was informed that I had to write goals and objectives for the student. I excused myself to run back to my classroom to get forms.
Entering the room I noticed that the substitute was reading to the students who were seated in front of him on the floor. I turned to my desk and realized it has been pushed into the corner...and was upside down.
Drama ensued as I yelled at the substitute, Mr. Dwight K. Schrute. He began screaming at me. In real life I may have been frightened. In dream world I was enraged. I stomped about my classroom until I located my phone. I then called my principal as Mr. Schrute begged me not to make the call. When I began speaking to Angie Mr. Schrute muttered, "I might as well go this is my 5th strike."
As I was talking to Angie a black cat ran out of the coat room. It was as this point I realized I was in my old classroom at St. Casmir. The cat jumped up and bit me. It's eyes were huge as if it realized the mistake it was making. It let go of my beautiful arm and ran toward the children who immediately began to play with the monster...traitors.
Angie, listened to me repeatedly saying, "I've been bit, I"m bleeding."

Then I woke up...with vertigo. The song Oh! Gravity is going through my mind...over and over and over.

Happy Anniversary Ted!

Today I have been married for 19 years! The time has gone by so quickly. When I look back at all we've gone through it is truly amazing. In the last 19 years between the two of us we've earned 3 degrees, worked in 13 jobs (6 for me, 7 for Ted), lived in 4 homes in 2 cities, we have travelled to 24 states and 1 foreign country. We've laughed and cried, prayed and praised. It all seems like yesterday. We have been blessed in ways that words can not describe. Ted is a gift from God. I look forward to forever with him. Happy anniversary Teedo. I love you.

Happy Birthday Mothermaid!

Today is my mother's birthday. She is 60-something years old (I'm to lazy to figure out her real age). Mothermaid, comes from my younger brother. My father called my mom Donna Mae (which is her name) occasionally. My brother (probably 3 or 4 at the time) apparently thought he was saying something else. Dan then began calling her Mothermaid. The name isn't used as much anymore but it occasionally pops up. Even my dad uses the name. In a few hours we will be off to partake in a birthday meal with the folks. I must wrap the gifts and prepare for takeoff.

Food Stuff

Well, I've spent the last couple of weeks trying to find recipes that don't require me to make substitutions. That's not easy. I've joined some Yahoo groups that fit my needs and I've been checking out vegan websites. I'm learning a lot, but my meals have not changed. I'm basically eating fruits and vegetables and lean meat, if I eat at all. I'm in a bad food place. I've also noticed that when I eat the allowed servings of the "bad" food I get sick. I think it's psychological. Another difficulty is Ted. Poor Ted. He doesn't like seeing the gfcf egg-free food going in the shopping cart. I think he's afraid I'll make him eat it...no way. Some of that costs way too much to waste on his meals! I was looking at spaghetti noodles made from corn the other night and his comment was, "Don't get too carried away." I know that he meant he didn't want to eat it, but I whisper-yelled at him anyway. I think that shocked him a bit. I can also tell he's becoming worried about the cleaning concoctions popping up in the house. He knows they are necessary to help my chemical sensitivity but fears they really don't clean. Poor Ted. I need to take some allergy medication today. I've been sneezing my head off. However, the product in the house contains citric acid. You've got to love an allergy medication that contains an allergen. I'm too lazy to go to the store to buy what I need.Tonight we are going out to eat with friends. I'm not worried about cross-contamination because I haven't had any of the allowed servings today. The most serious allergy will be the citric acid since it hides in everything. I may eat before I go so I'm not too hungry. Then I can stick to a salad.

The Grocery Store

+ hates people with food allergies
+ overcharges for products they can label gluten free
+ Is not a fun place to visit when you are hungry

I found her!

While we were on vacation I received an email from my best friend from childhood. It was so exciting to hear from her. I'm hoping we don't lose touch again. Lately I've reconnected with another close friend from high school. I never thought I'd want to talk to people from high school that I hadn't kept in touch with. It has been nice talking to them.

Vacation Number 2

We returned home Thursday night at 11:57pm. We were exhausted. We had another nice trip. Monday morning we drove down to the Vevay, Indiana area. We spent the night at a casino/resort with my in-laws with whom we celebrated their anniversary and Ted's birthday. The chef at Jeff Ruby's made us a special meal (delicious steak and lobster for FIL, Ted and I and Dover Sole for MIL). Also specially made was a cake for Ted from the pastry chef. We had the cake last year for Ted's mom's birthday and it is awesome. Ted gambled a bit on the slots while I chilled in the room. He won $60in the afternoon (not losing his original investment) and lost that $60 after dinner. We ate breakfast at the yummy buffet on Tuesday. I indulged in fresh fruit, hash and hashbrowns. Ted had a fluffy omelet filled with green peppers, onions, salsa, and bacon, ham, and cheese. We were then off on our trip while Ted's parents headed home to Indy.
Our first stop along the Ohio river was to Jeffersonville. Ted had seen a candy store there on the History channel and wanted to try it out. We bought awesome chocolates and cinnamon hard candy. We will be ordering candy for Christmas gifts from them this year, unless Ted ropes me into driving down there this fall. We then stopped at Meijer to buy a bigger cooler for our candy. We then headed to Corydon, the first Indiana State Capital.
It was late when we arrived in Corydon so we visited many of the sites that you can not go in or that are outside anyway. The first stop was the only Civil War Battlefield in Indiana. Ted loves Civil War history and this was exciting for him. We had a butterscotch shake at a house that had been cut in half. We took a lot of pictures to use in a power point for our social studies classes. On Wednesday we were able to go in the capital building and have a tour. Joann, our guide was wonderful and loves history as much as we do. After lunch we were off to Lincoln City.
We followed the Ohio River for most of our trip so we saw the lock and Dam at Cannelton. We see so many of them along the Mississippi that this was not that exciting. We arrived in Lincoln City with time to see a movie about Abe and his family and to briefly see the exhibits. Then we went to see the site of their cabin, his mothers grave, and the living history area (the rangers were gone). We hiked a mile in Abe's woods. We had a stare-down with a deer on the trail. Then, we were off to Evansville.
Thursday morning we went to Angel Mounds to see the Indian Mounds. We walked around for about 4 hours. We enjoyed the exhibits and walking tour a great deal. We then took off for New Harmony, Indiana to see the site of an early Utopia. We were headed home after that.
We were so tired on the drive home from walking so much during the day. Ted's ready to take another trip already. He will be spending the next 2 weeks trying to finish getting the other house ready to sell. He'd like to have it on the market within 3 weeks. I can't wait until it sells. We will then be able to be almost debt free. We'll still have some of Ted's student loan and our mortgage.

Allergy Update

The results from my blood test are in and the best news is: I am no longer allergic to dogs. WOO HOO! I am still allergic to cats. They're sneaky anyway. The rest of the news is mixed. I continue to be allergic to egg whites, milk and wheat. I am able to have one serving of each per day if I desire I am also allergic to lemons. Doctor said, "avoid lemon in large quantities like lemonade." I never knew that your throat wasn't supposed to feel thick and furry after you drank lemonade. Big surprise- I'm developing an allergy to peanuts. WAH!!!!! I love peanuts. I am allowed 1 tablespoon or less per day. sniff sniff All of the other things I was tested for were negative. It's back to the doctor in about 5 months. I will get new meds to include the cat allergy. They mailed me my food allergy meds. The bottle is big. Let's see if I can build up a tolerance to anything by December. Until then I am encourage to seek rice and soy milks as substitutes for cow milk. Bye bye cheese and the occasional ice cream. I should try wheat substitutes such as corn, oat, rice, rye, barley or spelt. What's spelt? I guess there is no suitable substitute for eggs and peanuts...oh wait...I could make cashew butter...hmmm.