Camping

I love the great outdoors. In limited doses. I like camping--the social parts and the hiking parts. But I could do without the peeing and pooping in the woods and the no showering.

My husband put in for an elk hunting tag with some others, except that they didn't put in for what they said they were going to so then he got his tag for this unit. Some others he knew also got tags there at that time for muzzle loader hunting, so he talked to them about coming along. We had them for dinner recently; Mick feels like he's really tagging along, so he offered to bring ribs. We ended up making ribs and a pulled pork for his trip. They have a week, and several people were going along for some camping too. They talked me into coming camping for the weekend.

Since he had already gone up to the campsite with his dad, I just had to pack for me and the dogs. It took me a lot longer than I expected and I got on the road later than I wanted. I had a terribly hard time trying to figure out what to take to eat. But I packed some food and drinks (water and coconut water--it's not good but it's good for you) and clothes. And stuff for the dogs. And pillows--he forgot pillows. And I finally got on the road.

I stopped in Camp Verde for gas and a bathroom stop for me and the dogs. I missed the exit for Williams and ended up in Flagstaff. It was getting dark. I got turned back around and made it through Williams. It was dark by the time I headed south so I stayed near the speed limit. Someone was right behind me when I had to slam on the brakes to avoid hitting 3 deer or elk. He got off my ass then and turned off soon after. I missed the turn for the campsite. I thought I misunderstood the directions he gave me so I kept going until he called. I had missed it by about 10 miles. Oops. I was so frustrated. I had to hit the brakes a total of 6 times for elk and/or deer in the road as well as twice because Cassi was trying to break down my barricade. She gets so stressed out in the car that she tries to come into the front. I finally made it to the turn where he was waiting to show me the rest of the way.

I won't bore you with ALL the gory details, but I spent 2 nights. The night I got in, I had a salad for dinner followed by some maple pecans. Mick and my FIL went out super early, like 3:30 am, and I had already been up with Cassi once. And then 3 more times before they got back. One of those times, I ate half my vanilla coconut milk yogurt with some Enjoy Life Mountain Mambo "granola." I read for a little until my head hurt and then went back to sleep. When they got back, I had an Enjoy Life sunbutter bar and half my OJ. They were eating cereal--Apple Jacks and Frosted Flakes. (Diabetic and pre-diabetic. Hmm.)

The group decided on a late lunch and snacked on Tomato Wheat Thins; I had Kettle Crinkle chips I brought. For lunch everyone pulled food out: ribs, enchiladas, posole, salad, chips. I had ribs and salad with dressing I brought. I wanted to have posole but she used chicken broth so I was not going to chance it. The ribs were fantastic, of course. Mick had purchased a Jose Cuervo margarita for me and I had it and hung out with the girls for a while chatting.

Can't. Wake. Up.

The hunters went out again for the evening hunt. I went to sleep before the sun went down. I heard them return and the campfire stories start but I was so groggy, I couldn't make myself get up. I woke up several times when Cassi had to go out but he took her out. They headed out later, maybe around 5 am. I got up with Cassi the next time. I had my yogurt and granola and did a little reading until my head hurt and went back to sleep. I decided not to feed the dogs, but gave Cassi a little of the yogurt, hoping it might help her with her diarrhea she had all day yesterday. (Like mother, like...?) I let Teka lick the container and she was so adorable with the little yogurt spots across the top of her nose.

When they got back, my FIL asked if I wanted the rest of his coffee. It was just black so I thanked him and added some coconut milk creamer that I brought. Then he asked if I wanted eggs. I thought, he's probably going to cook them in butter, so I said no. Seriously. That is totally what I thought. And then I remembered I can't eat eggs. I am allergic to eggs. But I'm thinking about how he's going to cook them. WTF is wrong with me? (Besides I'm allergic to eggs.) I had a peanut butter Larabar and the rest of my OJ. I had already started packing the car so we continued after he took some photos of the dogs in flowers. The group was starting lunch, all stuff I couldn't eat, so I had a salad with coconut water and chips and guacamole.

I had gone through about 6 Nalgene bottles of water, and I drank the last one on my way down the mountain. I'm not sure if I would do a repeat of this trip. I like the walking with the dogs part, but I felt gross pretty early on. I took a shower within half an hour of being home. I like the people he went with but I did get the feeling he was treated like a tag-along. That's alright I guess. I'm hoping that he'll get his elk, with or without their help, this week.

Relapse-ish

Last Monday, I had my quarterly Alemtuzamab trial visit with Dr. M the neurologist. When he tested my with the little pin pricks, I realized that the come-and-go numbness I have in my left leg was present. It was very obvious in both the outside of the foot and the calf.

A couple days later, I told my husband that it hadn't gone away as it usually does. A few days later, Mick asked when I was going to have to report it. Hmmm. So this week, I called Dr. G's, my neurologist, office, and they told me to call the research office. After some phone tag, L told me she was getting in touch with Dr. G's office. A little more phone tag and we scheduled an appointment for the time right before I'm heading out of town.

L and I were both late so I apologized to Dr. G for taking his lunch hour. He was very reassuring that he would always see me, something about my MS, blah, blah, blah. Then we discussed my symptoms. He can be very aggressive in his questioning; it seems like an interrogation where you've been caught lying. Gulp.

Then he did the exams, similar to what Dr. M had done the previous week. When he touched my legs, I really couldn't tell the difference. When he did the pin prick test, I thought I had more feeling than previously but the left was not as good as the right. He didn't agree--he jabbed the pin into my left foot--jab, jab, jab, jab, jab. Yep, I feel it.

He made his notes and told me that I *could* be having a relapse but it's not a relapse for the trial protocol. Yay, I don't have to have an infusion. But he wants to know if it gets worse. Which is why I waited so long to report it in the first place.

I saw L again before leaving. She explained that my EDDS score had actually gone down when I saw Dr. G and it was still about the same with Dr. G. Seriously, my score has improved while my foot and leg are numb. WTH.

I noticed that I could see the pinpricks in the top of my left foot--five holes in a little cluster. Wow, he really did jab me. "You will feel this, dammit!" Yep, I feel it burning.

TMJ what?

There's a new group of students. A couple of ladies were the students today. I mentioned that my right ear and jaw hurt when I woke up but it subsided and this happens occasionally. Dr. M did an adjustment on my face and said some kind of TMJ terminology to the student. Hmm.

I noticed that I didn't feel the adjuster tool as much on my left calf. He tried to tell me he only had it on one, but I felt it just fine on the right. Whatever.

Dr. M did his usual routine with the actual trigger points varying. He had one student put her finger on a point on my back and hold it for a while. Ow.

Serenity garden out front

I like the wall. Nice seating.

Agility class - visitor edition

Teka seemed to have a lot of fun tonight. The first exercise was distance. There is a line on the ground from the jump on the right straight back. Of course, Teka needed more support than that. We tried it two ways. First we lined up way out on the right so she could go over both front jumps to the weaves to the last jump. We also tried the first two jumps as a U turn, kind of a slingshot approach. I couldn't get the distance either way. She did pretty well on her weaves the first time but skipped random weaves each time through. I did not correct her, just clicked and praised for the ones she did and tried to keep it fun and upbeat.

Right jump toward tunnel but don't take the tunnel; take jump to weaves and jump on end.

Next we did an exercise that the previous class had done as a serpentine but we did it the harder way. So we headed left to right over the A-frame. There are three parallel jumps. She went over the one on the right, then between them, over the middle, between them and over the one on the right. (A serpentine version would look like a backward S.) Then the jump toward the front of the photo, but going around it and coming  back over it towards the parallel jumps. Then a U turn over the barely visible jump in the middle, the jump to the right background, into the tunnel, then RUUUUN so she takes the left jumps. She likes the RUUUUN.

Turns and twists and front turns....

From the other side

Last we did another focus exercise. We started at the far right jump, over the middle jump, over the front jump, over the first jump and the second jump, to the near side of the tunnel, over the winged jump on the left of the photo, and over the jump in the front again. It was basically a circle, a half circle. After the tunnel, I was able to use a front cross for Teka, but had to be careful that I didn't go all the way out as it isn't necessary. A distance practice. We need a lot of that!

Circle, half circle, tunnel, turns.

The starting jump on the left, second jump on right.

The course is fenced in but in a residential neighborhood. We  had a visitor tonight. The not-cat (small-dog, coincidentally) people shooed the cat away and she came back. Repeat. While we were doing our exercises, the cat came back and someone put it in a kennel for its safety. She was so friendly and social and awesome. I wanted to take her home but I'm not ready to get divorced AND I'm sure she belonged to someone. Yes, she had claws, and no, she did not use them. Teka was SOOOO excited about the kitty; I couldn't let her play long because she got vocal and it's in a residential neighborhood.

Soft Kitty, Pretty Kitty

Here and there and everywhere

I started the day with a trip to Labcorp to get my fasting thyroid labs. As a reward for my vampire visit, I went to Ground Control for an iced latte with almond milk. Except that after I paid, they had to refund me because they were out of almond milk. They offered me a muffin--so cute but not useful; then they gave me a freebie coupon--that's better. I should have just got a cup of coffee but decided to go home and make some instead.

I worked for a few hours and then got ready to take Cassi out. We met my friend J for lunch at one of my new favorite restaurants, Bombay Spice at Tatum and Shea. I thought I saw a dog on the patio when we were there recently so I called to confirm and they said yes, bring her. Our waiter brought a tin take out dish of water for her. J ordered lentil cakes which we had previously but apparently the Gluten-free Foodie Tour menu was customized to be non-dairy, so she ate them and we ordered lunch. I had a make your own combo with spinach sauce, extra veggies, chicken, and rice. And ice tea--very good ice tea.

I LOVE the dosa on the right side. I got extra to go with my leftovers.

J's lunch was yummy too.

We ended with dessert, as must be done. Wrap half or more of the meal up because dessert is a must. I had rice pudding again and J had the mango sorbet. As much as I love, love, love rice pudding, this mango sorbet is A-MAZING.

Do. Not. Skip. Dessert. When. You. Go. 

I took my leftovers and waddled away to take Cassi to the vet. She needed her rabies vaccine. She's nearly due for a list of other boosters but due to her age, they agreed that she could NOT have them. Yay!

Not at the vet--this is more fun but there's less cookies.

I am a little concerned that she is 50 pounds. Five-Oh. She used to routinely be around 60. But the vet said she has only lost a couple pounds in the last couple years, so that must have been a lot longer ago than I thought. I have a 50 pound Weimaraner. Wow.

Sweet Things

A guy, P, in my office likes to keep chocolate in other people's offices so he "doesn't eat so much" of it. Post-allergy, I told him he couldn't keep anything in my office I couldn't have. I didn't think it was fair to me and I would have to read labels all the time to make sure. The last chocolate bar he put in my desk was an orange flavor and it was fantastic. Between us, we polished it off pretty fast.

Salted Almond Dark

During my last Sunflower Market shopping trip, I thought I'd see if I could find something for the chocolate drawer. While most of the selection had soy and/or dairy, I found some Theo Chocolate bars that were gluten and soy free. (See "shared on equipment" disclaimer to make me paranoid; I'm disregarding for now.) And they were on sale 2 for $6. Yes, $3 each. And that is why I don't drown my sorrows in chocolate.

After looking through all of the possibilities, I chose 4. The first one I took to the office is gone as of yesterday. P claimed that he didn't really like it but he had several pieces. I thought it was very good. The salty almonds really came through the chocolate, and the chocolate was very good on it's own. Since they are $4 a piece on their website, I'll have to pick them up when they are on sale. Or give up sugar. But I curse enough already, don't I?

*****

I'm not a huge fan of caramels. They are so hard and sticky. But I do like them every once in a while, especially if they are softer. I picked up some caramels, I don't remember where. Goat cheese caramels. I had one. I wanted Mick to have one and tell me if they are really as good as I think or if I'm just deprived and delusional. For some reason, he never ate the one I gave him so I ate that one too. I think they are fantastic. I'll limit them since it is still technically dairy.

I'm so confused about the whey allergy. I was told by my original students that I can have goat cheese, so I have goat cheese sometimes. I don't think I've had adverse effects but I'm not certain. So I limit how often I eat it, but I still have it on occasion. I hope I'm not totally wrong.

I've heard somewhere that I can have sheep's milk cheese also. I saw some at the market and seriously considered getting some. But I really couldn't find anything at all online that made me feel that I could maybe have it. Not that anything said I couldn't either. The information about allergies to diary are focused on casein or lactose, not whey. For now, I'll skip it. And have the occasional goat cheese. Goat cheese caramels.

*****

We went to Costco very quickly on Saturday after picking up dog food at Pet Stop. I got some organic salad as well as organic spinach and another bag of organic frozen berries for smoothies. The lines were pretty long so I ran to see if they had anything else I "needed" and I found a new variety pack of Larabars. They were my favorite two--peanut butter and cashew--and blueberry muffin. No one but Target seems to carry the Uber roasted nut roll bars--aka Payday bars--in bulk. Target's box of four is actually a better price than anywhere else has on sale.

I also got the Sahale Maple Pecans. It's a little expensive but it's a big bag and it's like a dessert but with some nutritional value. I got the package for our camping trip but I've already opened it. For a taste, of course!

Garden update - onions are fun to dig edition

The guys have planted the "farm" plot with the 2 Kabocha squash and 2 winter pumpkins I picked up at Baker Nursery, along with some of the seeds I bought for beans, black eyed peas, cucumbers and okra. They also planted sunflowers and maybe some zucchini.

My FIL started my seeds for the leeks and celery and then planted them in the strawberry patch. So I have a couple of empty squares in my newly planted garden box. I checked it out this morning (sorry, no photos) and stuff is coming up! That is so exciting. I wonder if I will be this excited every time I plant a new garden. Hopefully I don't get as sunburnt every time. My back is starting to peel but I didn't get burnt on the front. The "tan" lines are going to be awesome. If by awesome, you mean freakishly odd.

My stomach dropped when I saw a mushroom. Aww, shit. They were so difficult to get rid of in the first box. But when I started to pick it, I realized it wasn't a mushroom. It was an onion. I looked over to the onion squares and one had a couple of holes dug. Another onion set was flung across the box. I replanted the two set I saw. I'm sure there were more that got dug out.

I'm not sure if Cassi, the digger, or Teka, the garden pooper, dug up my onion sets. But I'm trying to be slow to judge since they did run out in that direction going completely crazy barking yesterday. There is a small chance that something else got into my garden. Small. Like miniscule. Cassi, I'm looking at you.

Hmm. We'll see.