Sweet things

Found at Whole Foods. (not cheap, but a little goes a long way...)

Coco-roons (no egg!)

Taza bought on sale at AJs. Yay for hot chocolate!

Almond milk or coconut milk both work

Getting stabby

The results are in and there is totally something, ahem, everything, wrong with me.
 

I have a little bit of candida but bacterial overgrowth is more of an issue.

She recommends calcium bentonite clay; it absorbs toxins and inhibits bacteria growth better than charcoal. Arise and shine brand is highly recommended. I have to take a half teaspoon in a large glass of water no more than once a day.

She also gave me a tincture, something soothing that will still kill some yeast. I have to take one dropper in water once daily and increase to two teaspoons twice a day. Unless I feel irritated or yucky--then I should not increase. (Don't I always feel irritated or yucky!? ha-ha.)
 

She says my dismeria (PMS) should decrease when all these other things get killed off.
 

So, the bigger scarier news is that my doctor is moving to Sedona. I will have to start seeing a new doctor. She gave me a couple of recommendations for doctors at the school, trying to stick with those that can work the balancing act of many issues but none that need to be attacked with force. Because I'm sensitive, you know. At least my GI tract is.
 

It's cold!

We are making great progress on the yard. And by we, I mean my husband and his helpers. They are amazing; they just keep going, way past when I would be in excruciating pain for days. They are digging and moving rock that being delivered and even fenced in my tomatoes (against the dogs*) and covered a lot of plants for the freezing temps.


rock pile; covered trees



Moving rock

*The dogs, we presumed Cassi, have been grabbing a tomato or three off the plants. They don't even have to be ripe. The other day, I saw Teka in the grass with her nose to the ground. I went to check and she was eating a tomato. There were two more in the grass. Later, I saw Cassi in the same position so I called her, completely expecting her to ignore me. She came running, so excited, with a small round orange tomato showing, similar to those orange slice smiles we did when we were kids. It. Was. Hilarious. And cute. And I tried not to laugh since she was not supposed to have the tomato anyway. But it was adorable.

Cassi

Teka helping with the Christmas tree

Holiday potluck

The Vizsla Club had a Christmas gift exchange and potluck dinner.

I was asked to bring a side and not mashed or sweet potatoes. Boo. I brought some for just me anyway.

To share, I brought roasted veggies: brussel sprouts, kabocha squash (I think it was a little early but it came out fine), and cranberries for color. I forgot to take a photo earlier....

my auction dish and the leftover veggies

Everyone really seemed to like my veggies anyway. I went too heavy on the cranberries though.

Garden harvest

Let's start with the gross. These effin wormy things are disgusting and have infiltrated all of my produce. They are so hard to find. Ew. Ew. Ew.

It fell on my floor.

Another.

And on the counter.

That's a whole lotta lettuce.

eggplant, red bell peppers, herbs

Sausage and meat sauce with the small crop of green beans

Update: I took a lot of the lettuce to the food bank. I'm starting to think I'm not a salad person. I definitely don't need a farm row of just lettuce!

Phoenix Capital Grille revisited

Work lunch. Sigh. I'm so over salads with no this and no that until I have a plate of lettuce.

 

She chose Phoenix Capital Grille. Gluten free items are noted on the menu.

 

Score. Okay, it was more expensive than what the other ladies had but I had real food. Chicken. Salsa Verde. Kale in olive oil. White beans and tomatoes. Yum.

A real meal! In public!

So gross

Dr H ordered tests for me that must be done with fecal samples. I'm pretty sure I've never had to do that before. Maybe I did but I blacked it out.
 

I had to get three different days within no more than seven days. I didn't want to do it at work. It's not so private.
 

And I had to poo into what was essentially a fast food tray, like you might get your chicken strips and fries in. (I know I just ruined strips and fries for you; you're welcome.) Then I had to put some in the vial, which had a "spoon" attached inside the lid.
 

Thursday morning, I had to poo before I left the house. I thought that was great since I'd have Saturday and Sunday for day 2 and 3.
 

Now, I'm sure that doesn't sound TOO bad. But now I have a hot dog tray of poo. I dump it into the toilet; now I have a shitty hot dog tray. I wrap it in a grocery bag and walk out to the trash bin.

Saturday I had my day 2 collection. Same procedure.
 

And then nothing on Sunday. Are you effing kidding?
 

So on Monday, I'm really hoping for the rare early pre-work poo. But no. So I get to do this at work and leave my shit bag in the trash bin in the bathroom. Ew.
 

So I'm in the stall when I realize that there are instructions for the 3 days but I was also given a cup for another test that I am supposed to do the last day. There aren't any instructions. It doesn't have the lid with a spoon and it looks like the cup I pee into at least every month so I take an educated guess and pee in the cup.
 

Wrong guess. I take everything to the lab and I am given a new cup. When I question how I'm supposed to poo in the cup (I know I'm not supposed to poo in the cup but seriously, you're giving me a pee cup for poo), I receive another fry tray. Um. Yay?
 

Since I'd already had diarrhea, I knew I wouldn't go again today.
 

Update: Lucky me, I went poo while I was at home Tuesday morning. I had the foresight to grab a plastic knife for scooping the poo into the cup. Ew. So gross.