My new car!

Okay, well not this exact one. Mine is blue/grey. Initially I wasn't super keen on buying a domestic car; then I learned that the car isn't even built by Chevrolet- it is a Suzuki. It had everything I was looking for: super compact, air conditioning, and almost new. It actually works out better for me in the end to buy a car still on warranty and finance it rather than buy an older car. I have no car knowledge at all. I have trouble pumping gas. It made sense for me to buy a newer car and avoid the problems older cars have. I'm really happy with it.

Follow-up

I realized that I never updated the blog on a couple of things. Firstly the handy dandy device above which was meant to turn my tv into my computer screen. Turns out it was crap. I think that converting the signal just killed the quality of the picture. The picture was so distorted that the fonts were unreadable- too tiny and fuzzy. Plus another drawback was the number of cables running to and from the device. It was a spaghetti factory. If it could be done wirelessly, I would. The whole reason I bought it was because I planned to cancel my cable. I wouldn't be using my tv at all, so I thought I would re-purpose it. When I called the cable company to cancel, they made me an offer I couldn't refuse. So it was all for not.

Laptop Lunch box:

I would move the picture above down here if I could but for some reason, I can't move pictures anymore. I love my lunch box. If someone else hadn't already thought of blogging about their packed lunches, I just might have done it! I spend the whole morning looking forward to opening up my lunch box. My co-workers and clients crane their necks to see what I have today. After doing so, they are usually disappointed with their own boring lunches. There is much to be said for making your meals esthetically pleasing.


And then there were the hives...

It's been 3 weeks and I still have them a little bit. Nothing like they were before. After being on the really strict elimination diet for days I was no further ahead. According to the directions, after a day or two eating plain rice and veggies the hives should go away. They didn't, instead I developed something like arthritis in my joints. Wow, that was awful. Ever tried to not use your hands AT ALL? It's impossible. After all of that, it probably wasn't an allergy at all, but a virus. Hopefully it will just continue to get better. I'd cross my fingers, but they hurt.

Dreaming of yogurt

This is my punishment for giving up sugar. I got so cocky that I could give up sugar that the universe made me give up everything. Universe, I'm sorry.

The allergy elimination diet is so restrictive! I pretty much eat the same meal three times a day. Brown rice, fish, most fruits and veggies and hemp milk. That's it. It's working, the hives were significantly better, and today almost gone. So as long as I don't have hives tomorrow I will be adding in one new food tomorrow. It's a tough decision. I want to add something that will bring the most variety to my diet. I think I have finally decided on yogurt. I am craving it like mad. Or I'll add soymilk or corn tortillas ... or... or... It's sort of like that game- if you were on a desert island and could choose one food what would it be? Is it wrong that I kinda want to add candy?

10 days of hives

Yeah. It sucks.

I've never had a reaction like this before. I have looked at all the external things in my environment and have ruled out soaps etc. Today I have come to the realization that it is something I have lately been eating almost everyday. I thought I was in the clear yesterday, but this morning, the hives were back- full force.

I'm home sick today writing a food journal and researching elimination diets. Even in the darkest gluten-sickness days before I knew I had Celiac disease, I never kept a food journal. I'm not sure why I am so resistant to tracking what I eat. But I'm doing it now. I have figured out a couple of possibilities. I am now on the toughest diet ever. Basically brown rice, fish, fruits and veggies and water. That's it. No dairy, no soy, no gluten free breads, no eggs, no beans, no potatoes and no sugar. I do this until I don't have any hives and then add in one food every 3-4 days. It is recommended that that you wait 21 days before you add in any new foods. I know that I would never last that long, so I'm doing a variation.

HIVES!

Yeah, sadly I don't mean that sort of hive. I have had hives nearly everyday for the last week. It took a while for me to figure out that no, the cats don't have fleas, I have not been bitten by 100 mosquitoes, and there are no spiders in my bed. It began slowly, but by Saturday morning I woke up covered head to toe with my skin itching so badly it hurt. I got to work early because I knew there was Benadryl there. I spent the day drugged out, there is a good reason you aren't supposed to take it during the day. I'm glad my shift was 12 hours long, because I wouldn't have been safe to drive! I found it really hard to follow a conversation, it seemed everyone was talking for entirely too long and it was tough to pretend that I was able to follow along.

Yesterday, the hives were gone. But when I was heading to bed, I realized that I was itching again. Sure enough, the hives were back. So off I went to the pharmacy. This is very frustrating, I have never had a reaction like this before. I have gone through all of the usual suspects- laundry soap, shampoo, conditioner. I have now narrowed it down to a body wash, coconut or blueberries. I have a sneaking suspicion that there is something on the blueberries. I've certainly eaten a lot of them when they are in season, but I don't think I've ever bought the imported ones. Maybe a pesticide??

UPDATE: oh crappity crap. Turns out blueberries are on the dirty dozen list. The list of the most highly contaminated foods list. They contain up to 52 chemicals on them and their skin is thin enough that the chemicals get into the fruit and can't be washed off. After reading that, the blueberries are going into the garbage. 52 chemicals? I probably just gave myself cancer.