Gettin' All-Primal in the Applachians page 24

[Crabbcakes]

They cut the heads off snakes for a reason...just sayin'

I really, really like the visions that creates in my head...

Yeah, I like snakes, too. I got to pet a python a month ago at the Cleveland Zoo - loved it. Hubby doesn't though, and I think I scared him when we were still dating and on a trip to St. Augustine FL... there was this reptile park, and since it was an unseasonably cold day, not many Floridians were out and about, especially at this park. Well, I sat through a park ranger talk about snakes and was so enthusiastic that he let me hold three of his lovelies at once and they immediately burrowed into the sleeves of my sweater to get warmer... and came out in the neckline... and I loved the ticklishness... and hubby almost puked... and then the ranger took me behind the scenes to see his new baby crocodile and I got to hold it!

Hubby married me anyway. He feels better knowing that there are some things (but not many) that gross me out - hair clogs in drains being one. Immediate gagging session on my part. He takes care of all hairy-drain-balls in the house ASAP because if he doesn't I will TOTALLY pay ANY amount any plumber wants to do it for me, and hubby knows this (and likes to keep his money, too).

BTW - the wrath of Dave... your supervisor?

[canio6]

LOL Great snake story. Sorry to hear they gross your husband out. I feel the same way about hair in the drain. It is one of the perks of not having any - no hairy drain clogs. Dave is the name of one of the posters here. He told me I had to post at least twice a day (jokingly I am sure). I (jokingly) said I would do so so as not to invoke his wrath.

[annedawso]

Your Oma reminds me of some of my family members. Take no messing from her. Pity I don't take my own advise.
Went to see my aunt today, my mums sister. Her 3 grown up kids are giving her a terrible time. They all aren't speaking, my cousins husband beat her brother up a couple of years ago and it all stems from there. They all want my aunt to side with them and then refuse to speak to her for months!!!!
My poor aunt is really down about it all ,no solution from what I can see.

My husband likes to keep his money too.
Taking about that I went to my personal shopper experience yesterday and it was fab.
She persuaded me to try on skinny, slim leg jeans and even if I say so myself my legs looked great.
I chose skinny jeans x 2, jumper x2 and 2 dresses. One of the dresses is gorgeous, but don't know when I would wear it as very dressy.
Felt absolutely great,looking forward to shopping for clothes again.

[Crabbcakes]

anne - what is a "jumper"? Do you mean a sweater, as in a knitted sweater? The only jumper I know is a kind of dress, but it has no sleeves or collar, meant to be worn over a blouse or top, and is plain in decoration and somewhat severe of cut. You just kind of "jump" right into it, hence the name.

My uncle (my father's sister's husband) once punched his MIL (my grandmother) right in the puss once and like a boxer with a glass jaw, down she went. But then, on a bad day she had the mouth of a drunken randy sailor. On a good day she had the mouth of a sailor. My uncle is a layman in the Episcopal church (Anglican Church transplanted to the US), so that must have been a doozy, whatever she said to him, for him to lose control like that. I know for sure that it wouldn't have been only one remark - must have been the combined effect of hundreds, topped by one grand utterance. Makes me wish I knew what it was.

In general, I don't participate in family drama. If stuff is brewing that is just absurd or childish or whatever, I just stay home and away from the offending parties for as long as it takes. My family is dysfunctional (the US part), so I have that down to a science. By 2012, a lot of the worst family members are now counted as dearly departed (including my foul-mouthed grandmother - not the Oma, who is part of the German contingent), and the more of them that die, the more this family is at peace.

Of my generation, most of us have done well enough to form stable families of our own. The only truly sad happenings are my twin cousins in MO, both of whom have already successfully committed suicide. Their mom (another aunt - my dad is one of 8 siblings) was the wife of an abusive husband for waaaaaaay too long and the kids grew up under that. Needless to say, my kids have never, ever met the MO aunt or her family. I didn't trust that situation, and unfortunately, my worries were founded. I have a lot of faith, so I know that my cousins are relieved of whatever drove them to suicide, which is the only "good" that comes of this. My cousins left behind spouses and little children (in separate incidents). I have seen first-hand how abuse gets passed on generationally, and I intend that my girls will know nothing of it. Sigh.

Your shopping trip sounds grand! Next time, take me along... we'll make it a girls' day out and keep each other Primal, to boot!

[Crabbcakes]

One week until flight day. I have been having a little trouble with the diet... with Halloween I ate a little too much chocolate of the worst kind - sandwiched between wheat wafers (mini Hanuta bars, for those of you who know this treat). And a couple of opportunistic Christmas cookies (our local hospice runs a holiday shop each year starting at this time and they had free Christmas cookies and punch) of my very favorite kind: pecan sandies. Neither was in great quantity, but add that to the cheese I started to eat since the Whole30 is over, and the spanakopita I ate at the mall yesterday (wheat phyllo and rice) - I think I may be bloating a bit.

Soooo - I am on a bone broth kind of couple of days. I don't want to sabotage my gains so close to my trip. Sigh.

Getting excited about the trip. Did some shopping and got a haircut. Had a makeup consultation and got some new Aveda war paint (make-up). And had a chiropractic adjustment (overdue - the back was hurting again - damn driving I do); you wouldn't believe how much crunching was going on in the neck area! Holy rice crispies, Batman! my neck sounded like a bowl of snap, crackle AND pop.

The quack noticed my weight loss and asked what I had been doing. Turns out, he is a HUGE paleo/Primal fan and knows about both. Smiles all around on that one.

I figured out what my next goal is (starting on my return): muscle definition in the midsection. Since it took 6 months to get this far, I am giving myself another 6 months - until May Day - to build some strength and muscle.

[badgergirl]

Holy rice crispies, Batman! my neck sounded like a bowl of snap, crackle AND pop.

Guess what? The Aussies call them Rice Bubbles. How cute is that?

[Urban Forager]

Hey Crabbcakes congratulations on completing your Whole30! I've been thinking we need to do something too. We are considering doing the GAPS diet after the holidays. All of us have allergies that haven't gone away with primal. DH and I did a Whole30 last January and had no change in our allergies. DS says he will do it too. I think it may be harder than he thinks as he's gotten into eating a fair amount of sweets. He's eating a lot in general due to the prednisone he's taking.

BTW DS was a raven for Halloween 2 yrs. ago. I made him a raven mask and I think a winged cape. We love ravens; we throw scraps on our roof for them.
I'm looking forward to hearing about your trip! How long will you be there?

[Crabbcakes]

Hey Crabbcakes congratulations on completing your Whole30! I've been thinking we need to do something too. We are considering doing the GAPS diet after the holidays. All of us have allergies that haven't gone away with primal. DH and I did a Whole30 last January and had no change in our allergies. DS says he will do it too. I think it may be harder than he thinks as he's gotten into eating a fair amount of sweets. He's eating a lot in general due to the prednisone he's taking.

BTW DS was a raven for Halloween 2 yrs. ago. I made him a raven mask and I think a winged cape. We love ravens; we throw scraps on our roof for them.
I'm looking forward to hearing about your trip! How long will you be there?

Hey Forager!!

My Third has been dairy-free SCD for nearly seven years now. If you want to chat about GAPS, I would love to weigh in on what I have to do around here, as I do all of it except for a tight supplementation program. Third definitely reacts to dairy (both the casein and the lactose), beans, grains, corn syrup, and too much sugar in the total diet (whether natural or not), the symptome being GI or behavioral/cognitive functioning, depending. I have been looking into GAPS as well as Third's next step. Right now she is in the middle of having her fatty acids restructured to follow Primal (which the SCD doesn't address at all) - which is working fantastically well, BTW!

Huh - I would have thought a Whole30 would catch a lot of allergic stuff, as it is decently overlapped with the SCD, except for the fruit consumption and few veggies the SCD doesn't allow. I'll be listening, to see how this shakes out with you and the family - I'll probably learn a few things along the way.

I will be in Germany for the wedding of one my two favorite cousins ever (who happen to be sisters), all by my lonesome, for two weeks! Yippee!! My old coworkers in Frankfurt are awaiting my visit, too. Love that crew! They were more family than coworkers.

Two days after I get to the family villages in the Knuellgebirge (translation: the Knuell Mountains), the cousins and I will have the bachelorette party. Even though this is in German, if you go to Sieben Welten: Sieben Welten Startseite you can see where we will be celebrating. Lots of photos, and those need no translation. I recommend clicking on all buttons on the website to get an idea of how involved the place really is.

For the raven costume, Second and I used that dark gray gauzy "scary" fabric that they sell in dollar stores for spider-webby decoration and tied all kinds of black feather boas onto it to simulate wings. Then we shaped it into a cape/wing-y shape behind the shoulders/down the arms and then fastened that to a black corduroy fitted petite's jacket. Second wore a tight black sequined top underneath for some shine, black dance pants, my old black fishnet stockings on top of the pants for texture, and black fuzzy uggs-style boots just because it was really cold, wet, and windy on Beggar's Night. Black eye liner, nail polish, eye shadow and lipstick. She didn't wear a mask 'cause she preferred to use black eyeliner and makeup on the nose to simulate a beak instead. Her Rapunzel-long blond hair got pulled up in a tight braided bun and covered by a black crocheted bun cover that my mom made several years ago when Second started growing her hair very long (it is waist-length now). She had a blast, and I did too!

I am already stressing about missing my girls. Really, really, really happy to get back to my other home, but I haven't been away from my girls for any length of time ever...

[Urban Forager]

Oh my gosh Seiben Welten looks amazing! I want to go there right now! What a fun time you are going to have!

I have to get the GAPS book and read it so I know what we are getting into. I doubt that we will be able to stay on the diet for long; I'm just too into food. We have been incorporating aspects of the diet; more bone broth and probiotics so that part wont be a big deal. DS has had so many antibiotics that I think it would be good for him to strengthen his immune system. I too was surprised that the Whole30 didn't make a difference with my allergies. I thought for sure that taking out the dairy and my occasional glass of wine would really make a difference. So now I'm looking for other solutions and it seems from what I've read GAPS could be the answer.

Second's raven costume sounds great. I love the combination of all the different textures; it must have been fun to put together. This was the first year DS didn't wear a costume. He went over to a friend's house and watched cheesy movies.

I'm off to take DS to see his doctor (2 1/2 hrs away!) we hope he will lower his dose of predinsone. The side effects are annoying DS: difficulty sleeping, weight gain and acne.

I really enjoy your journal; I'll stop by more regularly.

[Crabbcakes]

Guess what? The Aussies call them Rice Bubbles. How cute is that?

Very! First loved it. Thanks!