Home Chapter One Our Vegan Lifestyle Likes Comment-Free

Spider like cookies.

Sunday, July 27, 2008

See that? That delicious looking brownie right there? That stunning piece of artwork that you would most likely put into your mouth without thinking twice about? That, right there, represents everything that I absolutely, without a doubt, CANNOT have.

Yesterday when I got finished with my morning at work, I joined my husband and almost-two-year-old daughter, at a place called the "Soul Fire Cafe", a free coffee shack (yes, you heard me, free. Iced mocha's, frappachino's, whatever you want...) on base with a super hip interior, and Bible trivia board games donated by only the most amazing of donors, for all to play. Christopher was doing a 2 hour volunteer shift, and I figured it would be nice to get out of the house and check the place out, even though I knew I'd probably just be entertaining Eleanore the entire time. The first thing I noticed, when I walked into the room, was the plate of colorful cookies positioned in the center of the counter. And not because my free-cookie-dar was sounding an alarm in sync with a pretty red blinking light, but because to me, that plate of cookies could quite possibly be the death of me. I leaned on the counter right next to the plate, keeping one eye on the cookies at all time, as if they were going to sprout legs and jump on me, and the other eye on my husband, who looked completely lost behind the counter while being taught how to make something or other with steamed milk. Eventually, my fear of the cookies settled down, kind of like when you first notice a spider in the bathroom, but then realize he hasn't moved from his corner in the last day, and hes probably not going to. For all you know, hes dead! ...Maybe the cookies were dead too, right? After about half an hour of being there, I start feeling exhausted. So exhausted, that I could no longer participate in conversation with anyone or anything, and decide to go sit in a big red fluffy chair in the corner by myself. My daughter of course follows me, and for the next hour, we make up silly words for tiny glass bead-like things, that at some point probably went to an unknown board game. She hands them to me, I hand them to her, we arrange them on a table, its all great fun. I blame my extreme exhaustion on my pregnancy, and do anything I can to stay awake until the clock strikes 5:00. Finally I can't take it anymore, and I tell my husband we have to leave 20 minutes early. We get home, and instead of making it up the stairs to my bed, I sit at the computer like a zombie, having ridiculous conversations on yahoo messenger with my cousin Tiffany, and saying "I want that" to 1 out of 30 things on Motherhood.com. Finally even that gets to be too much work, so I relocate upstairs to the bedroom. Every step feels like I'm stepping in quick sand, but eventually my feet crest on the top floor, and I crash down onto the bed like Free Willy did into the water in that one scene where he jumps over the kid who's holding his fist up in the air, do you know what I'm talking about? Sorry, my husband just turned the stereo on and totally distracted me, that sentence could have been much better, I know. Anyways, so as I'm lying in bed, my stomach starts hurting. I figure "well, I took my prenatal not too long ago, maybe there just wasn't enough food in my tummy". As the minutes go by, I notice myself feeling sicker and sicker. Soon I'm so sick that I swear I'm about to die, and verbally communicate my last will and testament to my husband, who's doing everything in his power to make me more comfortable. I start telling him how I think I got wheat poisoning, and he says something like "I don't see how, you're probably just really tired". I'm too tired to argue. He turns the TV on to distract me, which works. A few minutes into SNL, I toss over onto my side, and pass out before I can even get into my comfy sleepy position. I sleep all through the night, having awful nightmares, not even waking up to pee (which for a pregnant lady, is completely unheard of). By the time I wake up, my stomach feels deflated and starving, while my head feels less cloudy and I can take a breath without thinking its my last. ...I've survived the night! As I slowly wake up I realize I'm not completely in the clear yet, but in a few short hours, the wheat that must have entered my chap lips though microscopic crumb form, will be gone for good. I guess the cookie wasn't dead, was it?

I haven't been into a cafe environment since last August when we took a visit to Portland. I realized how much damage I had done to my body on the very unpleasant flight(s) back home, and vowed never to step foot into another restaurant if I didn't have to. It took me weeks to recover from that trip, which sadly isn't an exageration. I know what you're thinking. "Is it really that bad?". If it wasn't, I sure would have made at least one trip to a restaurant in the past 11 months. I told Christopher that all I wanted for my birthday was to go out. He called a place in town, and asked them if they could assure that they wouldn't cross contaminate a dish for me, and of course, they said no. If it wasn't just gluten, it probably wouldn't be nearly as difficult. But because the birth of my beautiful daughter brought along intolerance's to soy/ dairy/ eggs/ oats/ amaranth/ fructose/ corn/ potato/ caffeine/ fats/ sorbitol/ carageenan/ ect... I've decided it would just be best for me to wear a surgical mask any time I leave the house. And probably be much more careful next time I step inside the Soul Fire.

From top to bottom:
-"GLUTEN INTOLERANT retro tattoo style brooch", by lizardgirl, $20.00. (somebody please buy this for me!)

21 comments:

Treasures by Tina July 27, 2008 at 12:40 PM  

What a great writer you are! And that FREE cafe sounds like heaven, or hell, as the case may be! Best of luck with the rest of your pregnancy. :)

Anonymous,  July 27, 2008 at 12:50 PM  

There goes my diet! :)

Ravenswick July 27, 2008 at 1:03 PM  

Oh I really feel for you and can relate. I am not gluten intolerant but but I can't eat bread, sugar, chocolate and have to keep my sodium level ridiculously low. If I don't I get attacks of vertigo which make me horribly sick (due to an inner ear disease). I do not eat out at all either.

LoveMeKnot Creations July 27, 2008 at 1:06 PM  

ohhh! i hope you are better now hon!!

Lisa Abdul-Quddus July 27, 2008 at 6:03 PM  

How scary! I think I gained 10lbs looking at those pics lol.

There's another gluten free etsy seller that I know of (in case you haven't seen this shop), glutenada.etsy.com .

All the best during your pregnancy (and after as well:)).

Tia Colleen July 27, 2008 at 6:24 PM  

Sorry for ruining everyones diet, haha. Etsy sure has some great bakers though right?

artbymar- Its nice to know theres at least one other person in the world that doesn't ever eat out. I'm not supposed to have chocolate because of my endometriosis, but I'm pregnant and I can do what I want now!!! Hahaha. I hope someday you can have chocolate again :(

blossoming- I went and checked out that etsy seller. Her mixes sure look yummy, but unfortunetely are chalked full of all the other stuff I can't have. Which is usually the case. Bummer.

Art Kitten July 27, 2008 at 7:58 PM  

Aww man, that is rough. I am so sorry that your intolerance is so strong... I wish I knew of some sort of treatment you could have to make those foods more tolerable for you.

kim* July 28, 2008 at 9:52 AM  

ya that is definitely somethings i cant have either...but i do anyway :)

High Desert Diva July 28, 2008 at 10:12 AM  

Oh girl...I soooo know the feeling.
Gluten allergy here along with 18 other foods. (eggs, milk and chocolate to name a few) Restaurants are NOT fun anymore!

hy July 28, 2008 at 11:48 AM  

wow!
thats too bad you cant have those treats because they look heavenly!
xo
mary jane

Anonymous,  July 28, 2008 at 12:22 PM  

Oh gosh! I thought I had it bad on a no processed sweetner, dairy, meat, refined flour, caffiene diet! I'm trying alternate breads (Gosh I CRAVE bread!) but they all suck. Brown rice is my savior right now.

Bruno and Betty July 28, 2008 at 1:02 PM  

Sooo many great treats! I have a feeling I might have a few new addictions. :)

Mixed Species July 28, 2008 at 9:34 PM  

You had us, then lost us, then had us again at cookies .... mmmm cookies!

PAC July 28, 2008 at 9:36 PM  

I love all the photos! **drools**

Michele Maule July 29, 2008 at 7:34 AM  

Free cafe??
Wow. I would never leave!!
Glad you're feeling better. Maybe you're right about wearing the surgical mask. Or you could step it up with a gas mask!!
That would be hot :)

Liz July 29, 2008 at 10:12 AM  

bless you, it must be very hard to find all your gluten free food. great post though!

Cherries Rock My Socks July 30, 2008 at 7:36 AM  

I am so hungry now after seeing all these pics. That brownie looks like pretty much the best thing ever.

tattytiara July 31, 2008 at 9:26 PM  

Sympathy from a fellow mutiple-intolerant!

Post a Comment