Rookie cat, Veteran Cat.

Today, G got a new cat. Okay, WE got a new cat. But it was all G's idea. She's been really wanting another cat, though I am worried that it's really going to upset Bello and make him lose all his happiness and sweetness.

See... Bello is a bit the king of the castle...


Okay, he may be the king of sleep, but you get the drift.

The new cat is just the princess of cute.


Come on. She's pretty dang cute. And she doesn't have a new name yet, so I just keep calling her girl cat. I am sure Bello will adjust. We're supposed to be keeping them separate, but that's not going so well. She has absolutely no interest in him, but he's following her around. It's very strange. I guess for her it's all new and she's checking it out. For him, there's an interloper moving about his house and he's not sure what to make of it.

Gadgets.

Well, this is not food related. At all. But, I had a bit of a dilemma this week in trying to decide if I wanted to get an iPhone or an iTouch. I love my Ipod. Love it. Love it. Love it. 30 gig video, I've had it for a couple of years now, I just love it.

I have a cellphone. A not so great cellphone, but I hate cellphones. Hate them. Sure, in a pinch they are good, but I think in reality I have had a cellphone for less time than I have had my Ipod. G and I got a family plan, we have next to no minutes but can call each other unlimited, and I rarely use it otherwise. And I hate the idea of being 'connected' all the time.

But did I mention how much I love my iPod? I love having it to listen to when I go to bed at night, a nice audiobook streaming in the background, set to turn off after 20 minutes or so (I am currently listening to "Restaurant at the End of the World".) I love listening to podcasts while eating lunch, watching "Gourmet Diary of a Foodie" while taking a break, or watching "Girl in the Fireplace" for the millionth time while on a bumpy flight. With 30 gigs of space, I have it filled. Lots of music (my iPod's secondary function!) and lots and lots of video and audiobooks.

So the Touch came out. And I became touched. And I let it go. The the iPhone was coming out up here in good ol' Canada. And I became obsessed. But, and here's the confession. I didn't want the iPhone. I wanted the iTouch. And boy, people just don't get that! I don't want to have my iPod tied to my phone. I want a bigger iPod, with cool features, not a cool phone with some iPod capacity.

And now I have the iPod. Lots of space, and I am wifi'ed almost everywhere I go. So if I want it, I have it. My lovely Ianto has been my constant companion, providing me excellent sound for my current audiobook, comfie earbuds, a cool touchscreen, and access to my email and facebook on demand. And no one ever calls me on it or takes it away from it being just all mine. Is that weird?

Now, there's nothing to say that I am not going to find myself in a Rogers store buying an iPhone anytime soon, especially with this cheap dataplan on offer, it seems almost stupid not to lock into it now. But, I love my dear shiny skinny Ianto, and I don't care that everyone says "Why don't you just get an iPhone?" (Hence my blogging about it. G's brother asked me to explain why I went iPod and not iPhone on my blog so he could read my reasoning. As if there is reasoning behind this madness.)

Wishin' and Hopin'

It's been a weird couple of weeks.

For those who know me, you may know that I have had problems with my stomach for my entire life. Literally. My mom has them, both my maternal grandmother and grandfather had them, stomach pains were just a fact of life.

I have spoken with countless doctors over my 35 years who have chalked up my stomach woes to stress, genetics, and whinging.

Since arriving in Canada, I have had the same family doctor that G has, and she's always been of the school that my stomach pains = stress. Full. Stop. Here's some anti-depressants and be gone with you.

Then I became fascinated with a UK lifestyle show called, "You Are What You Eat" with Dr. Gillian McKeith. Many of the people featured on her show had similar stomach problems to mine, and she frequently discussed the no wheat no processed sugar approach to living. I was intrigued.

I visited an acupuncturist a couple of years ago who also suggested that I give up all wheat.

Which I did for awhile, ate lots of spelt breads, but didn't feel tons better, so as often happens, I crept back into my old habits. I love bread and pasta, and I moved to whole grains feeling quite virtuous and smug in my healthiness.

Then my stomach took a turn. A major turn. For the worse.

And then there was no denying it. Something was going on.

My family doctor suggested that I had an ulcer. After all, I had had ulcers as a kid (pre-treatment with anti-biotics, if that tells you anything), so logically, these new and increased stomach problems were obviously a result of h.pylori.

So my good friend to the right, h.pylori came up a positive in blood work and I went on this massively crazy dose of antibiotics. Problem solved, my doctor smugly said and I was sent along to kill the little buggers living in my stomach.

And kill them I did. This anti-biotic was unbelievably strong, so I am sure nothing much survived in my stomach during this time. But I pushed my doctor, please oh please can't I have allergy testing and a visit to the GI doctor???

She finally agreed, and I went to the allergist who said I had no food allergies (hooray!) and an allergy to dust mites and a mild allergy to pet dander.

But it was the Gastroenterologist that I was most keen to see. I was so excited to talk to a professional about my issues.

The day of my appointment came and I vowed to tell the truth and work to come to some sort of an understanding about my stomach. It's either stress/anxiety or something's wrong and I need to fix it.

The GI doctor was fantastic. Really thorough, feeling my stomach, talking to me about my family history, the problems I have had with my stomach, what things help, etc. Then, he had me lie down and he pressed on my stomach and asked me more questions. When I sat back in the chair he turned to me and said, "Well, I am pretty positive that you have celiac."

Celiac! It was like music to my ears! On the one hand, I do not like the idea of giving up all of my favourites for the rest of my life. No sir, I don't. On the other hand, we were facing the idea of a LEGITIMATE DIAGNOSIS! And that would be a lovely thing.

So he scheduled me for a colonoscopy and GI scope down the road, a whack of blood tests, and said we'd talk in three weeks.

I have researched enough about celiac to know that you can't go gluten-free until you have the blood work done because you need the gluten in your body to show up. Fine. I had the blood work. And then I pondered. My stomach in knots, I ate my way through pizza, scones, french fries, all the while thinking "May be the last time... may be the last time" like some crazy death row inmate trying to have all the faves before the end.

But then it clicked. I am going gluten-free. I am going to try it out. It's going to be hard, but I am going to give it a go. And so I did.

Today is officially day 7 of Gluten-Free Me. No gluten. Not one kernel. And the effect? No headache in three days. THREE DAYS IN A ROW! Stomach is not nearly so gassy and other than a bit of queasiness yesterday, not a worry otherwise.

So what does this mean? I don't know. I am still at least two weeks away from talking to my doctor about the results, and I am going to a dinner Tuesday night that will have gluten but was booked long ago and is with friends, so I am going to give it a try and see what happens, a bit of a gluten trial by fire. It may be that this thing going on with me isn't celiac at all. It may be IBS, though the doctor felt that whatever it is, there is a definite food intolerance involved.

We'll see. Right now, I am rocking the gluten-free cupcakes for my nephews birthday, and trying to stay focused on the goal of feeling better and having a normal stomach. Oh yeah.

Back to food in the next post.

(we interrupt this recap of Vegas to bring you...)

Bello looks so wise. You'd never know he's just plotting how to trip you as you walk into the kitchen.

Not Your Typical Walk in the Park.

It's not every day that weird Alice in Wonderland art in the park is happening around you. But last night, in the throes of downtown Toronto, that's exactly what happened. First, our eyes focused on the man in the Alice boat... and then came Alice.

From there, it was a bunch of madness. People on stilts. Rabbits being thrown in the air. Snow falling all around. But it was really good fun, and made us sufficiently cold to be ready to sit in the warm theater later. Later was 'Michael Clayton'. Really enjoyed it, though it doesn't paint a very flattering picture of lawyers. Or at least some lawyers. I don't suppose I am one of them.

Life keeps going...

I have had every intention of updating this blog... and unfortunately, life has gotten a little out of control. Our older cat, Sasha, has been incredibly sick, and the vet has discovered what appears to be a tumor in her stomach and smething that may be the same in her lung. She's not eating or drinking, but we decided to give her a chance at home, on medicine to shrink the tumor with the hopes that she will start eating and stop throwing up. The doctor says that while she likely has cancer, she's not dying from that, it's from not eating. It's really difficult. There have been many tears, as it looked like on Thursday that we were going to have to have her put to sleep. But she did well over night and the vet on duty said she'd give her the chance to respond and start eating...We're only on day two of her being home, so we are giving it a few days before we make the hard decision, but she's had a tiny bit of food and water today, and only a little vomiting, so if anyone has any ideas, email me or leave a comment.

But because of how sick Sasha is, and how crazy work has been, it's been really difficult to have any time to do anything, let alone update my blog. And, on top of it all, my Mom has been visiting from the States, and what a bad week for her to be here. I am sure she is ready to go home tomorrow since we've made numerous trips to the vet, cried buckets, and tried to sort out what is the most humane and loving thing to do. But it's been great having her here!!!