Gluten Free Update - Day 66

I'm still hanging in there. It's kind of hard because we have to make meals much differently now.

• Meijer is a good place to shop for GF (Gluten Free) mixes.
• Kroger has Udi's GF bread products. I've purchased GF hamburger buns, GF hot dog buns, GF bagels, and GF loaves of bread there. They're not just in with the breads or in with the GF stuff in the natural foods section. They are on a small display case set up near both sections, though. You have to really look for it.
• Whole Foods has GF products, as well. I just don't get there often, plus they can be a bit pricey.

If you've gone GF, you probably know that while GF foods are not everywhere, they are getting much easier to find. It seems most groceries carry at least some GF food items.

I must admit that I have yet to find GF cookies or GF crackers that taste like anything other than yuck. If you're aware of any, please let me know!!

Review: Pirates Bay Water Park in KY

 Right after Christmas, we had the privilege of staying at the Pirates Bay Indoor Water Park in Shepherdsville, Kentucky - just south of Louisville. Everyone had a great time, even Noah, who is not a big water person.

Noah preferred the very shallow water or the "shore".

 The room we stayed in was actually big enough for all of us - I didn't even know such rooms existed. Normally when our family stays in a hotel, we wind up having to get two adjoining rooms. We wound up with a second room simply because my mother came along with us. With her current health situation, I'm not sure how much longer she will be with us and I wanted to include her in our little vacation. I am so grateful that Pirates Bay was willing to assist me in that.

Our rooms were right next to each other. Both rooms had windows overlooking the water park. Our room had two queen beds in the main room and two twin beds in an almost separate room. The kids were super excited because, not only did the main room overlook the water park, but so did theirs.

Jon, just off the water slide

Ceiil Fey on the water slide

I highly recommend Pirates Bay Water Park. They truly have something for everyone. They have two small slides for the really little ones, two large slides for the bigger kids and adults, and one kind of in between. The water ranges from the very shallow to about 4 feet.

Ceili Fey had such a good time - I don't think she had ever been on water slides before. After the first time, she wouldn't stop. I got so few pictures of her because it seemed she spent the whole time on the water slides. LOL

Pirates Bay has such a neat setup. They have a section that is made to look like a ship, complete with "cannons" shooting water out of the sides. Very cute!

Everyone enjoyed our stay.We would definitely go back. In fact, I hope to.

Guest Post: Top 10 Workout Songs

The Top 10 Workout Songs For Winter 2012

San Francisco, CA – Jan 11, 2012 – Traditionally, winter is the time of year when folks find it hardest to get out and exercise.  In the hopes of keeping folks motivated, readers from Run Hundred--the web's most heavily-trafficked site for workout music--were  polled regarding their favorite, current workout songs.  The resulting top 10 list has a little of what you'd expect—and a little you might not.  Flo Rida, who's no stranger to this list, shows up in two recent tracks.  Enrique Iglesias continues his transition from balladeer to club rocker.  And Kelly Clarkson, after faltering with the first single off her new album, bounced back ferociously with the second.

As for surprises, they're mostly entries from folks relatively new on the dance scene.  Highlights include songs from Tim Berg (who remixed his own track under his Avicii moniker), Skrillex (whose collaboration with Kaskade is the first dubstep track ever the make the Top 10), and Wolfgang Gartner (who's made the chart with a little help from the Black Eyed Peas' Will.I.Am).

Here's the full list: 

Tim Berg - Seek Bromance (Avicii Vocal Edit) - 127 BPM
Katy Perry - The One That Got Away - 135 BPM

Alexandra Stan - Mr. Saxobeat (Maan Studio Remix) - 126 BPM
Flo Rida - Good Feeling - 129 BPM

Wolfgang Gartner & Will.I.Am - Forever - 128 BPM
Hot Chelle Rae - Tonight Tonight (Goldstein Remix) - 118 BPM
Taio Cruz & Flo Rida - Hangover - 129 BPM
Enrique Iglesias, Pitbull & The WAV.s - I Like How It Feels - 129 BPM
Kaskade & Skrillex - Lick It - 128 BPM
Kelly Clarkson - What Doesn't Kill You (Stronger) - 117 BPM

To find more songs--and hear next month's contenders—folks can check out Run Hundred's database of workout songs. Visitors can browse the song selections there by genre, tempo, and era—to find the music that best fits with their particular workout routine.

Chris Lawhorn
Run Hundred
http://www.RunHundred.com

Wanting to learn more about midwives?

Now's your chance.

Here's something you may or may not know: Midwives can also do Well Woman Exams, they're not just for birth and pregnancy-related issues.

Many of you know that our youngest was born at home January 2011 and was caught by Holly Hopkins, CNM (Certified Nurse Midwife) at Believe Midwifery Services. Things actually happened too quickly for Penny Lane, CNM to get there or we would have been attended by both midwives - that seems to be  the norm at the practice.

For any of you who are interested in learning more about midwives and just what they do consider coming to what they call an Interview Session. Yes, you're basically interviewing them.

Believe Midwifery offers one-hour, group interview sessions once each week as an opportunity for potential clients to meet with the midwives and discern if the practice would be a good fit for their maternity and/or health-care needs.

•    Thursday        January 26 – 10:00am        118 W Main St, Thorntown, IN 46071
•    Thursday         February 2 – 3:30pm        9322 East 100 South, Lafayette, IN 47905
•    Wednesday     February 8 – 1:00pm        118 W Main St, Thorntown, IN 46071
•    Monday        February 13 – 6:30pm        118 W Main St, Thorntown, IN 46071
•    Monday        February 20 – 6:00pm        9322 East 100 South, Lafayette, IN 47905

•    Thursday        March 8 – 1:30pm        9322 East 100 South, Lafayette, IN 47905
•    Wednesday        March 14 – 2:00pm        118 W Main St, Thorntown, IN 46071
•    Thursday        March 22 – 3:30pm        118 W Main St, Thorntown, IN 46071
•    Monday        March 26 – 6:30pm        118 W Main St, Thorntown, IN 46071

If you're interested, RSVP to 765-436-7527 or e-mail gretchen@believemidwiferyservices.com.

If you have any questions about midwives and what they do, I will answer to the best of my abilities although, feel free to email - or call - Gretchen.



Please note: I'm receiving no monetary - or other - compensation for this. Midwives are something that I very much believe in and love to share my wonderful experiences with them with as many others as I can. When I learned about these upcoming Interview Sessions I felt as though I had to share.

Gluten free day 43

Wow. I can't believe I've done this for 43 days now!! It's somewhat difficult. Either everyone has to eat GF (gluten-free) meals or we have to make a separate, GF version for me. It's not too bad but there are a lot of things I really, really miss.

So far, I've found that:

• Betty Crocker GF brownies aren't too bad. 
• GF crackers really stink 
• Some people actually think that whole wheat doesn't contain gluten 
• GF bread is very... different. And small. 
• Quite a few restaurants actually have menus or meals that are GF, but you still have to frequently double check everything with the waiter/waitress because, hey, they don't know unless you tell them 
• Chocolate is naturally GF

 It's a learning experience, that's for sure.

Gluten Free Day 35

Just wanted to say that, so far, GF crackers kinda suck. I haven't been very impressed with them. I miss crackers. We had cheese and wine on New Years Eve. Very yummy although I won't lie, crackers would have been awesome. Oh, well. I'm still managing.

Gluten Free Day 30

We came home from Kentucky today but not before stopping at Martini's Italian Bistro in Louisville because, again, they have GF options. Yay!! I had spaghetti and meatballs. The "spaghetti" wasn't true spaghetti but it was still pasta - with meatballs! Awesome.

Gluten Free Day 29

For supper tonight we went to a place called BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse in Louisville, Kentucky due to their GF (gluten free) menu.

To say the service was slow would be an understatement. It would also be very nice because service was just plain bad. My mother ordered grilled cheese off the kid's menu - she didn't see senior menu options or they didn't have any, not sure - along with a baked potato. When our food (finally!) arrived, hers was cold. She thought about having them redo it but was concerned that with the length of time it took to get our food, everyone else would be done before hers even arrived so she declined.

Our waiter screwed Ceili Fey's side up and then insisted that it was what she asked for - I was sitting right next to her and knew it wasn't - although he did have the correct side brought out. Elias and Noah didn't care for their grilled cheese at all. I cannot help but wonder if it wasn't because they were cold.

Jon's burger was alright, but not overly warm. 

My GF pizza was very good.

Unfortunately, everyone else's meals were mediocre at best. Based on that, we'll never go back which is a shame because there's a good chance that we will return to Pirate's Bay Indoor Water Park there in nearby Shepherdsville and it would have been nice to have a good GF go-to place.

Gluten Free Day 28

Going GF for Christmas wasn't too awful.

When we went to Jon's parents for Christmas (Eve), almost everything there was safe for me to eat.

For our Christmas Day meal, Jon did make two separate macaroni and cheeses, one "regular" and one GF. The GF used corn noodles which, funnily enough, we came across at very good prices while wondering through a Big Lots, of all places.

We also learned over the last few weeks that Arni's - all of them, from what I've been able to ascertain - has a GF crust so I can still enjoy their pizza. Yay!!

Tonight we are in Kentucky on a trip that we planned to an indoor waterpark. We've done a bit of research and found that Louisville has several GF choices. We'll have to explore them.

Christmas sucked

Today was the worst Christmas ever. We got into fight after fight - or, maybe it was really just one big long fight with breaks in between, I don't know.

At one point, I threw open our pantry door - the same way I always do - only, this time, my three year old was running through at the same time and I got him under the eye with the door handle.

Next, he is yelling about getting everything cleared off the island. I was working on that. I went to slide our small wine rack over a bit only to lose a couple bottles on the floor, one of which shattered into a million pieces. He then proceeds to scream that I'm a stupid fucking bitch and something I didn't quite catch that sounded like how I'm the most stupid person he's ever met.

When my mom arrived shortly afterward, he proceeded to tell her how I had purposely done all this stuff - which I immediately corrected him - and we got into it again. She had enough and left. I did finally convince her to come back but it wasn't easy.

Yeah, I know I'm not all that sharp. Honestly, ever since my car wreck where I got whipped around and knocked out when I was pregnant with my oldest, I have never been quite the same. I'm not trying to say that I was a rocket scientist or something before, but I was considerably smarter then. I never slurred my words. I enunciated beautifully. I wasn't nearly as forgetful about things. But I can't go back and redo it, yanno? So, this is me. And I just live with it. Why can't he?