Weekend fun and fatigue

Living with lupus is just strange sometimes. I wake up and do a body check seeing how I feel from head to toe. Then I get up and move around and see how walking feels. I feel so thankful that I am not in pain. I have gotten out of bed in the past and it feels like little cheese graters are having fun in my hip socket. Other times my head feels to heavy to hold up. Today I'm just very tired (not as tired as Wednesday, but not feeling well enough to do much). Lance is off right now picking up my syringes for my vitamin B12 shots, and I'll have a shot tomorrow morning with my allergy shots. The shots should help me get through the work day. Um...Lance just walked through the door without the shots because the pharmacy is closed. It should be fun meeting with the CIO tomorrow. Awesome.

Today I went with my mom to Queen Mary's Tea House in Seattle. It is a cute little place and the staff were very knowledgeable. I picked out some lime ginger tea with licorice root, peach ginger tea (after seeing this post, I needed a sample of the flavor combo), and some green jasmine. I'm still following a phase one plan, but I like thinking I'm getting a treat, and tea helps (no, I didn't eat the cookies :).

I've decided that vegan is the way I want to go. I just feel better vegan, and I'm pretty sure my body isn't big on having to digest meat anymore. Sometimes though, I will splurge with some cooked veggies just for a change. Phase I has been so restrictive that i get frustrated with my food options and am more tempted to "cheat" if I can't give myself some leeway. I have been baking up a storm - I have always loved food and baking, and it has been very tempting to dig into the food. Instead I made a nice big saffron veggie stir-fry this evening and indulged.

I would really love to find a way to make a career involving my passion for food. My mom said, "I don't understand how you can love baking and creating all of this food and not eat it." Food really doesn't seem to like me back right now, but I'm determined to get to a place where I can at least have more variety. It's hard to be phase I without tomatoes, peppers, and some of the other vegetables. I still really enjoy baking and creating things that don't seem possible vegan without the help of soy, gluten, or corn. It's an outlet for me, and even when I'm really tired, I'll still try to make at least a few new dishes.

My grandparents took me to Champion Grocery Outlet in Issaquah yesterday, and they had some phenomenal prices on gluten free flours. I'm used to paying $4.50 for 24 oz of Brown Rice Flour, and I paid the same amount at Champion for 64 oz. The owners were super nice and I was happy to give them business.

My mom has been over this weekend helping around the house, and it is so nice! I have been able to shuffle around the kitchen while she and Lance take the dogs to the park and they have both been cleaning. I've kind of felt like a need a couple days off and I felt like I got it.

Yesterday I made them Apple Stuffed Crepes with Kreme Cheez Glaze, and this morning they started out the day with Honey Pancakes. I made some thumb-print cookies that "were the best thing I've ever made", an apple crisp, tried a recipe from the Flying Apron cookbook, a stir-fry, and made a yummy pasta dish for lunch. I enjoyed the sauce on sea noddles with some zucchini "noodles" as well.