Life's Little Twists and Turns

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Ugh… not feeling so well.  My sensitivity to foods is now way up.  

Last week, I ate some “all natural vegan snack” Veggie Sticks by The Daily Crave… no dairy, no egg, no gluten products.  In fact, the ingredients are really simple: potato flour, safflower oil… and flavored with veggies.  Not bad huh?  Wrong.  I got symptoms of gluten and dairy! 

Checking the Veggie Sticks package, I found this statement “manufactured in a facility that also processes wheat, soy and milk derivatives.”  *deep sigh* I just got glutened and dairied.  Meh.  Who thought that the small particles either on the machinery or in the air are enough to set my body off?  Not me.  Guess this is what people mean when they say “cross-contamination.” 

Grrrr……..  I now need to be super vigilant about anything that even possibly _touches_ one of the many products I’m sensitive to.

How sensitive?  Think of those wooden spoons or chopsticks at home.  If you’ve used it to touch or eat a product such as soy sauce (yes, most soy sauce and many Asian sauces have wheat), the gluten in the product can remain in the pores of the wood.  If I eat anything cooked with that wooden spoon or eat with that chopstick, I’m likely to get sick.  

What products am I reactive to?  Well, the list is even longer now.  I’m sensitive to chicken (yes, I did say chicken and probably duck too), chicken/duck egg, alcohol, gluten (not just wheat… this includes barley, rye and some other grains), dairy (not just the usual lactose), cantaloupe, avocado, banana (who knows what other fruits *sniffle*), anything spicy… and then even heavy use of garlic or onions cause me to feel severely bloated.

Thank you, God, that there are many cabinet spices I can use to cook with!  Thank you, Father God, that I can still eat beef, pork, fish, salt/pepper.  Father, thank you so very much that I can still use gluten-free soy sauce, one without alcohol in it, and gluten-free oyster sauce for flavoring my foods.  Yay!!!

Sun’s long gone.  Noel’s already asleep in bed and snoring.  Me?  I’m wandering around the room.  What time is it?  Oh, it’s already Tuesday… way past midnight.  Why am I still up?  Well, back to the food sensitivity issue, I don’t know what I’m eating that’s affecting my body now… but I’m reacting to _something_ I ate.  Frequent runs to the toilet aren’t exactly what I’d call restful.  I’m going to stay up until my body calms down.

Huddling in a small patch or light, I’m surrounded by darkness.  Kneeling on the carpet, I grasp a tool in each hand.  Twist. Tap.  Squeeze.  I’m shaping some more earrings, practicing my technique with forming wire shapes.  Done! 

Now what?

Scratch.  Scratch.  My pen flies over paper.  Hearts, flowers, leaves… I’m sketching and designing ideas for new earring pieces.  What sketches?  I though you just made the earrings by playing around.  Yeah, I do… but my intention is to create earrings, necklaces and bracelets never seen before.  I want to play with chemicals to anodize silver.  Use fire to solder silver and even melt silver into new shapes!  *drool* I want to create jewelry that cannot be easily replicated at a glance.  I want to design my own niche market of specialty jewelry.  I want jewelry no one can easily make.  I want to create jewelry I can proudly wear.  I want to learn and practice new skills.  I want to have fun!

Enough.  I can go on for forever about the “I wants.”  What time is it?  Yikes!  It’s that late?  Click.  The light’s off.  Arms in front, I carefully creep to the bed.  Lying down, I pull the blankets over me.  Pause.  Well, at least I’m _trying_ to pull the blankets over my body.  Tug.  Pull.  The top comforter’s not moving.  Grrr……. Noel must’ve tucked and rolled the comforters under his body.  He’s happily snoring and I’m not happy.  It’s cold!  Scooting my body closer to Noel’s warmth, I carefully lay the available corner of the comforter over my body.  Curling my body into a ball, I tuck my pillows and stuff toys to keep out the cold.  I don’t want to wake Noel.  Noel’s got work and I don’t. 

Father God, thank you for this life.  Thank you for so many ideas to keep me occupied.  Thank you for the lack of boredom while being stuck at home.  Thank you for allowing me to find a potential niche market in jewelry that is fully unique, fun and requires lots of new hand-on skills. 

God, I don’t know if I’ll be able to execute my ideas, but I do know that you’ve blessed me with the ability to work with my hands and a mind that likes to creatively analyze situations.  I _think_ I’ll be able to produce the ideas I have in my head… after all, most, well actually all, of my projects started as concepts in my head.  I tell myself “I can do this” and then go for it.  Father… I don’t seem to know the words “I can’t.”  I get these crazy big ideas… and then I want to make the ideas reality.

Lord, I know I make a lot of mistakes along the way, but I thank you for so many opportunities to try new things.  Working on cars, crazy backyard projects, kitchen floors and cabinets, doors and now jewelry… Lord God, thank you for blessing me with lots of tools to play with!  Thank you that I have eyes that can see and hands that still work.  Thank you that even as my body is so much weaker from the chemotherapy, I can still do so much!

Lord, may my life, my hands, my heart bring you glory and honor and praise.  May all the work I do be a reflection of the joy I have walking with you.

Thank you, Father God, for this life, for my husband, Noel, for my family, for my friends.  For being so richly blessed, in Jesus’ name, I praise my Father in heaven.  Amen.

Noel sleeping... see the time?

Happy birthday, Joan!

These are the earrings I recently made: