Sunday, December 11, 2011

a bit more

than I bargained for frankly.

This weekend was going to be busy
but it was made all the more
complicated
by a wee bit of an allergic reaction
to my breakfast on Saturday.

I am wheat intolerant
which means if I can, I eat gluten free food.
I can tolerate a certain amount of wheaten food.
It affects me by making me super sleepy
and different types of gluten or wheat
will cramp different muscles.
I particularly hate the lower back cramps.
They bite with a wicked kick.

Anyway a while ago I bought
buckwheat gluten free pancake mix.
It's a treat that I love.
Pancakes with lemon and golden syrup,
lovely and hot and melting.

On Saturday I cooked me up a batch
of buckwheat pancakes, like I have before.
Within minutes of tucking in
I was swelling up,
my eyes and then my neck started,
my hands and feet started getting itchy,
my face started to go numb.
My throat started getting tight.
I've never had this happen before.

I grabbed cold and flu medicine
knowing they were anti-histamines.
Gobbled that down and started scratching.
Mags came to the rescue with a bowl of water
to stop the itching and
then went off to get some real anti-histamines.
Then came the hives,
all across my chest but thankfully
I was too busy scratching
my itchy palms and soles.

She got back and I gobbled down another pill.
And relaxed a little.
The funny thing?
I was determined to read the newspaper.
I read the whole time cause when I stopped reading
I panicked.
Not much but enough that I worried
I'd hyperventilate and make things worse.
Head back and deep breathing.
My neck was red and covered in hives,
my throat was swollen.
Deep, slow breathes was all I could do.
That and read.

The medicine made me sleepy
even though it was non-drowsy.
I finally slept.
When I woke up I was much better,
shaky but better and still a little itchy.

I pondered why I would react to a food I'd eaten before.
I think it was that I had too much going on.
My body and mind were stressed and weakened.
Something that would not normally effect me
did because I hadn't looked after me.

I needed sleep, I needed rest
but there were things to do.
A Church talk that was to be filmed for BYU TV.
Not audio just images for back ground filler film.
But my talk, on the ordinances of the sacrament
needed to include stories of the earthquakes.
That's not easy talk about let alone
find the link between the two topics.

So this morning I woke up early to write my talk
and it flowed nicely.
I talked about the sacredness of partaking of the sacrament,
of the privilege and honour it is to be allowed to partake.
Not allowed as in a person gives you permission,
more that there is a sacrament at all
and that it commemorates the sacrifice that Christ made for us all.

Plus I had a BBQ for families who live near me.
We seldom are invited to things like pot-lucks
held by those in town
so I decided to invite the country folk to mine.

This isn't problem it's just a few people
bringing their own meat and a salad to share.
Enough for everyone but not too much to make alone.
I supplied a yummy potato, bacon and red pepper salad
and desert.
Well Mags made a cheesecake
and then she threw a tantrum and refused to some to dinner.
Apparently she refused to join us
because I wouldn't tell her what was going on,
who was coming,
what was to be eaten.
The reason for that was because
who the heck knew who was coming
and what they were bringing.
That's what all the fun is.

Good night was had with the Everndens
and Bee and her daughter.
We ate BBQ and salads,
cheesecake and ice cream
and watched the First Presidency's Christmas message.
A perfectly pleasant Sabbath evening.

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