Placeholder, Menu, and a Mini Catch-Up

I have such a story to tell you guys- I spent an incredible week in NYC-- eating amazing food, restoring my soul in a city I love, working out every morning because I'm a whole new version of my former self, walking for miles to clear my head and then working until I dropped each night... James killed it at home, in his calm competent way just as he always does, and I got home late Friday night to happy kids, a clean house, laundered clothes, and so much love in my heart.

And then I was struck by what seemed to be allergies. I had allergy testing lined up on Monday and had to stop taking my antihistamines last Wednesday. My body was in full seasonal allergy overload by Saturday- runny nose, congestion, coughing, general yuckiness. I rallied to teach my barre class on Sunday- my first full ("full" is 6 people right now) class and it was so wonderful, and then I basiclly crashed. I made it to my allergy appointment, got a full environmental panel of back scratch testing and after waiting my 25 minutes so excited for answers, I had ZERO reaction to anything! The doctor was surprised and recommended the subdermal testing where the allergen is injected just under the skin. So I did 29 of those and waited another 30 minutes. And nothing. Nothing at all.

So I have non-allerghic allergies. Not actually triggered by allergens, they're triggered by my environment- dust, barometric pressure changes, temperature changes, etc. They mimic allergies, and your body releases histamines in reaction to them, so the antihistamines DO help (clearly because I was dying without them) but you can't isolate what to avoid and you can't do a course of allergy shots to treat them. I got a new drug regimine to help get my overreactive immune system back under control and come back in a week for a course of food allergy testing to potentially figure out some of my eczema triggers. I lived so long without any allergies or sensitivies, and now I'm constantly battling eczema patches, sinus pressure and pain, a very strong reaction to any adhesive or latex, and a tongue that swells if I have too much fruit, candy, or use any toothpaste with SLS in it (which is basically all of them, except this prescription kind my dentist sells). My late 30's have been interesting.

So I'm glad I've enlisted an allergy doctor to try get on top of it, but going off the meds for testing was ROUGH. And unfortunately, combined with my last few weeks of non-stop working and very little sleep in New York my body pretty much just quit on me. Despite being back on my antihistamines and other meds I was not feeling better Monday night, was decidedly worse Tuesday, and REALLY bad today. Pale, shaky, so full of pressure I could barely move my head. I went to urgent care and got a steroid shot and promptly passed out for nearly 5 hours. I never sleep during the day and it completely freaked out James who came to take my temperature at least twice while I was out according to my weird and vague dreams. I popped a fever, broke a fever, woke up all wet, moved to the couch and did it all again. Meanwhile my inbox is overflowing and I'm just completely leaving my team to do everything. It sucks. I'm hoping I can at least sit up and review emails tomorrow.

So my NY stories and pictures will be in the next post and for now you get our menu, because I need to be able to refer to it, and the few pictures I've taken while awake and functional over the last five days. Like this one from Saturday morning when Landon got his first Pfizer Covid shot!! Looking forward to the day I can bring the girls, but super excited to have 3/5 of the family protected! (Or almost protected, Landon has his second one in 2.5 more weeks.)

And when Milo stole Moose's favorite spot. Milo outweights him by 1.5x so Moose's not-so-subtle nudging had no effect whatsoever.

So Moose stole Maggie's bed. Nevermind that it has a lockable door he could be trapped in and smells like bulldog. Had to be done.

The girls are fundraising for their sweet elementary school- still can't believe this is Claire's last few weeks there!

And Landon brought home his football pictures and they were so adorable if I hadn't already been breaking a fever, I would have melted anyway.

My tiny law school baby!

Maggie has been by my side every step of the way, executing flawless narrow sit maneuvers and providing deskside legal support and bedside nursing.

Ad now, food. James has been doing much of the cooking, but I help where I can until he grows alarmed by my coloring and orders me back to the couch. They've all been great!

Menu for 5/16-5/30:
Sun: Minestrone Soup (crock pot version; sub 1 cup farro for the bulgur, add a little more water as needed. So good.)
Mon: Chicken Schwarma Bowls (chicken pieces broiled in oven) with Orzo, Tzatziki, Tomato, Cucumber, Kalamatas, and Pita. (Love this recipe! We need to do simple bowls like this more often.)
Tues: Turkey Taco Salad, Mexican rice, chips. (Kids loved it.)
Wed: Pineapple Pork with Coconut Rice, added Broccoli. (My new fave super fast meal; the pork tenderloin cooks so fast and tender and the pineapple is a great pop of freshness.)
Thurs: Chicken Enchiladas Verde (shredded chicken rolled into tortillas, topped with canned green enchilada sauce and shredded monterrey jack cheese, baked at 375 until bubbly and delicious), black beans.
Fri: Honey Mustard Chicken Chopped Salad
Sat: Chicken Meatballs with Peppers and Orzo, side salad.

Sun: Oven Jambalaya, Cheddar Drop Biscuits
Mon: Sunday Chili (cooked on Sunday, simmered in the crockpot on Monday), chips
Tues: Crunchy beef tacos, refried beans, rice, all the toppings.
Wed: Crispy fish (panko crusted cod from Costco), rice pilaf, frozen mixed vegetables.
Thurs: Roasted Sausage and Vegetables (I usually do small potatoes, broccoli, carrot, cauliflower, and green beans with smoked turkey sausage), brown rice.
Fri: Spaghetti with Veggie Meat Sauce, bread.
Sat: Creamy Vegetable Orzo with Rotisserie Chicken
Sun: Homemade Pizza to welcome my parents to Fort Worth on this last stop of their big National Park road trip! They've been to Grand Tetons and Glacier and are currently in their camper outside North Cascades where it is snowing like crazy! Leaning towards Chicago-style, but I'll let the pick.