A Saturday

Iron loading! The second set of blood tests were a mixed bag. Some normal, but some results the same. Apparently I have iron deficiency anemia. This week I ate iron rich foods, and also fretted. I read somewhere that alcohol can inhibit iron absorption, so I'm on the wagon at the mo'. And that Vitamin C assists in iron absorption, so I bought a bag of Cara Caras. And dried apricots and prunes. My favorite cereal (plain old Cheerios) with whole milk goes a huge way toward my daily allowance of iron. And finally, after I pressed for it, they prescribed iron pills. I also have to do a fecal kit this week. Gross! At the end of this week I am meeting with my gyno to see what they were able to determine about my innards. Then we go to Hawaii.

Saturday was great. Last week's magnificent lasagne went away happily, and chili is about the most iron-rich thing you can make (two kinds of protein from meat and beans, plus Vitamin C from tomato sauce). Yes, I know it isn't really a traditional chili, but it's delicious -- and shut up. Traditional guy family chili, augmented by "cheese Stonehenge". Ahhhh.

While buying my ingrediments for the chili, I stopped off at the pet food store. My cat grass crop is so sad that I've had to ration it, and boy kitten loves it so. This is what he looks like after he has had his fill of grass. Soooo happy.

We watched lots of Trevor Noah on Saturday, finishing the interview with John Oliver. Then on to the one with John Stewart. During one of the segments two owls began a conversation outside. So good. Then we started imitating them. Boy kitten was going nuts, in his usual mayor position on the window sill, with the window open. After a few tries on my part the owls began responding to me. 

I'm not sure what we were talking about, but it was a delight.

Getting Closer

I made a pie.

We are fully vaxxed.

I can enter my mom's apartment (but we can't remove our masks).

Some folks might be able to return to the factory after the 4th of July.

I like staying in my house and working from home, and am not invited to work in the factory any time soon anyway.

But I am seriously considering going to the deli and getting that sandwich I like. I've dreamed of it for over a year.

Dinner With Fambly

I feel like this week I've been making up for months of being homebound or mama tasking. The estate sale, the game, the rock show, and then I did this with the neph. We do a monthly confab, which is one of the high points of the month:

On this outing's menu was strawberry cider and a vichyssoise (using coconut instead of dairy) and some onion rings and some brussels sprouts that I should have read the fine print on (shaved, not whole). Not the best choice. I hope that his innards were not as discombobulated as mine the next day. Maybe my podiatrist was right!

Adventures In Podiatry

This week I went to see mrguy play a few songs with his college friend. The club was filled with people my age and older. I took this photo out of jealousy because the guy on the right, who is over 60, is still wearing his Chucks. Not fair. I gave mine up this year and have moved to a post-Chucks world because my toes are killing me.

After I got fitted for my orthotics last year I tried to wear them on our trip to Germany. Not successful. Worked around my foot problems by changing up my choices frequently. Until a month ago when I couldn't ignore the foot thing. So I went to our podiatrist.

She x-rayed my left foot (because between making the appointment and having the appointment I had fallen off my new platform clogs and hurt that foot). When she came to the exam room she asked me if I had irritable bowel syndrome, which is about the last thing you expect your foot doctor to ask. I told her I was good in that regard.

And that's when she sent me to the herbalist. So now I am on a dietary restriction: no corn, dairy or soy, and I'm not allowed to have my laptop on my lap. Between that, fenugreek, calcium, seaweed a an anti-radiation potion, new shoes with stiff forefronts, these weird jelly toe separators and my insoles, I can walk again. Not sure what I do about the bone loss in my toes, but let's get the pain reduction thing going and then we'll deal with the rest.

By the way, I'm going to a wedding today and if there is the right kind of dairy at the reception I am definitely going off the wagon. There will not be soy.