The pack is a little bigger
I had a lovely weekend with my niece. We swam, watched many hours of Doctor Who, discussed iPad games and middle school, and ate amazing food. Well, she loyally tasted asparagus, artichoke and fennel, all for the first time as far as she knew, but her amazing food was mostly the bag of Ruffles and Dean’s French Onion Dip and Dr. Pepper that I bought for her. My amazing food was pretty impressive, though.
When I brought her home, her mom was feeling overwhelmed by the visiting dog. My dad is in Italy, so K was taking care of Gizmo, his dog, for two weeks, but she’s got chronic back issues and can’t walk very far. Gizmo was being disobliging. I said, eh, let me take him. And so now I have Gizmo visiting for ten days.
I admit, on the way home, I had some qualms. I’m not solely responsible for Macie–she doesn’t belong to me–but she spends a lot of time with us. I’ll walk her with my dogs if she’s around when we’re going out and wants to come with us (which she ALWAYS does) and walking three dogs is a challenge. And I’ve pretty much got the three of them organized when it comes to food and treats–they line up in a row and nobody gets anything until they’re all in place–but Gizmo would be new to the routine, of course. Basically, three dogs felt chaotic for a long time, but we’ve got it all down to a smooth routine now and it works well. Would throwing Giz into the mix throw it all off?
Answer: not so much. He adapted immediately and is being really good. I suspect, in retrospect, it’s like kids. Once you’re outnumbered, you’re outnumbered and adding more to the mix just ups the noise and activity level, but not the challenge.
As for food, I’m on day 13 of the auto-immune protocol (henceforth to be referred to as AIP). The astonishing thing about it is probably how well I’m eating. For breakfast this morning, I had coconut-crusted chicken with mango sauce and red onions on a bed of spring greens. Sunday night was chicken baked with artichokes, olives, and lemons, with sides of sweet potato fries and roasted fennel. Last night, cauliflower fried ‘rice’ with carrots, zucchini, Brussels sprouts, and bacon. Basically, every meal feels like it could be on the menu at a fancy restaurant. Health effects–mixed, so far, I think. I definitely have a lot more focused energy, but it’s definitely not a miracle cure for all that ails me. That said, at this point, I’m more likely to go much harder-core and start eating organ meats and fermented foods then to give up. I feel like there’s this horizon of health that I can reach if I just keep trying and that I’m a place where trying is worth it. I’ll see, I guess. But I managed not to eat C’s potato chips–not even one–so I’m feeling optimistic about lasting the 30 days and making long-term diet changes, too.
And now–time to write book words. The idea are flowing, so maybe the words will start flowing, too!
*I know, it’s a pack of dogs, really. But three of them are little and the way they follow me around reminds me of baby ducklings more than wolves. I like my little flock.
In your case ‘a bed of dogs’ seems more appropriate than a pack or a flock. Glad your diet is going well. Are you spending a lot of time prepping / cooking / baking?
I’m cooking meals that will have plentiful leftovers, so that I can eat the same thing repeatedly. It would be impossible without that, I think. But otherwise, it’s mostly that I cook one serious meal in the evening and then reheat things. And, of course, I have to be more organized about grocery shopping, because my staple ingredients have changed a bit. It’s certainly more work than relying on things like rotisserie chickens and frozen stuff, but I haven’t been doing much of that sort of thing anyway. And eating out is basically impossible, but I can’t afford that anyway, so no loss!