snow, wheat and the seven days of the week

Sunday there was pasta and all its gluteny goodness.
Monday there were soba noodles with wheat in them and pasta at lunch.
Tuesday. Hmm. I thought I should retest wheat. So I did on Tuesday and Wednesday and without going into the details of my digestive system I can tell you that something was up. I suspected wheat sensitivity. All that time I though it was soy and I am completely fine eating soy now. I guess this proves that self-diagnosis is not a good thing.

Thursday I briefly saw my ND and she confirmed what I suspected. Wheat cannot be a close friend anymore. I'll keep it as an acquaintance, but we won't be hanging out on a daily basis.

Thursday night I went out with some friends to a pub where I could eat one thing on the menu. Guesses? Yes, the veggie burger. I flashbacked to my days living in Victoria when we'd go out after work to the pub and I'd order the veggie burger because it was all I could eat. That night though not only was I the only one sipping Perrier at the table, but I was faced with the veggie burger on an enriched wheat bun. Way to start my new non-wheaty days. Not a big deal really. I had a good time and the fries were really good and the pub is in a fantastic location. It's right where the Pitt River meets the Fraser and the view is incredible. I hope we go back there again in the warm weather just to sit out on the patio and watch the rivers. I'm told you can sometimes see seals come up river this far.

Friday I was in the process of reintroducing corn so db made burritos and I made more of the Mexican Millet from Veganomicon (honestly I'm not getting paid for mentioning this book as much as I am).

Saturday night db and I made pizza together. I made a rice flour based crust while he made his regular wheat crust. It was fun making our own pizzas together. We prepped everything just before 8 pm and then we powered everything down and lit a couple of candles to join in on Earth Hour. That cats were a little confused with the darkness and thought maybe they should start settling in for the night. Just after 9 pm we left the candles going and just put enough light on in the kitchen to assemble our pizzas and bake them. It was delicious.

This morning I made pancakes from what else? Veganomicon! I made the Blueberry Corn pancakes and substituted all-purpose flour with Buckwheat flour. Despite its name buckwheat is not wheat; there is no gluten in it. Buckwheat does seem to make pancakes quite fluffy so these puffed up very nicely and we had mixed berries in them.

I'm also reintroducing sugar into my diet today to see if I react to it. So it's the first time I've had maple syrup in a while. There was very little affect really.


db thought it'd be a good idea to show how he stacks his pancakes and how well these puppies actually stack.

Finally, here's a little footage of what I woke up to Friday morning when I was contemplating going out for run. It only lasted about an hour, but it was a shocker nonetheless. Incidentally, I did go out for my run.

The bottom video was trying to show the tulips close-up being beaten down by the snow, but the tulips are doing fine and the snow didn't last long.

More Snow

Wow, Sunday's snowfall has got nothing on today's! I think I'm walking to work so I'd better get going.

News from Whoville

We got a significant amount of snow again while I heard in the city they got very little to none. db took this picture in the morning from our front window. It snowed the rest of the day.
The snow is so beautiful here. I know it causes a lot of grief for people trying to get around, but I love the fact that snow removal is almost non-existent here in Whoville so everything stays very white and fluffy looking for several days. We're supposed to get more snow overnight!

This past Wednesday db and I went to a Blues game! St. Louis was in town playing those Canucks. Why the Brian Sutter card image? Because I wore a vintage jersey from db's collection with Sutter's number and name on it. It fit quite well. Jersey's were made quite differently then (late 70s/early 80s -- I'm not sure when db acquired this jersey).

I felt a little weird wearing a sports jersey to an event like some sort of conformity had occurred. Yet part of me was so excited about seeing the Blues I didn't really give it too much thought. However, I almost changed my mind when I was hurrying around getting ready to go and meet db. I slipped on my sneakers without lacing them and had just finished drying my hair so it was frizzy and wild looking before I tamed it with some Neal's Yard and I caught myself in the mirror and was completely distressed at the image and said to myself, "I look like a hockey chick!" I actually looked like Garth from Wayne's World. I almost changed. Lacing my sneakers and taming my hair into braids certainly helped shake the Garth look.

Once at GM Place I was aware of keeping the big "reveal" hidden until we were in our seats. People were pretty funny in their reactions. We got a lot of laughs and sympathy when things didn't go our way. It was fun.

Both national anthems were sung. Usually I don't sing the national anthem mostly because I'm shy, but the chance for such a large group sing was pretty cool and I eventually sang a little. I'd like to learn the French version for next time I think. I guess only in Montreal they sing the anthem in French or both official languages.

The game itself was very exciting. We were in the upper levels behind the goal. The seats were great because it really is a great vantage point to watch a game. Professional hockey is unbelievably fast when you see it live and I loved being able to see the whole surface and all the line changes and interactions. I was impressed. The game ended in a shootout and we lost. Sigh. St. Louis was also robbed of a goal when they had scored and the ref blew the whistle while the puck was still in play. The people sitting around us were sympathetic when we all saw the replay on the big screen. Ah well, c'est la vie.

We're going again in March when St. Louis is back in town. I can't wait!

Christmas (cat themed) photos

Some people say that Christmas is for the kids, but here in whoville it is for the cats.

We had a little snow Christmas day. db and I went for a walk around dusk and headed further up the hill so we'd have a little more snow. The higher elevation makes just a little difference and up higher the snow was less slushy. We have several cat decorations on the tree. I like this one in particular because Gigi has a very similar basket that she sleeps in.

Svetlana marked the top of the tree. We've done this in the past, but this year it seemed all the more appropriate that she should be with us at Christmas in this way.
Prima amongst the snowflake garland.
Gigi attacks the snowflake garland. She's been doing this since I pulled it out of the box. I picked her up and she brought the garland with her, continuing her attack.

I taped the Newcastle/Derby game. Gigi watched some of it with me.
Then she got involved in the game.