take me out to the ballgame

Last night David and I went to a Tucson Toros home game at Hi Corbett field. It was $5 for general admission and a gorgeous 80 degree night.

If you're lucky enough to live in the Old Pueblo, I recommend you check out a game. All the games start at 7 pm. What a great place to enjoy the beautiful weather.

gluten-free might be for me

I've had digestive issues for about 3 years now. It started midway through second year of law school - I started to notice lower abdominal cramping every day in the late afternoon. I thought it was related to my feminine parts, so I saw my ob/gyn, who recommended I have an ultrasound. The ultrasound didn't show any ovarian cysts, so I saw my primary care physician and also told him about my cramps as well other, um, digestive trouble I was having. Ok, well I guess I should tell the whole story - I was having a lot of constipation. So my doctor sent me to a GI doctor who recommended that I have a colonoscopy. No way, I thought. So I tried to eat more fiber and yogurt and went on my way. The troubles didn't stop, and last summer while I was studying for the bar I had fresh blood in my stool. I freaked out and thought I had cancer, so I called the GI right away. I went in to see him and scheduled a colonoscopy for early September. I went to Italy in late August with my best friend from law school and had a couple of 24 hour bouts of blood in my stool. One episode was particularly jarring - the toilet literally looked like a murder scene.

The colonoscopy went off without a hitch - everything looked fine. (And if you are ever lucky enough to get a colonoscopy, do your self a favor and buy baby wipes for the day before.) The biopsy, on the other hand, came back with a diagnosis of microscopic colitis. The GI doctor told me there wasn't much I could do to treat it except to treat my symptoms with fiber and yogurt and an anti-spasmodic for bouts of diarrhea.

So, since then, I've been doing my best to get lots of fiber, eat lots of veggies, and treat my symptoms. Unfortunately, the cramping hasn't ever stopped. Neither have the swings between diarrhea and constipation. Sorry, I know this is gross, but if it helps one person out there going through the same thing as me, then the embarrassment is at least for some good.

Cut to recently - I began talking to my friend Carrie about her Celiac's disease diagnosis and how she eats gluten-free. I've done a lot of research and think I might have a gluten allergy. Since yesterday, I've been cutting - trying to eliminate entirely - gluten from my diet. And this sounds silly, but today, I didn't have cramps. 4 pm came and went without any abdominal pain at all. So maybe there's something to this gluten-free thing.

I'm setting up an appointment with a new PCP and will schedule a Celiac's blood test at that appointment. However, I have read that you can have a false negative blood test if you've already cut gluten from your diet, so I'll be asking the new doctor about that. And I'll keep you posted.


Ok, so after all that, here's my gluten-free dinner recipe!

Caramelized Scallops and Sesame Snap Peas


















image from Cooking Light

We made some Rice-a-Roni white and wild rice on the side because we didn't have enough rice noodles for two people. The recipe would be great with quinoa, as well. And the best part was that it took less than 20 minutes. Oh, also, we followed the recipe in the little leading paragraph for the sesame snap peas. Don't forget to string the peas first!

what a wonderful world

Congrats, Mr and Mrs Wallace!

just call me Estelle

I'm feeling a little bit like a 90 year old lady right now. I'm alone, it's 7 pm on Friday night, I've had 1 very tall Tom Collins, and I'm listening to Joni Mitchell and Van Morrison.
Tonight's supposed to be date night, planned by me, but D is working on the Pizza Audit from Hell. He got home after midnight tonight and left before I got up this morning. So my cute tray of hummus and yummies is slowly being fed to the dogs while I get drunk.




On a happier note, I picked up this cute blue-grey ocean-creature-looking-thing from Pier 1 yesterday for $9 and it makes me happy. I like it on David's nightstand with his collection of old man books.
























Bruce approves.

Stan and the sad cake

Have you met Stan?

Stan's my BFF.

He helped me make this delicious lemon cornmeal cake tonight.

Too bad Stan can't talk - otherwise he would have told me to put more Pam on the bundt pan.

Guess I'll be taking in 2/3 of a cake to work tomorrow for my swearing in.

yummy salad

Tonight for dinner we had Chipotle Chicken Taco Salad from Cooking Light. I found it on their website and made it based on its 75 or so positive reviews.


















Image from Cooking Light
We grilled two chicken breasts seasoned with chile powder, garlic powder, salt, and lime zest in lieu of the two cups of chicken in the recipe. We both thought the salad might have been better with about half the can of beans - the whole can was a little too much. Also, the avacado got smooshed in with the dressing, so to save a few calories, you could definitely leave it out.

The salad was delicious. It's something I'll make again and again because of its ease and short list of ingredients.

The recipe claims to serve 4, but for two hungry Kravecs it was plenty for two people for dinner. There was some left over but we were too stuffed to finish the whole bowl.

and another thing...

Things are really good right now. I want to remember all of the wonderful things I have to be thankful for because I catch myself all too often getting lost in the shuffle of day to day living and breathing and working and complaining about how I never get enough sleep.
So, I'm going to try my hardest right now to remember all of the wonderful things I encountered today. Here goes.

My tomato plant has at least 8 beautiful and growing tomatoes, and my basil plants have completely taken off. I am drooling with anticipation for the wonderful caprese salads to come.
My dogs are the cutest and they both smell nice and coconutty after their bath this evening.
I am so lucky to own a home with a pool. I took a nice dip after work to cool off and continued to work with Sunny on her swimming, which mostly consists of her bounding down to the second step, staring at me for a while, and jumping out of the pool.
I had a fantastic dinner and some delicious Arizona wine and enjoyed it all with my cute husband.
Our cleaning lady comes tomorrow for her monthly visit, so my house will be wonderfully clean when I get home from work.
I got to play poker at lunch today with Matt, Amy, and Joe. Lunchtime poker always makes the day a little better.
My new honey calendula lotion smells so good that when I catch a whiff of myself at work, I want to take myself out on a date.
I have the best boss in the whole world.
And great, albeit strange and flawed in their own ways, parents.
And cute little siblings that send me funny pictures of themselves while they're golfing.
And a really cool sister-in-law and the best in-laws I could ask for.
My weekends are full of fun things to do with all of the fantastic friends we've made in Tucson.
The sun shines almost every day here in the desert.
I have a job.

See, like I said. Things are good. :)

Napa and Sonoma 2009

Well, I finally got around to uploading the Napa and Sonoma pictures from our trip.

Here's a link to the facebook album. Ok, here it is.

I am having lunch with a potential job lead tomorrow and I'm very excited. Better get the suit out. My interview with the public defender went alright last week, although I have to say it was an extremely stressful interview.

I am off to do some embroidery. Sounds nice and relaxing.

I'll leave you with a couple of favorites from wine country.

Monday, Monday

Today was a real drag. At lunch I didn't feel good so I laid down on my boss' couch only to wake up 20 minutes later, drooling. Ugh.
I did pull it together this afternoon and manage to make it through more than half of a body pump class at Gold's before I had to leave because I wanted to punch the instructor. She could not have been more annoying and less motivating.
So I went to Sunflower on the way home and picked up a ton of produce for the week. Man their produce is cheap. I got mangoes, pineapple, pears, strawberries, squash, zucchini, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, romaine, spinach, bell peppers, baby carrots... whew. Most of the veggies are for veggie kabobs and for lunch salads. Since the thermometer hit 100 I've been craving fresh veggies and simple meals.

That brings me to my menu:
Tonight - burgers and corn on the cob
Tuesday - grilled shrimp and veggie kabobs
Wednesday - pizza with caramelized onions and prosciutto
Thursday - chipotle chicken taco salad
Friday - headed to a retirement party for Kelly's mom
Saturday - no plan yet. David's best friend from grade school might be coming to visit for the weekend.

Tonight I need to get some serious sleep.

Since I didn't get to go to Lush in Berkeley while we were in the Bay Area, and I am running dangerously low on body wash and lotion, I stopped in to the beauty section of Sunflower and picked up Kiss My Face early to bed body wash, Kiss My Face honey calendula lotion, and Jason cocoa butter lotion (for the nighttime hands and feet and elbows routine). I can't wait to try them all tomorrow! I almost grabbed a new scent of ShiKai lotion since I've been in love with my pomegranate lotion, but Jason's was on sale, and I'm a cheapo. Next time I'm out I might pick up the ShiKai honeysuckle lotion. I can still smell it on my arms from when I tried it in the store. Yum.

Pictures of Napa and Sonoma to come as soon as I get a good night's sleep, promise.

back in the swing of things

I'm back from Napa and Sonoma. Whew! I almost need a vacation from my vacation. And I definitely need a break from the gluttony. 12 pounds in 32 days is laughable at this point. Oh well. Right now I'm craving vegetables, simple foods, exercise, and relaxation. Sounds like a good summer lineup. Once I get an idea of how I'm going to accomplish that, I'll get back to you. For now, it's off to work.