Just to clarify on my previous post:

The issue is not that there's not food I can eat. There are great recipes out there on lots of sites, there are lots of GF-friendly restaurants in Atlanta, and there all sorts of forums with suggestions on delicious gluten-free food. Once I've had the chance to have lengthy conversations - in person - with the local restaurants, I'll know what I can order from them.

But today was one of those days when I didn't want to have to worry about it - I just wanted to get some food that I could eat at my desk, where I'm still in my PJs while I work and listen to the rain. It's the loss of the ability to be able to mindlessly order something when you just have a craving. I usually eat pretty healthy, but I do enjoy my occasional cheeseburger, or pizza, or whatever - and I love to cook but sometimes I just want someone to ring the doorbell and hand me a hot meal. Today was one of those times.

Oh well. Nuked some leftovers from last night's dinner.

*sigh*
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The gluten-free diet has been easy enough for the two weeks that I've been following it. But today it's pissing me off, because I want something hearty for lunch, I don't have it in the house, and I don't want to go out shopping in the rain.

I've looked over the delivery menus, and there's nothing I can order without having a lengthy conversation on the phone, first, and I'm sure peak lunchtime is not when restaurants are interested in having that conversation. What a freakin' pain in the ass. I'd love a burger - and I can deal with no bun - but I have to find out whether there are breadcrumbs or marinade used in the burger. I'd love a Philly Cheesesteak - and hell, I can deal with the meat and cheese tossed on a salad. It's not available as an option on their menu, and again - this is not the time of day to have that conversation, I'm sure. Pizza and Chinese food are out. Even sushi delivery is out because I have to make sure they don't use imitation crab (which usually contains gluten) and I've been lied to about that in the past when I asked out of curiousity. And I haven't been able to find gluten-free soy sauce in any stores yet, so I have to order some over the web.  There's a Thai places that does a beef salad bowl, but again, I have to know what the beef is marinated in.

I don't want to be that person who has to ask about every single ingredient!

Until today it looked like following the GF diet wouldn't be so bad - today is testing my commitment. Severely.
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Let me e'splain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up.

1. I owe my mother an apology - I was supposed to drive with her out to meet up with my sister and her kids in Tennessee on Sunday, and I didn't because I haven't been sleeping well and wanted to sleep in that morning. Turns out she had made a whole gluten-free picnic for the day, which I didn't know about until afterward. So Mutti, I'm very sorry I flaked.

2. On Saturday night I went with notgruntled  and a few other friends to see Tropic Thunder at the drive-in. I don't remember the last time I laughed that hard at any movie, and the drive-in is the perfect venue for a movie that encourages a raucous audience. It was absolutely hilarious. And yes, I've regained a modicum of respect for Tom Cruise. Further, to those people who are protesting because of the fake mentally-handicapped character of "Simple Jack", you clearly have never heard of the following terms: irony, sarcasm, subtext, allegorical.

This is a pet peeve of mine. Because a movie has a sexist or racist character, it doesn't mean that the movie is therefore ALSO racist or sexist. When a movie shows a person doing an offensive portrayal of a character which is clearly MEANT to be over the top and offensive, so as to point out the obtuseness of the person portraying the character in addition to the shallow industry promoting that type of portryal and the easily-emotionally-manipulated mass audiences who often thrive on such characters, the movie is therefore mocking the aforementioned person and groups and NOT the actual offensively portrayed character. Ok?

3. We got a new couch for our upstairs media room - it is bright red and exactly what we've been looking for since we bought the house almost five years ago. Most importantly, the cats approve.

4. I broke down and signed up on Facebook. *sigh* And it's already a soul-sucking timewaster. And I intend to waste more time with after I've gotten my inbox down to 100 emails.  On the plus side, I've already - in the space of a few hours - managed to reconnect with a number of old high school friends with whom I haven't been in touch since I graduated in 1991. I'm also grinning at the number of them who also qualify as ex-boyfriends. I was such a playa.

5. Are you all sure you don't need a fabulous black desk?? Do you know anyone who might??

6. I'm looking forward The Daily Show's take on the DNC convention. Their whole "Best F*cking News Team Ever" gag has been terrific.

7. Fritos make an excellent side to roasted red pepper and tomato soup. (And all gluten-free!)

8. It's clear that McCain is going to take a page from Giuliani's old playbook and replace the overused phrase "9/11" with "POW". Yes, you were in a POW camp, you survived a horrible experience, it's admirable as hell, but it HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH MOST OF THE QUESTIONS YOU ARE BEING ASKED. Now please, continue your regularly scheduled program of gaffes, hypocracy and right-wing-ass-kissing.

That's all, folks - have a lovely week!
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 If one or more of the following applies to you, this clip MUST be watched:

1. You love Neil Patrick Harris
2. You watch How I Met My Mother
3. You love Les Miserables
4. You love to try to sing both parts of the Javert/Valjean confrontation song at once

Credit goes to dangerousdame  who posted this on the dr_horriblesing  group.

I haven't actually watched Dr. Horrible in over two weeks - deliberately - and yet I STILL can't get the entire score out of my head. Every morning I wake up with at least one of the songs in my head, and then they cycle throughout the day. It's like auditory flashbacks. It's fabulous stuff, but please, god, make it stop!
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In other news, I'm on Day 6 of the gluten-free diet, and it's not too terrible. We've been cooking at home every night, which is great, and making pretty healthy meals. There are tons of gluten-free resources on the web and I'm finding some good ideas. Still don't think it will hold up when I'm in Budapest in October, but we'll see.

Husband and I went to see my parents in Cape Cod last week and had a wonderful time with them - although it's pretty clear that Massachusetts weather hates my husband, because every time he's up there with me it's cold and rainy, but if I'm there without him it's beautiful. In this case he went home three days before I did so I could have some quality time alone with the 'rents, and literally the MOMENT he got on the plane the weather turned gorgeous. Meanwhile, I gorged myself on all my favorite Cape Cod food, and all the stuff I knew I might never be able to eat again - fabulous bread, clam chowder, lobster bisque, fried clams, lobby rolls, etc. And oh yes, a fabulous night of fresh lobster with lots of lovely bread to dunk in the melted butter, and many bottles of good wine. My dad and step-mum are very good to me - I've never been able to find bialys in Georgia, so we had them every morning for breakfast. Yum!

The view from my parents' house is truly amazing - from their upstairs balcony you can see up and down the inside of the Cape. Husband put up some pictures - he's still having fun playing with the new SLR camera, so there are some random sort of repetitive pics in the mix, and I'm not sure why he put up some many of the Hood blimp. (And oh yes, I'm still waiting for him to upload the London/Indian Wedding pics...unfortunately he got busy with work, so that got set aside.)  These photos were all taken on the day we got there, when it was still gorgeous and the weather hadn't realized that Husband was in town.

And finally, I'm on call this week and next for Federal Jury Duty. Had a fascinating time participating in a "voir dire" session on Monday where 40 prospective jurors (including me) were interviewed in the courtroom with the judge, attorneys, and defendant (charged with the sale of marijuana and meth). I had asked my lawyer friend Tammy who they would be looking for and she responded quickly, "Not you." Apparently they don't want people who are opinionated, read a lot, and have political bumper stickers. Meanwhile I got to learn very private information about these 39 other strangers, including the fact that one woman has four brothers-in-law addicted to crack, another has a husband in prison for 40 years for abusing their 4 month old daughter, and one woman's brother was shot to death by NYPD officers inside the Nigerian embassy in New York. Anyhow, Tammy was right and I was dismissed from that one (as soon as they asked what my bumper stickers said - the other jurors chuckled and one muttered "oh yeah, you are SO not getting chosen")  but I still have to call every day for two weeks to see if I have to go back in.

And that's the news, folks.

Last night I went looking for web forums for people on gluten-free diets to see how they handled them, particularly when traveling and when trying to do Weight Watchers (I'm sure I gained 10 lbs in London - I indulged in Fish and Chips quite a bit). The answer seemed to be that it's very hard when traveling, especially abroad (well, duh - I'm fairly sure I won't be able to keep it up in Budapest) and that Weight Watchers doesn't work with a gluten-free diet.

Here's fun fact #1 about going gluten-free for health problems: it's an all or nothing thing. If you eat ANY gluten once you've emptied your system, the problems comes completely back and you have to start all over again.

Here's fun fact #2: just about everyone on the forums I was reading said that they gained 10 - 20 lbs when they went gluten-free. My goal will be to stick to lean meats and veggies, and hopefully that will negate a big weight gain - but we'll see.

And here's a question for everyone - how do you feel about the New Yorker's cover illustration of Barack and Michelle Obama? My own feeling is that I get what they were trying to do - it's supposed to satirize the myths about them - but it's an epic fail. I think there have been too many interviews with average citizens who believe those myths, and thus it's not going to be received in the spirit intended by your average citizen. Perhaps after an Obama victory, when he would have proved himself against those myths, THEN it would have been clever to run the cover. But right now it's a sore sticking point, and the cover just emphasizes that in an unpleasant way.

Thoughts?