Hello 2013!

Me & B - San Francisco, Dec. 2012

Hey there - is this thing on?

Boy, it's been a while - how are YOU?

If I'm being honest, 2012 pretty much sucked.

Don't get me wrong - lots of GOOD things happened. Work is great.  My home is great.  I'm seeing a wonderful guy.  Most importantly, B is great!

The #1 best thing that happened in 2012 - and just under the wire - I'm divorced!!  I know it sounds terrible to make that a good thing that happened, but it was something that should have happened a LONG time ago.  I'm not against marriage, don't get me wrong, I'm just against marrying the wrong person.  I feel like a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders and that I am finally living an authentic life.

But the best thing I got from my marriage was Miss B - ain't she just the coolest (I know all moms say this, but I think THIS photo proves that maybe I'm not merely biased:

B looking sassy before dinner, Dec 2012

Only this child could pull of being this bad-ass  We went out to dinner the night I took this and on the way back to our hotel, we got out of our cab, and someone on the street looked at her and gasped "She is SOOO San Francisco!".  Love her!

We had an allergy checkup in December that showed B's allergy as definitely NOT being gone.  PLUS we added cats officially to the allergy list.  Oh well.  At least we haven't added any foods - and we were reaction free in 2012 - well at least peanut allergy wise - woohoo!

I think the thing that 2012 taught me most was that you can never get too comfortable with anything or assume anything.  Case(s) in point:

• I assumed B's peanut allergy would be gone at this year's appt.  I was wrong (and there was a HUGE wheal to prove it on the SPT). Crud.
• I assumed that during my divorce things would remain civil with my ex (they didn't)
• I assumed our collective friends would be grownups and remain friends with us both (they didn't)
• I assumed I could count on the very close friends I had to watch my back (I couldn't - in fact, one of them is dating my ex-husband now.  I know quite a few of you are saying to yourself "what a @!#!@%" - you wouldn't be the first to do so.  Yes we were friends when they started seeing each other and yes she kept it from me and NO we aren't friends anymore LOL).  I think out of everything, this was the worst betrayal of the whole divorce, isn't that strange?

But you know what?  I have ZERO regrets about how things have gone down.  I'm so much happier, and lighter now that I know where things stand (plus un-friending on Facebook helps!).  Quality over quantity!

So now, I'm starting with a clean slate for 2013.  I'm figuratively burning the sage around here to cleanse my life, my heart, and my most important my attitude about things (this, especially, spoke to me).  I'm responsible for me this year, no one else is.  

And that, friends, is my rant.

Yeah, I know this didn't have much to do with Peanut Allergy on the surface, but my divorce isn't much different from peanut allergy.  It's a crap hand to have dealt to you and what makes all the difference is how you handle it. No one understands it until they've been through it, family and friends disappoint you like crazy, and you feel alone. A lot.

But you figure out your way, slowly, until that pinhole at the end of the tunnel gets bigger and bigger.

And it's light again.

-G-

Peanut Allergy: Life Lists?

Do you guys keep a life list?  I do, and I'm tempted to share it here - would that be weird? I don't think there's one thing about food allergy on there.

Maybe I'll be brave and post it, we'll see.

For now, here's something I couldn't pass up.

The Things We Forget Blog

The last year has been ALL about this, trust me.

Too cute.

Happy Thursday, everyone!

Gabs
xxoo

Be Thankful this Year, Please...

If you follow my personal twitter account (I also have a PFMama account if you're interested), you saw this tweet I posted earlier today. It's a letter that a hostess wrote to her guests that had offered to bring food to Thanksgiving. Read it here.

I'm not sure if it's REALLY real, but if it is I feel sorry for her 'guests' and I feel sorry for her - mainly because she's SO uptight about the holidays that she's willing to alienate her family. Yikes.

But it got me thinking that she needs to give a little (and by give I mean relax a little - who gives a crap what kind of spoon they bring to serve a dish?). Which then led me to ask myself what I'm most uptight about at family gatherings.

You guessed it: Peanuts and Cross Contamination.

I don't think I'm alone here (given my company: YOU).

I probably don't sound much different than this woman sometimes. I'm sure I lecture and look at labels and generally get in everyone's business about the food we're having and how safe it is. If someone even mentioned nuts to me a few years ago, I went a little crazy. I felt it was a personal affront if they even had peanut butter in their house (didn't matter if it was on a shelf in a cabinet B couldn't reach).

I mean, the NERVE, right?!?

I actually laugh now thinking back on that. And there is absolutely NOTHING wrong with making sure the food we were having was peanut free, especially when it's a communal meal like Thanksgiving where folks tend to share more (and drink more, thus making cross contamination more likely - I mean who remembers what tongs they used when they've had Uncle Ned's special egg nog?).

BUT this year I am going to try to remember that not everyone lives and dies by the peanut like us. That they mean well and try their best. But if it isn't their affliction (for lack of a better word) it isn't in the forefront of their minds. Heck, if B didn't have a PA I would be the first to bring a pecan pie to a shingdig - I mean if you have a peanut allergy or nut allergy, you just don't eat it right?

So I'm going to give people a break this year. And not sound like that maniacal lady. I'm going to be thankful for all my friends, near and far (and in bloggy land) who support us as much as they are able. We're so lucky, really.

Can you imagine writing that letter, I mean really??? If this was an FA host, the letter would ask folks not to bring anything! Am I right or am I right :)

Good Lord. I hope HJB (the first victim - I mean errr guest) brought A LOT of wine - they surely needed it.