Small Blessings and Being Thankful

Sadness, stress, anger, frustration, pain, guilt - all of these are just some of the emotions we may feel when a family member is very ill.  However, with all the angst, with all this negativity, we hope, pray and seek some sliver of happiness that sheds some light on a bad situation.  This Thanksgiving, Mike and I didn't host the usual LaCouture-Cipolone feast and instead moved things to my in-laws.

If you have been following the blog or are a friend you may know about my father-in-law who has ALS.  To give you perspective, from the time he was diagnosed in November of 2010 with minor symptoms of weakness in his arms to now being in a hospital bed and not being able to walk or eat.  However, he has a wonderful disposition despite this awful disease.  It escalated June 1st when he was rushed to the hospital after a weekend of being able to read a kindle, drinking margaritas and making chili cheese dip.  My husband puts 200% into taking care of him, while being able to work hard at his job, while keeping up with his band, Beyond Dishonor, moving the Brewtal Beer along and spending time together with me (I get exhausted typing it).

The one concern that all of us had was HOW we were going to eat in front of this man who has not been able to have ANY food since June 1st.  BUT, Mike got him in the wheel chair, pushed him out and the decision was made - take some Glenfiddich whiskey and put it on a swab for his mouth - not enough to swallow but to taste and this my friends was the small blessing, the little sliver of happiness that you look for during all this negativity.

Mike and his dad, Carle

Tamara (mike's sister), Mike and Carle and Glen...

For the first time in this house I saw genuine laughter and happiness that has been absent for a while. In Thanksgiving fashion, I am so thankful we were able to spend our Thanksgiving with both our families and that we have such an AWESOME family.

Love this guy!

Our feast

No Thanksgiving is complete without a fried turkey with my dad's beer brine - AWESOME

Fall veggies -I had to fit in another food pic

My parents

Sneaking Turkey as it is cut

My #1 sis!

The little guys - Brenden, Aiden and Kieran

Mom and mother in law!

Belinda and Billy

This doesn't belong - but I can't forget my little bro, Ant (in middle) that we were able to see in Florida!

Source:  High Tail Farms

He lives in Louisiana with his fiance, Kaela where they are farming and sold all of their fine turkey's they raised!  They were even on TV - check them out here www.hightailfarms.com

A Much Overdue Detox

What a wonderful holiday! It is my one holiday where my husband's family and my family celebrate at our house. We make the usual deep-fried turkey brined by Dad and then a couple of roasted turkey breasts. Everyone brings the amazing assortment of sides and then we follow that with pies, apple crisp and bread pudding.

Mom sleeps over so that we can marathon shop on Friday. We woke up and did the Kempro P90x followed by Ad Ripper. As the instructor, Tony, is saying "I'm 45 going on 46" my mom is yelling out "Yeah, well I'm 62 going on 63!" She is awesome! We then joined the "crazies
Saturday I got myself ready to go for a 12 mile run with little expectations since it was cold and windy, but ended up being a great run with good mile splits. I think I have figured out that I can't stop and take a mid-walk at mile 5 - just need to keep running. Had some good beer and quality time with my friend Tanya on Saturday night.

At Amy's bridal shower on Sunday, after a couple glasses of prosecco, I decided that I needed a much overdue detox. Even though the scale says an extra 4-5 lbs since the half - it feels like 10...As they say misery loves company so I recruited Erica, Michelle, Christine and Tanya to join in the fun for the week.
We decided we should do a Tuesday start so we could food shop. To make this more motivating for myself, I decided to post recipes from each day of the detox. I will preface this with the fact that Sat may have a little cheating since there is a holiday party...This is very hard to do over the holiday season, but something is better than nothing. My liver was asking for a little break. I do actually get excited about a challenge and it really makes me feel good and less bloated as I do today.

So here is the basics of my detox....
It is a meat-free, alcohol and caffeine-free, somewhat dairy-free, and gluten-free diet for a week or for me 8 days since I will be taking a partial cheat day on Saturday.

1. No caffeine or alcohol - the caffeine ironically is the hardest and I do my best but sometimes I need a green tea to get me through
2. Veggies - any kind - sweet potatoes (not white potatoes)
3. Fruit (not melons or grapes - too high in sugar)
4. Beans - all kinds...
5. Nuts and seeds but in moderation (NO Peanuts)
6. Rice and Rice products
7. Tofu/Soy products (you can do soy cheese, faux meat)
8. Corn and corn products (cornmeal and polenta)
9. Millet
10. Quinoa
11. Buckwheat (just make sure wheat free)
12. Rice milk, soy milk
13. Herbs/spices
14. Egg Whites
15. Greek yogurt fat free - my only dairy - more for the probiotic effect.
16. Limit - olive oil
17. Vinegar, hot sauce, tamari, soy sauce,
18. Agave, honey or stevia for sweetner
19. Avoid Oranges/Orange Juice if you get migraines or headaches

And so it begins, I am going to start creating my menu for the week later on.

I guess I have to finish that half opened bottle of red tonight....and maybe a three course meat dinner...just kidding...or not...