i've seen some bumper stickers lately that were worth remembering:

"Someone else for President"

(because really, anyone is better than GW)

"When Jesus said Love your Enemy, I think he meant don't kill them"

(just FYI for the religious right...)

"After we spread democracy in Iraq, could we get a little over here?"

(pretty please?)

and on my friend Anna's car...

"I love my country, but i think we should start seeing other people"

******* In other news....

Some of you know that before Christmas, i went to a naturopath and a food allergy test done. The doc took a sample of blood and sent it off to a lab where they tested it against about 150 or so common foods. While they tested, i had 2 blissful weeks of ignorance when i ate as much of anything that i wanted, all the while knowing that soon the party was over.

and over it is.

my results:

cow's milk (and all its gazillion variations that appear in..well, most foods. especially the tasty kind)
yogurt (but not cheese... go figure)
blueberries (huh?i live in Maine for crying out loud!)
sesame
lobstershrimpandcrab (basically, one big shellfish)
baker's yeast (uh huh)
brewer's yeast (yup... no beer or wine :(
rye (whatever)
egg whites (WTF?)

I think that's "it".
The dairy was not really a surprise. I suspected that. And having eliminated dairy for Liam's first 3 months because it clearly bothered him, i have dabbled in those waters and its not all that terrible. Soy ice-cream has come a long way.

However. Those dairy free waters had many of those other things in them. In fact, those things are in most of the foods i eat *every day*.

yeast, for crying out loud?!!?

Sigh.

I am not sure what possessed me to do this, but it had something to do with getting rid of migraines and figuring out why my skin freaks out every now and then. i'm beginning to think that those things were not a bad tradeoff. But the thing is, until i eliminate these food items for up to 6 weeks (ideally more like 8-12) and then re-introduce them one by one, i really won't have any idea of what my allergic reaction is. It's not like i need an epi pen for eating a blueberry. So while in fact my body is producing immunoglobins (or is it goblins?) in response to these foods, some of the reactions may not even be noticable, in which case, i can eat them on limited, rotation basis (every 4 days the lab says) (is that after midnight, i wonder...?). But others may infact be the migraine culprit. and once you do eliminate and your body flushes them out, the reactions when you reintroduce are much easier to detect. like, instant migrane or hives or something (greeeaaaattttt....) It's hard to know until one eliminates.

So, that's what i'm doing. I've discovered the one bread that you can use for toast and sandwiches and whatnot that does not have yeast. Its' ok. I'm trying out all kinds of various milks: almond, hazelnut, rice, soy, oat... just for kicks. Oh, and to not create another sensitivity. Eating too much of one kind of food can infact create sensitivities (but not allergies). I bought _Vegan with a Vengenance_ cookbook for the egg-free, dairy-free baking. Im subbing my favorite meat for tofu and tempeh in all the other stuff (insert evil laugh and hand rubbing here!).

It's a trip. We'll see. I do notice that Liam seems to be sleeping better. Less restless overall, though this could also be because he is not sick. I havent had a migraine, but they were not frequent, so hard to tell if it's as a result of the elimination or not. In anycase, i figure if my immune system is not tied up dealing with pesky food allergies, it has more time and energy on its hands to fight off, oh, i dont' know, say, random bacteria? flu viruses? budding cancer cells? Who knows. I only have one immune system, may as well let it do its work on the important stuff, right?