the birthday came & went - had a great time showing off the new place to a small group of friends. with such a little space, it's hard to have big parties like i used to, but that's ok. just gotta have more smaller gatherings - nothing wrong with that! we went up to smart bar for a bit, but it was so hot & crowded that we only stayed to dance for a little while.
i'm now officially one year smoke free - and it looks like i've joined another group of folks. now, i belong to both the non-smokers, and the ex-smokers. i lost one community, but have found many more in exchange. if i make it one more year, chances of relapse are slim - YES!
in keeping with this theme of giving up, more stories.
i went to the dermatologist the other day & found out i have eczema. shit, what a bummer - i've always known i had sensitive skin, and allergies (specifically hay fever & other goodies) run in my family. all of these things are kinda like a package deal in the ol' gene world. so, it's a good chance that families share similar problems within this gene grouping.....bright side: luckily none of us have ashtma, which is another of the conditions associated with it.
found this dermatologist right near my office and she is way into the holistic approach, which suits me well. might as well try to get to the bottom of these things naturally, rather than loading myself up with antibiotics and steriods & things that just mask the problem.
for the next two weeks & possibly much longer - i'm giving up caffeine, which is most notably done by cutting out my everyday coffee & occasional sodas; also, i'm avoiding (key word is avoiding) citrus fruits, tomato, sugar and flour. ok, so some of that is not so bad, but tomatoes - shit, that's tough. pasta sauces, pizza, salad caprese - all of these things i just love way too much.
i figure, if i can give up & cut back on most of that stuff, imma eat my tomatoes & like it!
and, i'm back on the vitamin train - adding in a bunch of stuff like flax seed oil, acidophilus, and this nasty licorice thing called DGL - it's a chewable licorice supplement which is widely used in europe and helps promote all sorts of good health.
basically, i've been referring to my prescription for nutritional healing book to keep up with all this stuff and my doctor is pretty right on. she's from europe, so it's nice to see someone who doesnt' just push temporary fixes down your throat.
August 27, 2004