Tradition!

Recently on a PKU facebook page that I facebook-like called "International PKU Recipe Database", there was a question asked I answered it.  BUt I would like to share some further feelings about this subject.  

Here's the Question:

I'm a mom to a 9 month girl with pku what do I do for Easter meals and baskets?

The question is a very good one, sometimes I think that we forget that before we had to deal with our diets that our parents had to.  The whole idea of a strict diet for life is pretty intimidating.  Before us, they had no knowledge of PKU.  And yet, they still learned and dealt with it for most of our childhoods.  ...But that's really a topic for another day.

Now, to answer the question.  Most hard candies (excluding sugar-free) are free in Phe.  And usually there are low-Pro Chocolate Bunnies for sale at one of the PKU food websites.  And peeps are good too!  It's not hard to fill an Easter basket full of goodies.  

When it comes to Easter meals (or really any holiday) if you want to have a traditional meal, just take a special PKU-proof recipe and serve once a year on that holiday.  It becomes a tradition.  And your child will know to expect it on that holiday.  It doesn't matter if the recipe seems "unconventional" for the holiday, if it's a tradition... it's a tradition.   

And traditions are some of the best parts of any holiday.  

Have a great day!  

Belated Birthday!!!!

Oh My Goodness!  I can't believe I forgot!

On February 28th, 2011 I wrote my first post.  That means that on February 28, 2014 was my blog's 3rd birthday!  I feel like a bad mother for forgetting it.  (In my defense however, it was during my writing hiatus when I was busy from dawn until dusk with my Practicum.)

But it feels unreal that my blog could really be 3 years old.  How long to most blog's last?  I'm not sure.  I think a significant number of them are missionary blogs, and teenager drama-filled online journals.  (Tow totally different things by the way!)

Here's a cupcake to celebrate!!!

If my blog were really a child it would be in the adorable but mischievous stages of toddler hood.  I'm sure of it.  

Anyways, enough about that.  Let's look at some stats:

9,076 views in all time history!  Around October 2011 there was this incredible jump that has remained consistent through the years.  I mean it's really impressive. 

There's what my chart looks like for those that are interested.  It's this little chart that keeps me going, telling me that people actually look at my blog and care.  (I honestly have no idea why that spike in Oct 2013 occurred...)  

And here are the top 5 posts of 2014.

Top 5 Posts (As reported in 2014)

1. Happy PKU Awareness Month (March 2011)- 601 page views
2. A PKU Story- 234 page views
3. The Tigger Theory- 226 page views (though I think that people looking up Tigger might accidentally stumble across this one) 
4. PRISM301- 147 page views
5. New Favorite Recipe- 143 page views

Anyways, happy 3rd Birthday Blog.  I can't believe I've made it this long.  And hopefully I'll still be blogging to celebrate a 4th.  :)

P.S.  Sorry about being absent for the past 2 weeks.  My computer contracted a pretty serious virus, and I've been making treks to the library to get homework done.  In fact, that's where I am now typing this.  It's just been a real hassle.  But hey, that's life!  And have a great day!  

            

Thank You.

The other day I was talking to a bunch of my friends, and I'm not sure how it came up, but we were talking about my diet.  They were going off about how limited it was, and how sorry they were, and how someday in heaven they were going to force me to eat all sorts of foods.

It was fine.  I've had lots of conversations that mimic this one almost word for word.  I just play along, no harm done.

In fact, I didn't think anything about it.  Until...

One of my friends came up to me a few days later and said, "So I was researching your diet the other day..."

This particular friend hadn't really dealt with my diet that much.  So when he said that, I was kind of shocked.  I mean, who in their right mind would go and research a complicated metabolic disorder?  (Oh right... that's you guys.  Haha.)

No one (that's not related to me) has ever gone out of their way to research my diet.

I was touched.  Really.

A conversation ensued that was quite intelligent.  He had researched more of the technical, genetic, chemistry stuff.  So we talked about that.

It's been on my mind ever since.

He's not an expert at my diet (but then again neither am I), but he actually tried.  He was interested in it, and went out to look for stuff.

I didn't even know he was doing it.

I like talking about my diet, and informing the world that PKU exists.  I really do.  But it's something special when someone actually goes out of their way to learn something that complicated.  (Now it helps that he actually likes chemistry so it was fun for him...)

But... it meant a lot to me.

I just wanted to thank you, my friend.  You know who you are. :)

Too Hot, Too Cold, Just Right.

The other day Phenylade Essentials (my formula company that I follow on Face Book)  posted a comic. 

It's a comic that I can really relate to, if not all PKU'ers. 

Imagine... you're on the go.  Going to be gone all day.  So you bring your medicine.  No biggie.  But it's a really hot summer day (and I really can't wait for those right now)  and soon you're formula is disgustingly hot!  EW! 

Who likes drinking warm beverages that are SUPPOSED to be cool?  Not me.

So what do you do?  Some people freeze their medicine so this doesn't happen, some add more cold water, some add ice... I put mine in ice or preferably a fridge for a couple minutes.  Not a long time, because I actually don't like my formula super cold either.  I like mine "freshly made".  So, I try not to wait too long before drinking it.

And if I need all my formula for the day... then I bring the second batch in powder form and make it in a water fountain.

You just do what you have to.

But I'm curious... How do you (PKU'ers) keep your formulas cool?  And how do you (non-PKU'ers) keep other cool beverages cold?  

Scale Evolution

I think we can all agree that Technology has really changed in the last decade.  New and improved versions of whatever device come out yearly (if not more often). 

This includes the geekiest of equipment.  Calculators?  So complicated now.  Don't believe me?  Try operating a graphing calculator. (Sooooo many buttons.)

But this also applies to scales.  Scales?  Why would we be talking about scales?

Well, one of the things a PKU'er needs to do is weigh all their food (weighing food is especially important when it comes to medicine and during certain times of their lives)

... With a scale. 

Over my lifetime I've owned 3 different scales.  And it's funny because you can clearly see the technology development in each one.  Here's what I mean:

Scale 1: The Triple-Beam Balance Scale. 
      This is the scale I've had the majority of my life.  The concept is pretty simple, I'm sure you've all used one (think High School Chemistry).  It's pretty clunky, and is hard to pack.  But, the lack of batteries mean you never have to have a panic attack rush to the store, because you're out of batteries and don't have any of the same type in the house.

  Scale 2: The Digital Scale
     If the last scale's concept was easy, this one is even easier.  You just place the food on it, and it weighs.  This picture isn't the exact scale I used, mine had a few more buttons.  But it's close.  Easy to pack.  But the batteries didn't last long at all.  This one I used for a few years. 

Scale 3: The Sleek Scale
     The latest and greatest of the scales!  It looks so sleek and sophisticated compared to the other two. The batteries don't die quickly (at least not so far).  Of course it is run on those fancy circle batteries that are pretty expensive for something so small (I forget what they're called...).  And it's easy to pack in shape, but the scale is SO easy to turn on that if you don't want to waste batteries you have to be careful packing it. 



Just looking at the pictures you can see the influence technology has had on the scale design.  And that, I present to you ladies and gentlemen is the EVOLUTION OF SCALES. 

Return of the PKU'er

I'm back!!!!!

AND I'm still alive.  AND I came up with some really good blog post ideas.  So get ready!



For the past 5 weeks I've been doing my practicum.  Which means, I've been basically a teacher's aide 3 days a week in a classroom.  But I loved it.!!!  And I miss the kiddos in my class a lot!

Anyways, as a teacher you still have to pay for school lunches.  And it's generally what the kids are eating.  But there is an added salad bar for teachers.  So technically I could've had school lunch.  I didn't want to pay for school lunches.  I've always brought food from home, so the concept is just odd to me.  Plus, it's more expensive.  So, I never did school lunch.

I brought home lunches everyday.  In fact, most of the teachers did.  My first day I had an apple, a package of fruit snacks, pretzels, and a cup of applesauce.  I pulled out my sack lunch from the fridge (literally in a plastic Smiths bag) and looked around.

Every other teacher had these elaborate lunches, whether they were leftovers, or salads, or microwave meals.  And I had brought- essentially- a kids lunch.  The kind I had brought to school from kindergarten until 12th grade.

That's when I decided I needed to put a little more effort into my lunches.  From then on, I'd cook enough dinner to have leftovers for the next day's lunch.  Or I'd throw together a salad before I went to bed. 

It was actually really nice.  I enjoyed being creative and having good solid lunches.  It wasn't even hard.  Lunch was just so much more enjoyable as a meal. 

I guess you could say one of the things I learned at practicum, is that when you actually put effort into food... you enjoy it more. 

Another thing I learned, is that eating in the teacher's lounge NEVER gets old.  :) 

        

Hiatus Excuses.

I'm just going to post a short post this week.  Just an update of my life. 

The next five weeks are possibly going to be the hardest this semester.  I'm completing my Practicum, so I'm actually in an elementary school classroom 3 days a week.  And because of this all my classes are in the evening.

Yesterday I left the house at 8 am and returned at 8:30 pm, and then started on my homework until 11 pm, when I passed out.  And the whole 5-week period promises to be just as bad. 

I'm very tired, and a bit overwhelmed with all the work I need to do. So if I don't post in the next following weeks, know that it's because I'm trying to get everything I need done.   

Thanks for reading this.  Hopefully, I'll be able to post.  :)