greetings from Texas, y'all.
this past weekend I was reunited with my husband, and we decided to take a little getaway to San Antonio. we did pretty minimal sightseeing [riverwalk, Alamo, market square] because it was blazing hot... and also we just wanted to hang out together after 2 months apart.
so I don't really have much to say about the city other than you should visit because A: I was born there, and B: drinks and guacamole on the riverwalk while listening to mariachi should be on everyone's bucketlist.
it's possible that my enthusiasm for guacamole is inflated due to recent events. you see, for the past month, I've been in and out of doctors offices trying to figure out what is going on with all my food allergies, sensitivities, and digestive system. numerous vials of blood, hydrogen breath tests, and both an endoscopy and colonoscopy later... I still don't have a clear answer on why feeding myself without feeling ill has been such a challenge these past 2 [or really, 6] years. right now I am eating on a very restricted diet on top of my already restricted diet, and slowly adding foods back in.
it's extremely challenging, and frustrating, and difficult to explain, and thank goodness I have people who help support me [and occasionally cook for me.] and that I am still allowed to have potato chips and wine.
most food items are still a question mark for me, but I do know this so far: I am confirmed lactose intolerant [thankfully lactose-free cheeses are just fine.] eggs give me headaches, even after 2 years of not eating them. trying to shop for foods that don't contain any onion, garlic, gluten, egg, or soy also gives me headaches from reading labels. but avocado - which I was told in 2016 I was allergic to - is 100% not an issue for my system.
therefore: high levels of guacamole enthusiasm abound. when you have to cut out 86 different foods, but can add one back in you thought was lost, it's worth celebrating.
as you might guess, all this food and doctor business has been taking up a lot of time and energy. and now we are entering the part of the expat summer where we fly all over the country to get in our family visiting time - two weeks in Austin now, two weeks in Michigan next - to be followed by a period of vagabond wandering and visiting friends. [which is really just a fancy way of saying, we don't have that planned yet.]
it's been a challenging year, and a whirlwind of a summer. my plans for the blog have been set aside in favor of more important things [like eating.] but I'm still here, I'm still trying to smile.
and now... I'm eating my fill of guacamole.
