Black Friday

We went out on this morning at midnight to see what Black Friday was like.  Neither Colby nor I had ever had the full experience, so this was more anthropological than shopping.  I did see some deals that looked good, but waiting for hours to get into a store+getting trampled on+waiting for hours to check out didn't seem that appealing.  This is what the scene looked like outside of Target:

No, that's not the line to get into Target, that's the crowd that gathered to watch the line to get into Target.  At about 12:05 AM.  

Here's the line to get into Target:

And then at around 12:30, we meandered down to Best Buy, and they still had a line, complete with security guards.  It was kind of nuts.

Needless to say, we didn't buy anything, but now that my curiosity has been sated, I'm content with spending my future Black Friday Eves basking in the glow of a food hangover, rather than contend with crazy crowds of motivated shoppers.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Them's the rules.

So the results are back and dun dun dun... I don't have gestational diabetes!  But I'm apparently developing pregnancy-induced insulin resistance, so I still need to follow a gestational diabetes diet (basically low carb).  There's a class that I'm supposed to take next week (pending my insurance) that talks about how to properly diet and exercise to make sure that the baby doesn't grow hugenormous, but until I attend the class, I was given a list of rules to follow:
Avoid Sugar and All Sweets

Avoid fruit in the morning
NO FRUIT JUICE
Eat small, frequent meals
ALWAYS include a bedtime snack
Each meal and snack must have carbohydrate, protein, and fat
If you are hungry between meals & snacks, eat low carbohydrate foods

So basically, no more fun.  I ended up getting the Eggs Francisco at Kerbey Lane (and only had half of the english muffin).  This kid better be the coolest thing ever, because this is a pretty huge sacrifice.

scrambled eggs, tomato, avocado, and bacon on an English muffin, covered in queso

Flat sprite

I spent Friday morning sitting in a doctor's office getting my blood drawn four times over the course of three hours.  By the time I finished, it had been 15.5 hours since I had eaten anything, aside from chugging a 100g dextrose solution 3.5 hours before.  The next time someone tells me about the joys and blessings of pregnancy, I'm going to stab them.

eww.

All of this was for the 3 hour glucose tolerance test for gestational diabetes.  I took a shorter test earlier in the week and my blood sugar came back elevated.  It was a pretty big bummer, but not unexpected.  A couple years ago I was diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS).  Nearly 50% of women with PCOS get gestational diabetes.  This is the same syndrome that Kate Gosselin had, which is why she opted for in vitro fertilization and ended up with 8 children. 

Since we didn't have an extra $50,000 to throw at IVF, I dismissed the notion of having kids and totally came to peace with the idea of being able to travel the world, buying expensive shoes/meals/electronics, and generally enjoying my disposable income.  Colby was less okay with this (I guess he's not nearly as into Swedish Hasbeens as I am), and so we went to a fertility specialist to see what our options were and to get further testing.  Upon an ultrasound examination of my ovaries, the doctor commented that I had just ovulated and was either going to get my period or was pregnant.  We all had a good chuckle and I went to get a CT scan a couple weeks later because my sinuses had been fucked up since December 2010.  Oops.

Fast forward five months and now I'm awaiting my results from the GTT.  The GTT requires a 12 hour fast, chugging this ridiculous sugar solution in <5 minutes, and then getting blood drawn once an hour for three hours.  The last sugar solution tasted like flat orange pop, which is not nearly as tasty as you'd assume.  This solution tasted more like flat sprite and was only mildly more palatable.  The worst, though, is that they don't let you drink much water because that interferes with the results.  My suspicion is that I do have gestational diabetes given my risk factors and the first glucose tolerance test.  If that's the case, then the recipes I post here are going to be of a decidedly more meaty nature.  In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy the last  yummy carbs I'll be allowed to eat for the next 15 weeks.

Thanksgiving week menu

Menu planning for this week is made easier because Thursday is already planned out for me.  


Monday
chili

Tuesday
slowcooker lasagna (hat tip to Austin Gastronomist)

Wednesday
eggs, pan sausage (with possible recipe to come), biscuits

Thursday
Thanksgiving dinner at 24 Diner (we're going to go out to eat for this so I can concentrate on getting work done)

Friday
roasted chicken, stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed sweet potatoes (like Thanksgiving, but decidedly easier)

Silent Sundays: Venetian Hot Plate, Port Aransas, TX

Silent Sundays are like Wordless Wednesdays, but on Sunday because, um, I'm sleepy and don't have much to say.

bread and dipping sauce

olive oil, balsamic vinegar, red pepper flakes, garlic, black pepper

misto mare: clams, mussels, oysters, scallops, shrimp, in a butter+wine sauce

salad with balsamic vinaigrette

Mama's lasagna

fresh gulf snapper with artichokes, capers, asparagus, and mashed potatoes

all done

tiramisu

Wherein the posts get a little thin towards the end of NaBloPoMo

I should probably post something, eh?

I don't have too much to say, except that for once, I'm okay with the University of Michigan not screwing up a game because Michigan State is going to the first Big Ten championship game.  Yay!