Gluten Free Wheat Free Casein Free -- Taste Free?

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I never knew how many things contained gluten, wheat or casein.

Even vanilla extract has gluten (in the alcohol)... who knew? 

Now that my boy has been put on this special diet due to some severe allergies (which we also didn't know about until recently) we are sure learning a lot of these.

What I've found is that nothing is what it seems, that even Rice Krispies Cereal can contain gluten or casein (which is any dairy product) unless you get a specific brand.  

Whole Foods is our new grocery store of choice as well as Applegate Farms. Which sucks, since I have to cross the border into the USA once a week, to buy all this stuff. That's right, apparantly us canadians don't have these products readily available. Sigh.

By the way, if anyone has any experience with gluten/wheat/caseine free recipes, please let me know... I'd love to learn some.

As if this wasn't enough, tomorrow morning my daughter has to go to Children's hospital to get a procedure done, where she will be put completely under, and they'll go into her esophagus with a camera all the way to her stomach. She's been having a 'choking feeling' now for 10 days and lost 4 pounds already from not eating.

Intervention is clearly needed, they'll go see if there is something there. IF there isn't they'll take a biopsy and see if there is anything wrong with the esophagus.

If you pray, keep us in mind, if you don't ~ think positive thoughts okay? 

SIN CITY

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Just stepped off the plane a few short hours ago, and boy do I have stuff to tell you!

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THE GOOD

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We stayed at the Luxor hotel, right on the Vegas Strip. Before we got there, everyone we knew mentioned this "$20 upgrade trick" where you stick a crisp $20 bill in between your drivers license and your credit card as you're checking in and then ask for a room upgrade. Apparently this tricks works quite well. We decided we were too chicken to try it, but we did ask if there were any 'complementary' upgrades available. She said there were, so we did get upgraded after all, for free. From queen to king and from shower to shower and bath.

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Not too shabby, right?

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The other hotels we visited on the strip were just as amazing, and some even more so than others. The Venetian hotel was my favorite, it had the canals running through it. These hotels just ooze Luxury. 

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Really, they ooze it.

   

This is our hotel, at night. Gorgeous, right? And the other one was JP's favorite, the Bellagio.

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We also took a bus tour to the Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam. That was probably the best money we spent on this trip. The scenery at the Grand Canyon was out of this world. If you ever go to Vegas, I highly recommend you stop by the Grand Canyon. 

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... 

Grand Canyon was breathtaking, it really was.

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And of course, last but not least on my list of "GOOD" was the M&M shop that is located right on the strip. M&M candy. An entire shop dedicated to just M&M candy and M&M paraphernalia. The shop had 4 floors people!!

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I could have spent all day there, really I totally could have. They had clothes, and toys and stuffies and lunch boxes and watches and leather jackets and bedding ~~ practically anything that you can imagine, with the M&M logos all over it. How cool is THAT? 

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But the best part, was the wall with 22 different colours of M&M's. Yup, 22 colours of M&M's. Betcha you didn't even know M&M's had 22 colours. Neither did I. But there it stood, in all its glory. And we could sample some for free!  Yummy.

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I ended up buying one of those miniature gum ball machine dispensers, with M&M logos on it, that you can just twist the latch and M&M come out. It's like magic, you don't even need coins. I heart it. It's going on my desk at work tomorrow.

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Are you totally salivating all over your screen? I still am. How cool is this?!

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THE BAD

Of course I'm gonna bitch about things too, after all you want my real opinion not just some travel brochure bull shit right? Well let me tell you about the sleezy side of Vegas. 

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One word. 

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Flickers.

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These are non english speaking men and women, whose whole job is to stand about 10 feet apart from the other flicker that you've just passed, and 'flick' pornography at you. I say pornography and it sounds harsh, but it is in fact that.

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They are aligned all throughout the Strip and they have what seems like hundreds of these cards on them. (they have an apron on and these are stuffed in there). At first, they look like playing cards, they're the same size, but when you actually take one, you see that there are naked women on them - with the nipples starred out so you can't actually claim they're naked.

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At first I thought it was weird, but then as we walked 10 more steps and 10 more steps it became rude, and then annoying and then just too much. The thing that bugged me about these 'flickers' is their persistence. It didn't matter to them if you were man, woman or child, they didn't discriminate against anyone. 

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Everyone got flicked.

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Sometimes they walk a couple of steps towards you or behind you as you walk by, to make sure that they give you one of these cards. I seriously felt as annoyed as I did when I was running away from the kids selling chicklets in Mexico, but just less bad.

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What inevitably happens is that everyone throws their 'cards' away once they see what they are, and then the entire sidewalk has a light dusting of porn on it as you are walking by.

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Lovely.

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By the end of the day I felt a little dirty and in need of a shower.

THE UGLY

By far the ugliest most annoying thing I found about Vegas was the drunks. Now don't go sending me hatemail, I know what it's like to be drunk. 

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But as I haven't been drunk in a while, I guess it's not that funny when you're the only sober one there. 

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Here's what bugged me most about it. It wasn't only college kids (of which there were lots, since it was SPRING BREAK) but 40 somethings and 50 somethings that were falling all over themselves at every corner.

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It was especially moving to witness a mother and daughter bonding moment while they took turns holding each other's hair while the other one puked in the trash. And I must share the story of the pretty girl in the blue dress who was just too wasted to notice that one of her boobs had popped out of her dress, so she just kept walking anyway.

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I also wish I had taken at least one picture of the 4 brides we saw walking (at separate times) on the strip, barefoot with shoes in one hand and an open beer in another.  Now don't get me wrong, getting married in Vegas sounds beautiful, gorgeous setting and beautiful weather. 

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But when you've got a cigarette hanging out of your mouth while you're cursing at your new husband across the street, I think you've just lost the title of a 'blushing bride'. 

More like Bridezilla.

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Do you NEED enough alcohol to fill up an entire guitar?

And what is up with the slutty clothes that EVERY SINGLE FEMALE who worked there has to wear?

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 Seriously! 

Even the senior citizen who was working in the casino serving drinks had a tiny itty bitty blue half dress on with tassels sticking out. 

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Do we really need to see this shit?

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Between the whole Flickers scenario, and the boobies everywhere, and the 'costumes' the ladies wore, and the buses with the big "HOT BABES TO YOU" advertising and of course their sleazy motto "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas", I found myself feeling more than a little dirty. 

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Maybe if I'd been drunk I wouldn't have noticed all that, but since I wasn't- I did notice it, and it left a yucky after taste in my mouth that even those 22 colours of M&Ms can't get out.

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All in all I'm glad I went and saw it for myself.  

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It is definitely a place like no other.

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Vegas BABY!

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In about 2 hours I will be boarding a plane to Vegas! 

That's right Lady Luck has smiled 

upon us and we managed to get a good deal...

It's our first time going there and we're excited. Not big gamblers, and we don't drink (yawn, right?) but at least we like shopping!!

Of course, I'm a bit apprehensive leaving my kids behind, since I hate flying and I always imagine the worst case scenario, but once we land, I will be relaxed in the sun.

I've read it's supposed to be 27 degrees out there (that's 85 for you Farenheit speaking folks)

That's hot! Especially compared to me typing this while wearing my parka!

So, we're off til wednesday... hope to be taking lots of cool pictures to share with you when we come back!!

Oh and if you have any good tips, especially about upgrades and free stuff, do share! I'm gonna be checking my emails from our hotel :-)

I can't believe you're still here

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Seriously!

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 You came back to check if there was a new post, expecting the same old Bahamas heading, didn't ya?

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Well I am full of surprises.

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I don't want my posts to be few and far between, like some of you have been complaining about *ahem, Karen* but I also can't really blog like I used to. 

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You know how lovely this past September has been for me, right? (think back people, it's not that long ago - remember my drama?) Well, one would assume I'd have moved on since then, forgive and forget, that sort of thing. One would assume that since it's March, September would be all but forgotten.

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Well, one would be wrong.  Now yes, we've moved on since then, and are rebuilding. But the trouble is that I am constantly looking back at the pre-september life and wonder how I could have been so wrong about someone who I thought I knew so well?  

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Yes, I have since forgiven the incident, but I can't for the life of me look at this person the same way. You tell me, in all honesty how you can block such a betrayal out of your mind? I know some of your personal stories, and there are some readers out there that have overcome far worse betrayals and have gone on to have happy relationships.

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I am not complaining, things are actually good. He's been trying his best to get back into my good graces ever since he's come back. I've been seeing a shrink since September as well, so I am definitely healing. But somewhere, somehow, during this big jolt - my rose coloured (I'm canadian ~ it's supposed to have the "u" there!) glasses got knocked off.

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I have tried to put them back on, readjust them, strap tape to them if necessary, but the darn things just won't stay on! I see things differently now, and that makes me sad.

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It's not necessarily bad, but I feel so jaded when I look around now. I think it's sad that we can love someone with our whole heart and build a home with them, and with one careless act, our entire sense of worth is in question.  

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In the end, I guess the lesson is supposed to be "rely on yourself"! 

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This is the part that I feel sounds jaded, when I say that when push comes to shove only you can ever truly take care of you... I never used to feel that way. I used to think 'together all is possible'.  It's not a bad thing at all that it's changed for me, in fact in many ways I like who I am now way more than pre-September. I am more self assured, more independent, more confident and just more comfortable being on my own. 

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I even have my very own friends now. *Gasp!*  Can you believe it?

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That'll teach you about complaining about my lack of writing , won't it?  Hehehe....