Remember last week when I said I’d help 14 celiacs in 14 days? Did you notice that I only made it through 7 days? Are you curious what happened?
Well…on day 8, I realized that right now the celiac that needs the most help is ME.
I’m tired. I’m burnt. I’m toast. And frankly, my blog the past month or so has sucked because of it. Put it all together and after 568 blog posts, the blogging gods are telling me to take a break.
It’s been a grind lately. Been dealing with sciatica for 3 weeks. Beyond painful. Trying to take my business to the next level. Beyond stressful. Trying to build a new business. Beyond difficult. Trying to answer the tons of Gluten Dude emails I receive. Beyond time-consuming. No time with Mrs. Dude. Beyond frustrating.
I’ve also had a falling out with someone who used to be a huge presence on this blog. Things are just weird right now and my creative juices simply stopped flowing. I found myself writing a blog post just to write a blog post. I found myself wondering if people will “like” what I write. And that so ain’t me. This site is not about getting traffic. It’s about entertaining people. It’s about calling out the media. It’s about helping my fellow celiacs. It’s about educating the masses. It’s about sharing a part of me. It’s all of those things. And I can’t do that feeling the way I currently feel. Heck…even replying to a comment can sometimes seem like a gargantuan effort. Yes…it’s time for a break.
So I’m heading on vacation next week. Seven days of fun, sun, food and Mrs. Dude should put me back in good spirits and get my juices flowing again.
Until then, please continue to use the forum. It’s up to 550 registered users and is growing nicely. I’d like to think this site can help the community even if I’m not personally involved for a short time.
Have a great week everyone. See you on the other side.
Gluten Dude
Digital detox is so important! Have an amazing time! Xoxo
Digital detox…I LOVE that!!!
I’ve done digital detox. It will help! Hope things get better for you, dude. I know how it is. Been in a major funk myself.
Wait. Gluten dude’s name is Scott? Gluten dude has a name?? Mind. Blown.
🙂
My mind is actually blown. I have been wondering his name for years.
Enjoy the vacation! We’ll be here when you get back. Also, you might want to consider asking for volunteers to go through the e-mail backlog. Some of us would be more than happy to answer the most common questions for you, and flag the more complex or interesting ones for you to feature on the blog.
That’s a great idea but I don’t want to put the onus on someone else. I have hundreds of emails to get through still. I’m thinking of a way to integrate it into my site somehow so people can get quicker answers. Not sure how just yet.
Gluten Dude, rest well. I so appreciate you and all you do to form community. Gratefully yours, Barbara
Very kind Barbara….graci.
thanks for all you do dude!
You are valued and appreciated by SOOO many people. I hope you have a great vaca!!!
Thanks JennO.
I hope you feel better. I would kindly suggest that in the future you resist getting drawn into B.S. You are not obliged respond to every snarky comment. I know how hard it is not to sometimes but it only perpetuates the B.S. If someone is being a troll, delete and block them for all of us. Done. No-one wants to read that kind of negative stuff anyway except other trolls.
And please take care of yourself! Maybe giving up grains for a while is a good idea. I felt way better off of them and then kinda went nuts and have regular back pain as a result for the past couple of months. I’m dropping them again. Not worth it. Have you been checked for cross-reactive foods? Some of my cross-reactives developed after being gluten-free for a couple of years – eggs, basmati rice, etc.
Good luck! Great time for a break. Enjoy your holidays!
Stay away from my eggs and sushi 😉
I’ve actually cut way down on grains. And I’ll cut down on the BS also.
You. Deserve. It. Don’t even think twice.
Not sure about “deserving” it any more than anybody else. But I’ll take it. Thanks Erica.
BTW…no idea how you do it. Twitter parties, contest, giveaways, conferences, etc. I get exhausted just following you 😉
I’d honestly recommend a SM/blog detox for the rest of the year… just my two cents, but Christmas becomes far too busy for many of us, adding all of this to the pile and you’ll be back right where you are now. Exhausted. Depleted. Take some good time to be with your family and don’t worry about feeling you have to support everyone else. It’s ok to remove yourself for a bit, we can handle it! 😉 We ALL need this, may we all take a moment to think about what’s important this Christmas. Family, friends (in real life, no offense to online friends) and health. Merry Christmas Dude, and to Mrs. Dude and the rest of your family. Take care.
Not sure if I’ll make it through the holidays, but we’ll see Christa. Family and friends first for sure…right after money. Totally kidding.
Have a wonderful holiday. Thanks for all you do, enjoy your friends and family. Get a massage!
Am trying to book a 90 minute massage as we speak. Ahhhhhhhh…
All right everybody! Get in crash positions!
http://youtu.be/a5QBuJla5do
I was thinking about you this morning before I read this and was wondering how you juggle everything.
Put the mask on (or put the straw in the drink) and breath!
Enjoy your vacation!
Thanks for the laugh. I am assuming crash position. And don’t call me Shirley.
I do so understand! Time to unplug and have some fun.
Have a great time!
Thanks Carol. I know I owe you an article too. Sorry I’m late.
Dude – I totally get it. It’s not that you are “just” a blogger, you run a business and a cause and help other people with health issues. And when you get in your own way, it’s not helping anyone. One of the biggest soap boxes I stand on with my blog is to “take care of yourself” and trust me, I know that is the most difficult advice to take personally. Best wishes to you and Mrs. Dude on your vacation. You have a lot of support and we all want you to be healthy and well so that you can support us! Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help! Holly
Thanks tons Holly. Love the title of your blog. You’ve got a new fan.
My prescription, of your description (for what ails you) . . . would be just that – R & R. A little downtime is good for the soul (and the soulmate, as it were). Re-charge. Let go. We’ll be here on the flipside.
Shrevie: Ok, now ask me what’s on the flip side.
Beth: Why?
Shrevie: Just, just ask me what’s on the flip side, OK?
Beth: What is on the flip side?
Shrevie: Hey, Hey, Hey, 1958. Specialty Records.
[Beth nods blankly]
Shrevie: See? You don’t ask me things like that, do you? No! You never ask me what’s on the flip side.
Beth: No! Because I don’t give a shit. Shrevie, who cares about what’s on the flip side about the record?
Shrevie: I do! Every one of my records means something! The label, the producer, the year it was made. Who was copying whose style… who’s expanding on that, don’t you understand? When I listen to my records they take me back to certain points in my life, OK? Just don’t touch my records, ever! You! The first time I met you? Modell’s sister’s high school graduation party, right? 1955. And Ain’t That A Shame was playing when I walked into the door!
Thank you for all the effort you put into keeping us all safe. Have some good rest. Do what you want when you want and know that you have a great purpose in life. Fill up your chi and get back to us in the new year. We need your BS…aka…love and concern!!!
I can’t even imagine how you do it all! Enjoy the well-deserved rest. And I sure hope the back improves soon. Pain makes everything exponentially harder.
I am brand new to the celiac journey- just got diagnosed a few weeks ago at 40. Undiagnosed for so long that I’ve got other issues going on too.
I’ve been loving this website and reading on the forum. I’ve got so many questions and it’s great to find answers here. Enjoy your break and thanks so much for all you’ve done here!
I swear when I first read your comment, I thought the last sentence said “enjoy your bread”. Yep…I need a vacation 🙂
Get back to feeling better dude! I noticed I was in a huge slump for a good month too and I wasn’t liking my writing. Heck, even now I’m still not liking in. I’m taking a break for a week or so to get my creativity back too so I hope it does the same for you. Enjoy your vacation and “see you” when you get back!
Thanks Taylor…it’s amazing what stress can do to your creativity. We’ll both be back in no time (fingers crossed).
Hope you enjoy the well deserved vacation Dude!
All my best to you & Mrs Dude!!!
Although I never saw if you heard back from Tio Don,
I may lift a wee dram of 1942 in your honor while you’re out…
“Ow, we want the funk
Give up the funk
Ow, we need the funk
We gotta have that funk
La la la la la
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo, owww” — Parliament
“Take a little trip, take a little trip
Take a little trip and see
Take a little trip, take a little trip
Take a little trip with me” — Low Rider — WAR
If that ain’t some funk, I don’t know funk!
Love that second song Hap. Cheers!
Thanks Dude.
Ha ha – me too on 2nd song!
I just added the first song’s lyrics for those who might not recognize that the second song was from a “major funk” band…
Hope you & Mrs Dude have a great time!
Have some really good down time – you’ve given us all the confidence to do without you for a while. You must know about tennis balls for sciatica (though I frankly prefer my fist, b/c I can tell exactly where I need pressure!). Merry Christmas, and don’t come back until next year!
Gluten Dude
Thank you for all you do.
Merry Christmas and Happy New to you and yours!
Scrolling down through previous comments to leave my comment to wish you a good, restful, fun, recharging vacation, I had to laugh when I saw all of your comment replies. I thought you were going to unplug 😉 We all need to recharge now and then. I wish you nothing but good and we’ll all still be here when you return!
I’m unplugging…………………………………now.
GD-
Hope you stay true to word and don’t get this until after vacation. This has been one of the roughest years of my life (and there’s been a few). I was put through hell where I work, I was sent to a hack doctor who took away “my made up medical leave”. I was verbally and mentally tortured on an a daily and sometimes hourly basis. I was suspended for almost 900 hours. I fought back and won. Because I am strong. Because I have friends and family like you. Know that.
Love,
Jersey Girl
——————————————————————————————————–
“You break my heart, son. All my life I’ve stood up to everyone and everything, because it made me feel important. You do it… because you mean it.”
Scent of a Woman
Damn JG…sorry to hear my friend. Stay strong. 2016 is just around the corner.
Feel better! When you feel like thinking about celiac stuff again, maybe you’ll want to consider the thing NPR posted about zonulin. It was not very informative, so I read Fasano’s full article, here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3384703/. It feels like the promised land.