Happy 2009!

We had a fantastic Christmas that we hosted this year! My mom and Ian's parents joined us while my brother and his fiance stayed in NY for their Christmas. To start, we had beet salad with goat cheese and walnuts (minus the walnut for me), then continued with a whole roast of beef tenderloin, roasted potatoes, brussel sprouts, green beans, English stuffing, and bernaisse sauce on the side. To finish, we had a delicious peanut butter chocolate pie and Christmas (English) pudding. We drank lots of mimosas and wine and talked and laughed lots. It was quite lovely.



What was supposed to be my fabulous break from school has turned into something a little less than fabulous. Last Friday, I woke up with lots of pain in my back. By night time, I was very uncomfortable and started with major nausea. To Patient First we went where they determined I have another kidney infection and now a kidney stone. Now, I'm feeling better, not 100% but better. But it did require us to change our trip plans. We had planned on going on a big road trip to the New England area to visit my cousins and great aunt, then to Rochester to visit Lauren, then onto Hoboken to visit my brother and meet his fiance's family. We canceled the first leg of the trip and headed to Rochester once the kidney infection seemed to clear up a bit. We had a lovely time there and spent lots of time indoors after 14 inches of snow falling there on our first night. I then woke up with a cold that I seem to be getting over now. But all in all, Rochester was fantastic! Then we were off to Hoboken to visit my brother for a night. We met his fiance's family and it was great to see them all together.

We're glad to be home and have our pup back! Tomorrow, I head to a kidney specialist to figure out what is going on. This is about my 4th or 5th kidney infection in 2 years. They now suspect that I may have something wrong with the adrenal gland which attaches to the kidney. It controls many processes, including potassium, carb and sodium intake. This could also be why I have gained a whopping 17 pounds over the past several months for no apparent reason. Even with working out a few times per week and eating normally, I can't seem to stop gaining. Hoping tomorrow will give me some answers!

I have lots more to recap...I'll save more for my next post. In the meantime, I'm enjoying a very lazy Monday at home with Tessa!