One week in to 2010.

Today was kinda my new years day.  My mother-in-law left yesterday and it was very emotional.  Z had been sick with what seemed to be the flu for three days and so I ended up helping her get ready to leave and taking her to the airport.  She had been here for a month, and it was a lovely visit, though somewhat tiring for this introvert who needs a lot of quiet time.

She has had some mysterious illness for the past seven months.  She's lost over 40 pounds, is weak, and has, let's call them, digestive issues. She has no desire to eat, and everything goes straight through her. She has been through the gamut of tests, but strangely, not assessed for gluten intolerance.  My guess is that that is what she has.  We got her off wheat for the last few days she was here and she said that a lot of her abdominal pain lessened.  But she also trialed Immodium before her flight so that could have helped as well.  Anyway, despite her illness, she cooked like a fiend while she was here, and kept me busy helping her in the kitchen, getting her Turkish soaps on the computer for her, and shopping for more food to cook!  It was a great month, and while she is feeling her mortality, I hope to see her again soon.

When I got home last night, I kind of collapsed on the sofa for a couple of hours and had Alex drive Michael to his tuba lesson.  I dragged myself into bed and continued my reading of The Experimental Man by David Ewing Duncan (more about that in a future post.)  I spent most of this morning reading the papers, cleaning the kitchen, and booking our trip to Rome over Easter!

Yes, it's booked and paid for, and  I am so excited I could shout.  Z has been to Rome a number of times;  his uncle was an Archbishop representing his (Syrian Catholic) church at the Vatican in his later years, and Z spent time with him there.  We are going for eight days, over Easter, and will be staying in a hotel halfway between the Vatican and the Piazza del Popolo (left).   Z knows a retired Cardinal who lives at the Vatican and we're hoping to get to see him while we're there.

My resolutions are going pretty well.  I'll post more about them tomorrow, but let's just say I'm on track, even with the newly added hypertension-related ones (although it's only been two days of one cup of coffee and no booze!)