Generations on the Beach

Helloooo!

We got back from Mexico 11 days ago and I uploaded these pictures before we even got on the plane home with every intention of writing a recap and yet, here we are.

School is done, Claire is 15, my colon has been flushed out, scoped, and declared "beautiful" (celiac biopsy results pending), Landon has a job, and Cora needs more to do (I didn't sign her up for a single thing this summer and I probably should have, but she also thinks having nothing to do is pretty great), Milo's blood pressure is under control, Moose would like us all to get out of his house during the day, and Maggie had a terrible ear infection but is also still completely perfect. It's Father's Day and we celebrated James and it was wonderful, but we'll catch up on all that later. For now, let's go back to Mexico for our first ever full Rice Family Beach Vacation!

You guys, it was perfect.

The flights, the transfer, the hotel, the food, the rooms, the pools, the beach, the boat, the weather, and the people. We could not have asked for more.

My dear friend and travel planning goddess Kaleigh helped my parents plan the trip through her company The Shameless Tourist. We stayed at the Garza Blanca all-inclusive resort in Cancun. Only about 30 minutes from the airport, with a great piece of the beach, awesome pools, delicious food, and friendly staff, we all had swim-up suites right next to each other and it was so fun.

It was like we were all temporary neighbors in a sitcom version of the world with free 24 hour room-service and the happiest children.

We all arrived from our various origin points on Saturday afternoon. We settled in, the kids freaked out about our rooms, and the Rice Ladies convened poolside to supervise the various shenanigans.

Val, me and our hot tiny mama!

After much playtime in the pool and ocean, we gathered for a big group dinner that was so delicious. The resort really did an incredible job with our big group. We had a reservation for 16 every night and the staff always served us family style with all the tastiest things. I have no notes, it was all so fun and great and easy.

Sunday was a play day. Landon was up before sunrise to get in a workout, because he is crazy and so dedicated and I love that about him.

All eight cousins (my kids are 17, 15, and 11; my sister's girls are 9, 6, and 4; and my brother's twins are almost-4; we each had our kids in phases!) played so so well together.

This is my blog so I'll brag on my kids and how much they love playing with their (much!) younger cousins. I was also an oldest cousin and I... did not like being relegated to the kids' table when I was in my teens and they were elementary aged. My kids genuinely do and I love that about them.

And look at these faces, their cousins ADORE them.

Wade (3; the youngest cousin and the only other grandson, born 14 years after Landon!) adores his "Lan-nan" and really fell in love with the concept of a swim-up bar.

I can't even tell you how many strawberry drinks he had. He couldn't tell you either.

Not to say we didn't ALL enjoy the swim up bar.

That night was our family pictures. My sister, brother, and I gifted our parents with the photo session for Christmas and they turned out so well! The wind was a challenge and we're a LOT (16 people strong) and certain cousins were more into smiling on command than others, but the photorapher did such a great job.

I love all of them so much. My mom has already printed a dozen and framed them throughout the house.

On Monday we had a private boat charter that I'd helped my parents arrange.

We lucked out with some magical weather and incredibly smooth water.

I was kind of in love with my outfit. It was one of the swim suits and cover-ups that I bought on my Everything But Water birthday shopping spree and I felt so good and confident.

I'm all about a bargain, but I will say that this suit- the first one I've ever paid more than $30 for- fit SO well and made me feel so good. The top is size DD+, instead of a S/M/L, and that meant it actually fit well/tightly around my body AND supported/held in my DD+ chest. And given that I vacillated between my desire to eat all the gluten and look good in a bikini (and the gluten definitely won), that meant a lot.

We took a nice sail to Playa Norte beach on Isla Mujeres.

Then we jumped and played in some ridiculously cerulean water.

That night was another great meal (seriously we've never had food that good at an all-inclusive).

Landon finished up his 6 plates of food with an extra order of room service after dinner and a stop at the gelato stop.

Tuesday was our last full day and we didn't have a thing planned. The boys ended up chartering a fishing trip and Landon was so excited to go (James was just as excited to stay back; he gets super sea sick).

Landon had decided the week before we left that he was a fisherman (more about that in the next catch-up post) and he had the best time. The waves were ROUGH, we're so lucky our group boat tour was the day before, but the guys caught some enormous barracudas and had an awesome time.

We ladies (+ all the cousins who are not Landon + James!) had a great time back at the resort too, splashing and playing and doing water aerobics.

James attracted quite a following with his swim practices and ended up chatting with a former college swimmer who lives in Dallas and her dad. He always finds his people.

That night was our final dinner, up on the rooftop restaurant that ended up being our favorite meal of the trip!

We celebrated Claire's birthday as a surprise and it was just a perfect way to end.

I feel like I should have more words to type about the trip, because it really was so completely wonderful, but I think that sums it up. An all-inclusive resort, where every family has their own suite, where everyone can be together but no one is the host, no one has to cook or clean, and all the cousins can splash and play from sun-up to sun-down... there's really just nothing better.

As my mom said, "you look forward to something for so long, and you just hope it's almost as good as you envisioned, but then this was so much better." My parents decided to treat us to this adventure when my grandpa passed and they knew my grandmother wouldn't be far behind. The two of the worked ad saved and budgeted their whole lives on a military salary and built up a small estate to pass on to their children. My mom wanted to use some of her portion to do something 100% for the family, that we could all enjoy and treasure, because there is nothing my grandparents loved more than family. I wish so much I could have texted my grandpa the pictures from this trip, but I also know he was smiling down on us as we played and laughed and loved.

Big thanks to Papa and Gigi for such a special few days, we love you and this whole family so much.

Celiac Disease: A New Diagnosis

So, as I always try to remember is true for everyone I interact with each day, there have been some things going on in the background of my life.

One of them is continued stomach aches and GI issues frequently and urgently popping up at inopportune times and seeming without regard to what I've eaten or how I've acted before. Also the chronic yeast infections I fought for years, while MUCH improved since going off hormonal birth control (and thus initiating a chain of events that ended in a tubal ligectomy + ablation and then a full hysterectomy), are not entirely gone despite doing ALL the things you are supposed to do to prevent them. In addition, the occasional heartburn and bloating remain present, along with brittle nails, random patches of eczema or psoriasis, and rosacea.

Thanks to an abdominal CT scan during an executive physical last year, it was discovered that my gallbladder was "packed full" of gallstones. This came as a shock to me since I'd never felt any pain from the stones or had many of the expected symptoms from them. However, after discussing it with my doctor and a surgeon, and noting that I did indeed have GI issues, heartburn, and bloating, and taking into account that a gallbladder as "packed full" as mine can become gangrenous and necrotic and cause a far more emergent situation, particularly while traveling, we decided to have it removed and that surgery was done last fall. And yet, my symptoms haven't really changed? If anything, they recently got worse.

Which brings me to the GI specialist initial appointment I had two weeks ago. The doctor who oversaw my executive physical strongly recommended a colonoscopy as early as insurance would cover given my many GI concerns and the sharp rise in colon cancer among young adults. He recommended a particular doctor in Dallas, who I then failed to contact for many months, and then had a many month waiting list once I finally did.

My appointment was May 8th. I liked the doctor very much. He was attentive, asked a lot of questions, and listened to all my answers. He showed me pictures and charts to explain what he was telling me, and as a fully visual learner, I appreciated this very much. He let me know that 1 out of 100 gallbladder removal patients experience bile acid malabsorption which could be the cause of my recent increased issues. There's a daily pill that often works to fix that, so we're giving it a try. Then he ordered a few tests to rule out other things while we wait to see if the pill fixes the potential bile issue.

One of the tests was a celiac blood panel. It was a relatively small blood draw, done immediately following my appointment, and the results were back in two days. My result for Gliadin AB IGA and IGG were high. My Tissue Transglutaminase Antibody IGG result was normal, while my Tissue Transglutaminase Antibody IGA result was well over 100, more than 10x the normal upward limit.

In other words, I almost certainly have Celiac Disease. Celiac is an autoimmune disorder where your immune system attacks the tissue of your small intesting when you eat gluten, causing damage to the villi, leading to malabsorption of nutrients and numerous other issues (issues like literally everything that's been wrong with me). The only real treatment is to stop ingesting gluten in any form.

While my blood work values are such that a definitive diagnosis could be made based on them alone, my doctor is concerned about certain additional conditions I could have and wants to do an upper endoscopy, take duodenal biopsies, and do a colonoscopy to get a look and a baseline. I'm scheduled for June 12th and have been told to NOT change my diet until after that procedure.

Honestly this is something of a relief as I feel like I have some times to mentally adjust to a big change and permission (indeed, an order!) from a medical professional to spend 30 days saying goodbye to my favorite glutenous foods. A gluten farewell tour, if you will. So I've been eating normally (i.e., not going carb crazy), but very intentionally savoring every bite of the perfect bagel I ate in NYC, my very favorite pizza for dinner last Friday, and the best grilled cheese in Dallas while my mom was here to shop. This is also why James surprised me with the reservation to our favorite Italian restaurant and that small plate of Cacio e Pepe was everything I needed it to be.

I was going to wait to write about this until after the June 12th procedures so I could be certain, but the truth is the blood work is pretty conclusive and my brain is busy processing this now and writing has always helped with that. If my biopsy comes back with a different result after June 12, then I'll process that through writing too. After I got the panel results back I asked my doctor how likely it was I did not have celiac (i.e., can I spend this time researching the disease and mentally preparing myself?), and he said there was almost no chance I do not have it and if research brings me more comfort than anxiety then I should feel free to start.

So I think we all know I IMMEDIATELY dove into research (which I would have done anyway, but I was curious how my doctor would handicap my chances of a "nevermind! continue eating all the gluten forever!" end result). And it has brought me some comfort. It has also answered MANY MANY things that have been problematic and/or mysterious about my body for the last 20+ years.

Like my chronic yeast infections and the painful allergic reaction that developed in response to them, my frequently shitty immune system, my lifelong GI issues, my surprise gallstones, my headaches, my frequent mouth sores that constantly appear even though I barely eat any sugar or candy anymore, my skin rashes, my frequently low levels of vitamins in my blood work, and more. It's so much that I alternate between relief at the idea of future improvement and fury that I never had this simple blood test before. I have seen so many doctors for so many years. Relief and fury, indeed.

I am comforted by the close friends I have who have been living a gluten-free life with Celiac Disease for years. I know it can be done and I know there have never been more gluten-free options than there are now. But I'm also in mourning. I know it will be fine, but I also love Cheez-Its and bread and pizza and pasta and cookies and CHEEZ-ITS and I will miss them.

It made me feel better when, during our dinner date at Nonna on Saturday night, I mentioned to James that I was a little sad to be eating my last plate of classic Cacio e Pepe. "Oh I'd be devastated," James immediately replied, holding my hand and giving it a squeeze. "I'm being positive for you, but all the best things have gluten. I would be so sad." And I felt seen. This man who seems to be able to adjust his diet at will- to cut out foods he thinks make him feel bad, to add in foods he doesn't like because they make him healthier, to stop drinking alcohol for a decade at a time because he wanted to see how it would feel- this man who cut out all candy and desserts when he decided to get back into competitive swimming as an adult, who stopped eating most gluten a year ago when he decided it made him feel better. THIS MAN would be emotional, devastated, depressed... I really did feel better.

So that's where I'm at. I'm truly largely just relieved and excited about how much better I think I'm going to feel in the future. I'm energized by the challenge- I love change, and I love all the reading and thought and work that goes into one. I'm aware of how small a change like this is in perspective to the health issues of so many others. But I'm also sad? There are alternatives to all my favorite things (well, maybe not cheez-its), but those alternatives are just that- alternatives. Stand-ins. By definition, not the original. Everywhere I go I look at the menu or the conference room food service station and assess the gluten-free options. Sometimes they aren't great.

James is all in on support. He does nearly all the cooking will adjust our menus accordingly. The kids are on gluten watch and constantly telling me when they come across it in the wild (constantly, this is constant). I'm reading and learning and mentally adjusting every meal I see to what it will need to be in the future. I'm bracing myself to have to answer "yes" when the server asks if there are any allergies or sensitivities they need to be aware of, and having to potentially turn down well-intentioned food or treats made or served to me (this is more horrifying than almost anything else). I worry a little about all our future travels and the additional awareness and research that will need to go into all of it and the fact that I will not be able to dive face-first into the fluffy pita plate like I did when we finally got to eat after landing in Egypt.

But! I am largely relieved and optimistic. I'm currently on a plane flying home from a trip to DC (my take on the airport's gluten-free options was they were few and unimpressive) and would love to know any stories, resources, recipe blogs or books, and/or anything else that might be helpful. I've got 21 days until my biopsy and I would like to have read the entirety of the trustworthy part of the internet and feel more prepared by then!

[hand waving hello emoji]

It was 101 degrees today with 110% humidity and school is about to be out, so I guess summer is here.

This makes me very crabby, but James made me a surprise reservation at our favorite Italian restaurant in Dallas last night and I wore this beautiful new Rag & Bone vest I bought at the underground Marshall's for $69 (price tag still on it for $425) and turns out, if you don't put a shirt under them, vests can be date-night-classy-sexy and I had no idea.

Also, I cut many inches off of my hair and I think I love it? The kids and James are unsure, but it feels sharp and sassy and I like that for me. Especially in summer when I hate almost everything else.

In summer I enjoy having big kids who don't need camps and who make their own meals and sleep in and let me get ready for work in serene calm with only my cup of tea and a snuggly cat. That is nice. I also enjoy having friends over to swim or sit by the pool and drink a frozen margarita. I also enjoy the lack of school events and deadlines and times I have to say to one of my children "oh, and what is your plan to prepare for that?" I enjoy the summer program at the firm where dozens of bright eyed and bushy tailed law students descend upon the firm for fancy events and free lunches and a little bit of work I don't have to bill my clients for.

But I hate everything else. Which I guess is really just the heat. I hate it. I hate it so, so much. I am already mad about it and it's just getting started. Why do I live here? I wonder this constantly from May to October. I will leave as soon as Cora graduates high school.

Anyway, that little rant was brought to you by how soaking wet and sweaty I was from sitting in my backyard, in the shade, under a fan to watch Cora and a gaggle of her friends swim for an hour. I had to change out of the clothes I had just put on before I sat down. The worst. But I'm inside now, post-2nd-shower-of-the-day and taking a few moments to blog, so things are looking up. Let's get to the good stuff, which is basically everything except the weather (and federal government. and state, if you live here, ANYWAY.).

A couple of weeks ago I took some clients on a retreat with a few of my fellow female partners to Lake Austin Spa & Resort and it was LOVELY.

Before I left I cut my hair (as mentioned above), which freaked me out a little at the time, and bought this amazingly soft denim maxi skirt that will be my new favorite travel item. (I put this outfit together all by myself and was so proud.)

The resort area is so beautiful, the weather was perfect, I had a fabulous facial, we rode on a boat along Lake Austin before dinner, ate great food, and drank too much wine.

I never, ever drink too much at firm events. I usually don't even drink at firm events at all. But give me some badass women in a small group and a fire pit with chairs and blankets along a lake and apparently I will drink all the wine ever. But I had no regrets. At least not until my alarm went off for the 8 am Cardio HIIT class I signed up for that was immediately followed by a 9 am Bootcamp class. My balance was crap for the HIIT and the jumps made me want to die, but I felt pretty good by the bootcamp!

We played Mahjong on the second night and I still loved it. I also still lost every game. But it was a wonderful two days! As always when I'm away, Claire kept me up on all her most important news.

When I got back on Sunday afternoon I went straight to Cora's final White Rock Games field day event. Her team raced their way to multiple gold medals and it was so fun. She's a fast little runner and I can't wait until she can start doing track with her school in 7th grade.

After a hot and sweaty afternoon, I treated myself to a full reorganizing of Cora's room and closet. Her stacks of books were growing out of control, so we bought her a little bookcase (the giant one we had built into the gameroom wall across from her room being "too far away") and she is so happy.

Ta da! It made me happy too. And my meticulous girl who is also somehow a hoarder and bookworm who is always reading five at a time may even keep it clean for a few days.

Landon spent the whole weekend completing his lifeguard training. He is now certified to blow this whistle any time he wants. And can also rescue adults and children, perform first aid, and give CPR. He is already working shifts at our local YMCA on the weekends between swim practices and I'm proud of him for jumping into the world of employment with very little nudging from me. My first job was also being a lifeguard at the YMCA between morning and afternoon summer swim practices in the summer. But hopefully he'll wear a lot more sunscreen than I did...

My mom came for a quick visit on Thursday. She was going to be in town for 22 hours and this is how she packed. In some ways we are very similar, but in other ways we are VERY different. [I'm now typing this from my hotel room in DC where I will be for 3 days and I only have my little carry-on suitcase and a purse.]

We had the BEST time doing some bargain shopping at the clearance Dillards, TJ Maxx, and Marshall's. I got a couple of really cute things for summer (like that vest!) and a dress to wear for our family pictures in Mexico- huzzah! I also put together this outfit all by myself to wear out shopping and immediately sent it to Bonnie and Ayron to let them know I'm blossoming under their tutelage.

Landon took his second of four AP tests while my mom was here and I snagged a quick picture of him when he got home from school. He is so big! And Gigi is so tiny!

That weekend was Mother's Day and it was lovely. I hung out with some friends, worked out (I've worked out EVERY DAY in April and May so far!), read, worked a little, lazed a lot... we went out for brunch on Sunday after Landon's swim practice and it was fun and delicious.

The kids all bought or made me cards and picked out thoughtful presents.

It's just a special sweet day. Man do I love being their mom. And it just gets better. Harder in some ways, but so fun and dynamic and gratifying in so many others. It's also just physically easier and that is nice.

When I got back from the client trip to Austin on Sunday afternoon we all went out to Gloria's for a patio dinner. Claire had been studying so hard all weekend for some tests she had coming up (she currently has all A's and is just KILLING IT in school and we are so so proud of her; it's been a journey), Landon had been at training all day for 3 days, and Cora had just finished her races, and we all met at the restaurant coming from different directions and it just made happy down to my toes. I used to worry that the wonderful family time we enjoyed when the kids were little would come to an end as they got bigger. But when we all converged on the patio that night, in perfect weather, with queso and guac and the best bean dip in all the land, a we laughed and talked and laughed and caught up, I was reminded that the big kid years are pretty great too.

I spent much of the next week in NYC and DC and now I'm in DC again, but I snapped this picture out my car window when I was driving down my street on my way home from work one day last week. A rainbow, right over my street and our home.

Even in 101 degrees, life is pretty good.