End of Christmas Break, end of preparations

Hey everyone! Remember me? Ya, I'm still here. Despite my lack of blogging as of late, I am here to say that I'm alive and well (mostly).
Christmas this year was a wonderful combination of food, friends, and the biggie: RELAXING! We knew for a long time that Joe would need to be studying for his boards over Christmas break and would be spending that time here in Iowa. We made our peace with it long ago, so when the break finally came it was all about celebrating and appreciating the time we have to relax and play and sleeping in our own beds at the end of the day.
It has been a very happy break for us, but the big focus for Joe and I has been preparation for the future. I know this sounds very deep,but its really not that intense i promise. For Joe, obviously he has been studying during the day for his boards that he takes (in the morning actually). Everyday from 9-5 he is studying and preparing himself for this test. The preparation for me has been a little different. For the past 13 months I've been having tummy issues, and just before the break i finally saw a gastroenterologist who informed me that i may have celiacs disease. He told me that my symptoms and blood work indicated that diagnosis, and that he would perform an upper endoscopy to make sure on new years eve. Celiacs disease is basically an intolerance to gluten. In terms that normal people can understand its when you can't eat wheat (bread,pasta,pastries, basically anything made with flour). Knowing this going into the Christmas break, i ate all of those foods while i still could. Don't worry the Dr told me not to change my diet until he'd taken a look at my intestines to make sure. So that's what i did. I mentally prepared myself for the possibility of a gluten free lifestyle starting in 2010. but until that time i was going to gorge myself on lasagna, biscuits and gravy, gyozas, olive garden, Reece's puffs cereal, and anything else i could think of that i may have to go without in the future.
So now its the end of all of our preparations. Joe is taking his boards in the morning. I'm sure he'll do great on his test, and he'll come home either victorious or exhausted or both. For my part (i'm sure you may have guessed) the results of the endoscopy confirmed that i have celiacs. Fortunately, i saw it coming and my preparations have made me feel better about it. i don't have to feel robbed of those foods because i ate everything i wanted until the results came in. now i know whats been going on in my tummy and all i have to do is change my diet. no pills, no surgeries, no shots. just eat rice, meat, or potatoes instead of the pasta and i will no longer have to be on a 13 month long involuntary colon cleanse. its an adjustment for sure, but Joe is wonderful. He told me that we will all just live the gluten free lifestyle as a family. I figure that together we'll just one-up the breaded competition, and maybe shed a few pounds without having to exercise. Wish us luck.