The day after - an update on a few things

I'd post pictures of our Christmas, but our house is a gift disaster right now. The amount of empty boxes and garbage bags full of wrapping paper is unreal. We'll have to make a trip to the dump...literally. That was the nice thing about living in an apartment, having a dumpster that was emptied several times a week. We're hosting the New Year's Eve party this year so I guess I better get busy!

Now that Christmas is over I can focus on some things that haven't had top priority on my blog. I had an MRI last Thursday and the results came back on Friday. I have three herniated discs; L4, L5 and S1. Not good. I called today to schedule an appointment with a specialist and I'm a little disenchanted with the whole thing. I don't want surgery until every other possible conservative treatment is tried. The lady who took my call was telling me surgery would be necessary (who was she, anyways...a receptionist? Give me a break!). I know that she has probably been instructed to say some things, but she does not have a med school background, or I don't think she would be answering the phone to schedule my appointment. The place I called came highly recommended, too. I just feel a little lost about the whole thing. I have an appointment there next Tuesday. I am also calling two other places tomorrow, it is something worth getting a few different opinions on. I want things fixed, but surgery just seems next to impossible. Recovering while taking care of my girls would just be a nightmare, I am sure!

I received some awesome Christmas gifts! I think some of my friends and family must be reading my blog. Thanks Mom and Chels for the awesome package at the spa. I also got a gift certificate to the same spa from Aaron and my brother-in-law. Yay...some alone time - with pampering included! Aaron got me a new digital camera with lots of fun features that I have no idea how to use. I'll figure it out. I also got an external hard drive for all of our media files, Adobe Photoshop Elements 5, a few gift certificates to the movie theatre and local restaurants we like. Aaron had to work yesterday and my mom offered to watch the babies while I took Maddie home for a nap. That was great! We slept for 2 1/2 hours. Maddie needed it as much as I did. The babies actually slept through the night last night, too. Merry Christmas to me! :)

I am meeting up with some friends for lunch tomorrow, I'm looking forward to that. I also have a friend from high school who is in town (from Iowa) for the holidays, we're getting together later this week. We had breakfast with a bunch of our friends this morning. It's a somewhat unique group of friends - most of us grew up in the same neighborhood together. We have a lot of childhood memories in common and know many of the same people. It's really fun. They are like family to us and we love them so much! I love that this time of year allows so many opportunities to spend time with the special people in our lives.