And just like that we welcome 2019. Can you believe we just rang in the new year? I find each year is going faster and faster well, at least the summers are. There is so much anticipation for the holiday season and in a flash they are over and it’s the new year. How was your 2018? What did you learn? Are you ready to welcome 2019?
As the 2018 came to and end I took some time to really reflect on the year. What was good and what was bad. What happened that I wanted to leave behind and what did I learn that I hope to grow from as I welcome 2019. For me health was a big issue.
I started 2018 not feeling well, thinking I had a stomach bug.
I spent weeks going from doctor to doctor, blood tests too many to count. Two colonoscopies, an endoscopy, new diets and no diagnosis until I remembered a guest who stayed with us when we owned our B&B in Maine. He is a gastroenterologist in NYC so off I went with all my test results and without doing anything except reading my reports he had 3 ideas of what my problem was and bingo he was right. SIBO – small intestine bacteria over growth is not easy to cure and took me about 9 months to manage it. You never who you will meet when you own a B&B and I am very thankfully for knowing Dr Kavaler. At the same time as the SIBO diagnosis I also found out that I lost 13% of my bone density in one year, not good. They believe that this was caused by SIBO. My next health issue was being diagnosed with a melanoma in November. I have body checks twice a year after having my first melanoma when I was 16.. Thankfully my dermatologist found the “surface” melanoma during my routine body check. Needless to say I am so grateful to be in good health today!
What I learned from my illnesses in 2018 as I focus on welcoming 2019
I need to find more time to reduce the stress in my life first and foremost. Second was to never take for granted good health and good health insurance! So as I welcome 2019 I am trying to plan how to take better care of me! This will not be easy for me especially during the summer months when my like is most hectic but I am hoping to find a routine I can stick to.
Front of White Fences Water Mill
As I reflect on owning White Fences Inn for three years
I am most grateful for how many returning guests we have each year. There is nothing more gratifying than seeing familiar faces return each year. I can honestly say we look forward to summer most of all because of the amount of guests that return. We will welcome 2019 with guests returning from Liverpool, English (3rd summer with us), New Zealand (2nd summer with us), Kuwait (this guest comes 2x a year) plus all the local guests that will be joining us for their forth summer with us! It would be nice if mother nature would bring us more sunshine this summer. 2018 turned out to be 5th wettest year for New York. We like rain for our beautiful hydrangeas but don’t need to be the 5th wettest year in history.