the umbrella stroller

I recently wrote about how I spent my grandma's christmas money on a braun hand blender when I was in middle school. It was a smart purchase as I still use that kitchen gadget today. Turns out, I was pretty brilliant in choosing my gifts from grandma and seem to have kept the future in mind. Because when I was in 5th grade a picked out this umbrella stroller with my grandma and grandpa's christmas money and used to wheel my dolls around in it. Now, 20 years later, I am wheeling my baby around. Talk about bang for your buck!

special toast

My mom was over on Tuesday and Wednesday helping take care of me. We knew I was getting better when I asked her to make me Special Toast. It's the staple on-the-mend food in my family: cinnamon and sugar toast cut into strips. It's the cutting into strips that makes it Special Toast. Otherwise it would just be cinnamon toast. It is unbelievably good when your tummy is completely empty and your appetite begins to come back.

Thanks so much for all of the well wishes and kind emails and phone calls. Yesterday turned into a lovely day of reconnecting and telling everyone all about the crystals that are floating around in my ears. (That's what causes vertigo...isn't that so wierd?!!) I turned a corner early in the evening yesterday and today I'm seeing the world right side up again.

vertigo

I’ve been out of commission the past few days with vertigo.

My eyes couldn’t make sense of what I was seeing. All four walls were spinning around, the ceiling and floor were swinging into each other and the windows, art, closet, tv and furniture were whipping around in the midst of it all. Everything seemed to move far away and then zoom up close and all the while my eyes were trying to connect the pictures back to the walls, attach the lights back on the ceiling and place the shoes back on the floor. But nothing would stick.

It felt like eight nightmarish hours of being stuck on some sickening ride at a crappy midway.

Rory took me to urgent care after hours of throwing up and hoping for the symptoms to lessen. I kept my eyes shut most of the time, but opened them while crossing over highway 62 and all cars I saw looked like they were swinging far, far away and then slingshot back in my face.

When we got to urgent care, Rory ran in to get me a wheel chair. He came out with a wheel chair that would easily fit three of me, making every doorway was nearly impossible to clear. In some comedic twist, I sat in the chair miserable, dry heaving and spinning uncontrollably, while Rory banged multiple times on multiple doorways trying to get my wide self to clear the frame.

I spent the last 48 hours doing special exercises in an attempt to get all the parts of my inner ear back in order. I still don’t walk around without having furniture close by to hold on to and thanks to my mom and Rory, Ivar is being well cared for.

All this to say. Ish. I hope this is a one-time bout with vertigo and would wish this upon no one. Ish, ish, ish.

image source: here

garden sticks

I found this idea in a Martha magazine. Our markers in the garden are lilac branches that are peeled just a bit with a vegetable peeler in order to make a flat surface to write what has been planted where. We're excited for this project to come full circle when we can use that same vegetable peeler to peel our carrots!

the happiest news to share

Svea and Ivar are going to get to hang out a whole lot more in the very near future. It makes me so happy I could cry. When we first heard the news I literally did a happy dance...spooked the baby, full body in motion, singing "They're coming home to Minnesota! Home to Minnesota!"

That's right: my sister Annika and her family are moving from Montana to Minnesota. You can read all about it on her blog. I know it will be sad to leave Montana, but let it be known I could not be anymore excited, thrilled and happy about this change of scenery for the Larson Family! And for these babies to grow up together!