due to popular demand
i've come back. sort of. i know i don't write in this thing like i used to. my mom asked me a few days ago why i never kept a daily journal. it's because i don't *do* anything. "dear diary, today i sat in front of my computer and checked my email. the end". every once in a long while something semi-interesting will happen to me, but not very often.
so let's see, when last we met i was writing about my gallstone saga. it's interesting to note that while i can eat whatever i want pain-free, i still have to watch my fat intake. since there's no gallbladder to catch the extra bile anymore, my liver just dumps it into my lower intestine. if i eat something high in fat (like a big, juicy hamburger), my system sort of flushes itself. i won't go into details, i'm sure imagination can take it from there. but otherwise, i'm healthy as a slightly pudgy horse.
i haven't lost anymore weight, in fact i've gained some, but i've lost another pant size. replacing fat with muscle, methinks, but what do i know? at any rate, i'm sort of hovering at roughly 230 lbs, which is where i've been since i hit the "50 lbs lost" mark about a year ago. enh, at least i'm not a blimp. not where i'd like to be, but i shouldn't complain.
oh right, i said i'd write something about my trip back home. i don't remember much of it. it was a lot like the previous one: fly into Burlington, meander around my mom's for a week or so, hop a plane and fly to kansas. we drove from there to minnesota cuz my brother was restationed (again). he likes the army but i wish they would plop him someplace he likes and just leave him there. so now they live in a little town called Isanti. interesting side note, Isanti was settled by swedish immigrants. back in the older days, a bunch of people left sweden cuz i guess it wasn't swedish enough or something. anyway, they all sort of migrated in a clump to the midwest, scattering across the border into canada. there's an "immigrant" museum in Isanti i think (or near it) and everything. so that's kinda cool i guess.
i spent a lot of that trip in pain cuz of the gallstones, so some of it's a little muddled and fuzzy. the best part was getting to spend a little time with my nephew. he's adorable ^^ he was born Dec 22 2007, 3 months premature. it was touch and go for a long time, but they finally let him go home. i know babies are little, but he was TINY the first time i saw him. i'd share a pic, but i was on pain meds (gallbladder attacks are NOT photo opportunities, i don't care what anyone says) so i look stoned out of my mind. at any rate, i got some more recent pics of him that i can share. i'll put them at the end of this massive and rambling wall of text.
on the home front, we're getting rid of most of our cows. at least i think we are. i'm proficient enough in swedish to be able to do things like read the newspaper and watch tv, but my father-in-law is somewhere around 75 years old. and he has a southern acccent. don't laugh, it's true. there is actually a swedish version of a southern accent. at any rate, he talks fast and sometimes i don't understand everything he says but by the time i get around to figuring out how to ask him to rephrase it (my mind is like a rusty, broken trap when it comes to thinking in swedish), he's moved on to something else. from what i could understand, we're either selling all the cows except 3, or we're selling 3. i'm pretty sure we're selling all but 3. which kinda sucks, because i didn't get the farmer education i was hoping for (hard to do it when my husband is stubborn and won't come help me learn. i need to beat him again for that), but it's for the best i suppose. i asked my father-in-law why. he said he's too old. fairy nuff. so i told Björn that to make up for my lost education and the fact that i'm losing cows i've helped raise from infants, he needs to buy me the animal of my choice, with the exception being a horse. i don't really know enough about horses to keep one myself and they're expensive. so i'm thinking of going with a pair of pigs, a pair of goats or a pair of donkeys. i keep asking for a hamster but he keeps saying no. i think he's afraid of rodents. wuss.
ok, so that was a lot of catching up and sort of sketchy details at best. when i'm more awake (it's not even 8am) i'll try to remember to come back and write something else. don't expect anything special or exciting. i really don't do much.
and now, :
this is Gavin the day they put him in his new carseat. the hospital staff needed to make sure he would remain in a seated position. believe it or not, that's the smallest carseat on the market. and yes, those are oxygen tubes.
and Gavin's first halloween. he has some of the greatest expressions.
and my all-time favorite Gavin pic. i have no idea why he has a sock in his mouth, but he is definitely a member of this family.
so let's see, when last we met i was writing about my gallstone saga. it's interesting to note that while i can eat whatever i want pain-free, i still have to watch my fat intake. since there's no gallbladder to catch the extra bile anymore, my liver just dumps it into my lower intestine. if i eat something high in fat (like a big, juicy hamburger), my system sort of flushes itself. i won't go into details, i'm sure imagination can take it from there. but otherwise, i'm healthy as a slightly pudgy horse.
i haven't lost anymore weight, in fact i've gained some, but i've lost another pant size. replacing fat with muscle, methinks, but what do i know? at any rate, i'm sort of hovering at roughly 230 lbs, which is where i've been since i hit the "50 lbs lost" mark about a year ago. enh, at least i'm not a blimp. not where i'd like to be, but i shouldn't complain.
oh right, i said i'd write something about my trip back home. i don't remember much of it. it was a lot like the previous one: fly into Burlington, meander around my mom's for a week or so, hop a plane and fly to kansas. we drove from there to minnesota cuz my brother was restationed (again). he likes the army but i wish they would plop him someplace he likes and just leave him there. so now they live in a little town called Isanti. interesting side note, Isanti was settled by swedish immigrants. back in the older days, a bunch of people left sweden cuz i guess it wasn't swedish enough or something. anyway, they all sort of migrated in a clump to the midwest, scattering across the border into canada. there's an "immigrant" museum in Isanti i think (or near it) and everything. so that's kinda cool i guess.
i spent a lot of that trip in pain cuz of the gallstones, so some of it's a little muddled and fuzzy. the best part was getting to spend a little time with my nephew. he's adorable ^^ he was born Dec 22 2007, 3 months premature. it was touch and go for a long time, but they finally let him go home. i know babies are little, but he was TINY the first time i saw him. i'd share a pic, but i was on pain meds (gallbladder attacks are NOT photo opportunities, i don't care what anyone says) so i look stoned out of my mind. at any rate, i got some more recent pics of him that i can share. i'll put them at the end of this massive and rambling wall of text.
on the home front, we're getting rid of most of our cows. at least i think we are. i'm proficient enough in swedish to be able to do things like read the newspaper and watch tv, but my father-in-law is somewhere around 75 years old. and he has a southern acccent. don't laugh, it's true. there is actually a swedish version of a southern accent. at any rate, he talks fast and sometimes i don't understand everything he says but by the time i get around to figuring out how to ask him to rephrase it (my mind is like a rusty, broken trap when it comes to thinking in swedish), he's moved on to something else. from what i could understand, we're either selling all the cows except 3, or we're selling 3. i'm pretty sure we're selling all but 3. which kinda sucks, because i didn't get the farmer education i was hoping for (hard to do it when my husband is stubborn and won't come help me learn. i need to beat him again for that), but it's for the best i suppose. i asked my father-in-law why. he said he's too old. fairy nuff. so i told Björn that to make up for my lost education and the fact that i'm losing cows i've helped raise from infants, he needs to buy me the animal of my choice, with the exception being a horse. i don't really know enough about horses to keep one myself and they're expensive. so i'm thinking of going with a pair of pigs, a pair of goats or a pair of donkeys. i keep asking for a hamster but he keeps saying no. i think he's afraid of rodents. wuss.
ok, so that was a lot of catching up and sort of sketchy details at best. when i'm more awake (it's not even 8am) i'll try to remember to come back and write something else. don't expect anything special or exciting. i really don't do much.
and now, :
this is Gavin the day they put him in his new carseat. the hospital staff needed to make sure he would remain in a seated position. believe it or not, that's the smallest carseat on the market. and yes, those are oxygen tubes.
and Gavin's first halloween. he has some of the greatest expressions.
and my all-time favorite Gavin pic. i have no idea why he has a sock in his mouth, but he is definitely a member of this family.
