freitag favorites + the unexpected

This week’s favorites come a day late, and with a heavy heart. When I started compiling the links below for this week’s post, I never could have predicted what I would be feeling now. I went in for a routine check-up up on Wednesday and while I’m otherwise in good health, I failed my glucose test. I was sent back to my family doctor for another blood test and two hours later the verdict was in. I’m diabetic, and I’m still in shock.

This is a diagnosis I never expected and could not have predicted and a day later, after having the results reconfirmed in more tests this morning, I’m still reeling. I suppose it makes me feel a bit better that my doctor was almost crying with me, and that I don’t feel physically bad, but somehow that makes it worse. I am stuck in a bad dream and though the logical part of my brain knows it is not the end of the world, it feels like everything about my life must change to fix something that I don’t even notice.

Tomorrow I will already start on medication and I will hopefully see a diabetes specialist next week before our vacation so that we can learn more about what type I have and how it should be treated in the longer run, but until then I am just trying to distract myself from reality while at the same time facing the fact that my already fairly healthy diet and lifestyle needs to become even more healthy.

So while I take some time to process this news, I’ll be glad for all the prayers and good thoughts you can muster, and hopefully the news will be better and happier next time.

In the meantime, I hope your weekend is off to a happier start than mine. I am at least glad to see the sunshine this afternoon, especially as we head back out to a little village near Zürich so that Martin can compete in the stone throwing Swiss Championships. Life goes on, and I will just have to adapt.

• Though I rarely practice, I do aspire to be a better crossword puzzler, and so I really enjoyed this interview with the 23-Year-Old Making the NYT Crossword Puzzle Cool.
• Eggs are too infrequently on my weekend breakfast menu, but between the WSJ’s recent feature on Huevos Rancheros and this delicious-looking Leek and Chevré Souffle Omelet, that may need to change soon.
• Despite the fact that it is still fairly light in the morning, I’ve been struggling to get up early, especially on rainy mornings to go running. After reading this interesting statistical summary of what time of day people tend to workout, it seems I’m not the only one. I guess I just need to join the Swiss in running over lunch.
• My favorite home tour of the week is this tranquil Swedish flat in a former chocolate factory. I love all the neutrals and gray and I really wish I could construct some sink storage for our bathrooms like this.
• I never had the opportunity to step foot on a houseboat on Seattle’s Lake Union, but I always loved the idea of living in one. Unfortunately this infamous Seattle houseboat recently sold and is a little outside my price range.
• It might be time for me to try making my own ricotta and then try it with some phyllo and ripe figs.