In case you didn't notice, I'm making a few formatting changes around here. I had been using the blog as a sort of homepage, with links to the blogs I read and stuff--but sometimes my tastes change, you know? So I'm using Bloglines now. (And you can subscribe to my blog now! Why I didn't do that before, I don't know. Not that I have some wide fanbase, but it's good to know when a blog is updated, right?)

Back to our regularly scheduled blog...

I finally met Sandra's little girl the other day--and she is just gorgeous! I wasn't sure if Mommy would want me to post the baby's picture, but at least I can post one of her dog...



His name is Gustav--a Boxer who's about seventy pounds of mush. Apparently he's a little down about all the attention the baby gets. (Wuv meeee!) Poor guy!



Grrr... I was so excited to have gotten up to the short rows...but despite the fact that I did indeed do the math correctly per the formula in the pattern, I really don't need so many short rows! Don't hold me to it, but I think it'll be 28 instead of 72 (which adds four extra inches instead of ten...no wonder it wasn't working! I mean I'm curvy, but I'm not a pituitary freak!) So I had to frog fifty-ish short rows, plus a few extra since I knit the body too long, and here we are at eight short rows. Yay stockinette. On size 5s.

Obligatory health update: Three shots down, three to go. I think the cycle has finally stopped--and luckily the weight gain really has stopped as well, at twelve pounds. Still--who gains twelve pounds in a month?! I know it's not my fault, obviously, but I feel like I need to wear a sandwich board that says, "I'm not lazy--I have reproductive issues!". Hmm. Like an "Excuse our mess!" sign, only for my body. I mean, it's bad enough that having these problems made me gain 50 pounds...that the ostensible cure of one of these problems makes me gain even more weight is just adding insult to injury. Bleck. That and my face is like an oilfield, and I think the hot flashes and dehydration/contact lens discomfort have started as well--though they're thankfully not as bad as I thought they'd be. But my last shot is in August, and if all goes well, by Labor Day I should be back on the Pill. (Will I immediately lose the twelve pounds? That sure would be nice. Stay tuned.)

By the way, my brother Jeff's college graduation is tomorrow. It took him a little long to decide on a career (he's almost 29), but his starting salary with an engineering degree is commensurate with my husband's newspaper job--with fifteen years' experience. Kinda makes it all worth it, hmm? So shout out to Jeff! (If only my other brother could learn from his example, and move out of my grandmother's former sewing room. Grandma needs her crafting space back!)

One last note: Helen, if you're out there, EMAIL ME!