I think I'm going to start putting more pictures in my journal. What do you think? I need my own digital camera, or at least a webcam. Hey, if you want to see more shots of me (you masochist, you), I could use the help in convincing my husband...

I think I ovulated today. I keep feeling little tugs in the vicinity of my right ovary. Haven't ovulated from that one in a while; I've been a "strictly left side" kind of girl for the past few months. Maybe I'll have better luck from the right one!

Now I wish I could run home and take one last crack at fertilization. Oh, well; I'll be trapped here until after 8:30 tonight. Tomorrow, the obsessing should begin again. Honestly, I have no idea how people can do this for a year or more.

We're in a storytime lull this week; the new session doesn't start up until next week, and we're still in the sign-up phase. Already, though, I can see that my Wednesday mornings are going to smart: two sets of three-year-old twins. I can't remember if I wrote about little John Anthony before, but he's in there, too. John Anthony is a little ball of fire who was in my storytime last session until he started going to preschool and had to change times. He's not a bad kid; I don't even like that term one bit. He's just an extremely energetic, extremely precocious little boy, who is possessed of a mouth that likes to run. When he was in my class, he became happily agitated at the sight of the video, and asked if he could watch it again when it was over; I told him he could check it out and watch it at home if he liked, and he cried, "Can I come over and watch it at your house?" How do you not love a kid like that?

Well, the other librarian didn't find him as amusing; she kicked him out a few times, and he stopped coming. When his mom came in to sign him up today, she asked my boss who was running which sessions, and then purposefully selected one of mine.

Wednesday's class also contains another little boy, Nick, who's known for his ability to wear down storytellers. Such fun! Actually, I am looking forward to the class a bit; Wednesdays won't be boring, that's for certain! I'll just have to make sure to save the rip-roaringly hilarious stories for last, and start them off with something lighter and sweeter.

My Tuesday morning is the biggest storytime group of all so far. Luckily, it's mostly quiet little girls and "older" kids who've been doing this for years. It should go off fairly easily. One of my favorite Tuesday morning regulars hasn't signed up, yet; I'm hoping her mother will get here before all the spots are taken. The group won't be the same without her.

Amy's getting things rolling for the wedding. The wedding's going to be back in our hometown in MD, where neither of us current reside; her wedding coordinator has been invaluable. She sent me a link to her wedding dress today, and it's absolutely gorgeous. As to bridesmaid attire, she's going with her florist's recommendation as to what color will best match the leonidas roses we'll carry: clay. A pinkish, reddish, brownish color that rather resembles terra cotta.

Yes, it's flattering on me. Yes, it will go with the flowers quite splendidly. But no store makes dresses in clay!

I've decided to go with the obvious solution, which is actually probably the best solution all-around, and just buy some material and have a dress made. I've never had a dress made for me, so I'm looking forward to it. Having the dress made for me will also allow me to get a flattering fit, especially if I'm pregnant at the time (I hope, I hope). I'm thinking an empire waist, but beyond that, I'm not sure. Any suggestions? The bridal gown is off the shoulder, short-sleeved, and scalloped about the neck and hem. If anybody knows of a good pattern, I'm all ears!

As far as other wedding plans go, the coordinator helped them pick a lovely Episcopalian church, a wonderful reception site, and a cake maker who's apparently on sabbatical from her position as chief baker on Mount Olympus. Now, why didn't I hire a coordinator? Ah, doing it myself was fun. Planning the wedding let Eric and me bond even more than we already had, I think. Even now, he loves to make fun of anything too sentimental by grimacing and whining the words from one of the way-too-sugary invitation samples: "On this day, I shall marry my beeeeeest frieeeeeeend..."

And yet, almost three years ago, we did just that.

I can't decide what to give up for Lent this year. Last year I gave up Diet Coke, and it almost killed me, though I gave it up easily enough when we started trying to conceive. Different motivations, I guess. The year before that I made a miserable attempt at giving up caffeine, and before that an even worse try at chocolate. Before that, I probably couldn't have even told you what Lent was; my old church, fondly remembered as "Our Lady of Twitch and Shout," didn't go by any liturgical calendar.

What should I give up this time? I don't drink caffeine, and I haven't had so much as a sip of wine since October. I'd do chocolate, but Easter's coming, and that's what did me in the first year. TV? I don't watch that much to begin with. ER and Ally are the only shows that I absolutely can't miss, so I'm not sure giving up television would be in the spirit of the thing.

Don't even joke about giving up email.

How about red meat? That's a thought, except that I have a whole freezer full of sausages and ground beef. I suppose it will keep until after Lent. I could give up dairy, though I've pretty much given up milk anyway, since a friend told me about the "acceptable levels" of blood and pus allowed into the milk by the dairy industry. (Yum!)

Maybe I'll give up writing. Nah...