Holy Crap and Hypochondria

The "Holy Crap" Part:

Seriously. 379 visitors?? (That's what my counter said before I started composing this post, anyway. No telling where it'll be when I finish.) I know I haven't posted for two whole days (BAD Cara!), but last time I did there were about 80 or 90 total visitors. And now I'm closing in on 400. It's quite insane.

Here's what happened: the "Kitty Squid." After I posted the pattern on.. I guess it was Saturday night, I sent a quick note to Crochet Pattern Central asking them to list it. Apparently yesterday, they did. And all those crocheters browsing through the site's "See What's New This Week" section are finding their way here. Welcome, guys (er, gals). Glad to have you.

Getting traffic and exposure was kind of the point of submitting to Crochet Pattern Central, but I absolutely was not expecting to get three times as many visitors in ONE DAY as I've had in the entire two and a half weeks that has been the life of this blog. I'm impressed. I know most of these people are just looking at the first picture and hitting the 'back' button, but still, I'm enjoying the attention. If you make the Kitty Squid, I'd love to hear about it. If you find any trouble spots in my pattern, let me know. If you have a blog of your own, link to me and I'll link to you back. And leave me comments!

The "Hypochondria" Part:

Around here, everyone seems to be getting sick lately. Maybe it's the weather. Not just the quick seasonal upheaval, but the past couple of days of rain as well. The fog this morning was rather romantic though, at least for photographic purposes. Not so much for trying to drive..

I stayed home sick from work yesterday, with a sinus headache of migraine proportions. Tuesday I'd had a sore throat and a bit of "post-nasal drip." Ew, I know, but I was still functional enough. Yesterday's headache squashed me. I got up, was getting ready for work, but every smell made me queasy, and if I bent over with my head below my shoulders (hair drying, petting the dog, getting the milk out of the fridge, etc.) I got dizzy... Not good. No amount of Excedrin Sinus seemed to do any good, either. Usually I'll swear by the stuff.

So I called in sick. After all, I have amassed 40+ hours of sick leave at work, and now I have less than 2 weeks before I take off. Might as well use a little of it. I grabbed my ice mask, crawled back in bed, and didn't get up again until noon. Once I could sit upright again, I worked on my sweater a little. Here's where I am now:

(Both cuffs done, and about 2/3 of one sleeve. I've long since given up my original hope of having it done Friday - yeah, tomorrow, Friday - but I still think I can be blocking by, let's say Monday night.)

Today I'm feeling a lot better, which is a real relief - my yoga friend has had whooping cough for, I don't know, at least 6 weeks now, though it was only diagnosed within the last 2 weeks. I was starting to worry I'd caught it from her. Even though the first signs are supposed to be cold-like symptoms, not sinus type symtoms... Hypochondria, you know how it is.

Also, Riley's health is in question (you know, the problem-dog?). He has been extremely itchy for the past week or so. I think it might be due to the massive change in his coat that goes on in the fall; he always seems itchy around this time of the year. Brendon and I have been brushing him about every other day or so, though it doesn't seem to help much. I did find a few little bumps on his skin, and he tends to be sensitive to skin allergies. So I'm not sure what's going on, I go out and buy some expensive medicated shampoo, and then I find..........

A FLEA!!! (Gasp!!)

Just one. Not on him, but on my bathroom rug. I have heard that there is never just one flea, but like I said, we've been brushing him a ton and this is the first one we've seen. And neither Brendon nor I have been itchy. So I'm hoping it's a fluke. Either way he's getting that medicated-shampoo-bath this weekend. Fleas or not, his scratching is driving me bonkers.