AmyLiz, about a year ago I was cycling every two and a half weeks. I figured if I went to the doctor they'd just say, "Well, you're in your mid-40s, things happen. Call us if it doesn't stop."

re: home security

Unless a burglar knows our house very well, the crap all over the floor will alert us and the entire building when he trips over a piece of armor, a pile of books, or a cat.

I'm presuming the problem with the knives under the mattress is that they can be taken away and used against you. Few home invaders--except ones I might know personally--would know how to use a sword against me.

We occasionally hear people behind the house. I don't know if it's new neighbors casing the opportunities or what, but if the sound of a cat growling at them doesn't make them leave, Hubby and his "Where is he, Shadow? Show me where to aim" routine or the reports of all the other neighbors about those sword-wieldin' freaks in Apt. 2 will generally do the trick.

I did go to the doctor about the increasingly short/unpredictable periods and that is exactly what they said.

Really? God, I hate going to the doctor. Which makes no sense because I'd having something serious more...

I didn't mean that in an "I think something is terribly wrong" sort of way, more that it'd be driving me crazy, and I'd be all, "Body broken! Fix it now! This sucks!"

You know, I've tried that so many times. No wonder therapists hate me.

We have cork at work in our freight elevator lobby and our kitchens. It is awesome. I am totally getting it done when we buy/build our house.

I didn't mean that in an "I think something is terribly wrong" sort of way

Oh, I know! My mind goes there all by itself...and then avoids the idea by not calling until something really bad is happening.

I'm going to give it another day, I think. Although now I don't know when the hell to expect another period. Hmmm.

Cork sounds cool. I can't even imagine having carpet in the kitchen. It'd be disgusting in the space of about four days, and I'm not even factoring the dog into it yet.

Hmm. Back when I was in my 20's, before I ever went on the pill, I had 30-35 day cycles. When I went off the pill a few years ago they settled into this stupid, annoying shorter pattern. I hoped having a kid would reset the system again and I'd get at least a 28-day cycle out of it, but no such luck. As long as the cycles stay regular and I'm obviously ovulating, the mere fact that they're annoyingly short wouldn't mean that my biological clock is ticking any louder than that of any other 34-year-old mother of one who might eventually want another, but was thinking of trying in 3 years or so rather than right now, would it?

I remember reading that statistically, you are more likely to be injured in a robbery/mugging/what-have-you if you have a weapon. This is probably a combination of people not really knowing how to handle the weapon and the fact that you are increasing the chances of the attacker panic-ing.