Less than an hour under the wire Congrats to Teppy & Tim. I know your marriage will be filled with joy!

And happy Smonster day, cause it think it is fine to combine good wishes for good people into one post.

Teppy and Tim are married by now!

I hope she had more fun than stress.

Sure - meant under the wire as in on the same she they got married.

First and foremost, happy wedding day, Steph and Tim!

And now, for the rest.

Happy (belated?), lovely smonster. Also, congrats and yays galore to Suzi for her belt, and Steph and glam for their jobs, and a happy belated to bt. I'm sorry to hear about all of the family drama, but glad to read you have enough sane family non-drama left to have a very happy birthday. Your posts are always a joy to read.

sj, I'm sorry to read about all of the family drama, too. bonny, so much ~ma, and much health~ma to Niki. quester, as others wrote, I'm sorry to read about your niece, but glad that you're there for her. Also, this generation is amazing. I'm still getting used to the fact that now people actually talk about their problems and history of violence and illness, and do so online.

Hil, you're in my thoughts. I hope you'll be able to figure out a career solution that will take into consideration your health, ASAP. vw, as others wrote, what you're doing is nothing short of amazing.

Makeup Forever's Aqua Rouge

Thank you so much for this tip - I'll try to look for it here. I've been looking for a good lipstick that stays on the lips for longer than an hour for quite a while.

Third in a row, waiting for the big Steph and Tim wedding post:

Was supposed to be in a sci-fi con right now, with tickets ordered and purchased in advanced and wonderful plans from today till Wednesday (including Knights of Badassdom screening, lectures and panels with great speakers and friends buying my dinners).

Instead, I'm in bed, with sudden weakness and feeling generally blahish. I kindda hate being post-mono yet sensitive to anything viral in my vicinity. Hoping it's a 24 hours thing and I'll be back on my feet for tomorrow, and will only miss 1/3 of the things. I was really looking forward for this.

Well, the monthly migraine is here, right on schedule. Hello, you bastard. Have some Tylenol. And some Advil. And some coffee. Not working, of course.

Is there any chance that the Mirena could be causing these headaches? I don't remember getting them before the last year or so, not this bad. Maybe it's menopause.

Shir and Zen, I hope you both feel better soon.

Ouch. Sorry, Zen.

Zen - data point of one - my Mirena hasn't increased my headaches. The whole monthly process, for me, has been hugely better than it used to be.

Karate tournament was yesterday. CJ just moved into the 17-34, black belt group. This is the most competitive/hard core division. He placed 2nd in kata (forms). We were both happily shocked. Then it came to sparring. We were surprised right off that all the competitors were more in the 17-21 range and there were only 7 of them. CJ did well and ended up in the match for 3rd and 4th place against a second degree black belt (CJ just earned his black belt in March). His sparring looked FANTASTIC. After a hard hit to his opponents shoulder which had been dislocated a couple of months ago, he had to kneel while the guy got attention to make sure his shoulder was ok. Two/three hits later, CJ took a slam to his face which rocked him back. Now his opponent had to kneel while CJ got attention. Once his bloody nose was attended to, the match continued. I don't remember the final score, but he lost and took 4th place. (Which is fantastic given his competition). So a little while after the match, CJ was checking out his nose and asked my training partner (a nurse) to look at it. Yep, broken. So far no black eyes, but his nose has a bit of extra character now.