I haven't fallen into a volcano, it just seems like it.

I have been one sick little girl, let me tell you. It started shortly after we took Daddy to the emergency room on January 4th. He was having chest pains, which turned out to be muscle strain (hooray!). Poor guy was also in the beginning stages of a shingles outbreak.

Anyway, I'd started to feel sick that Saturday, and by Monday it was all over but the suffering. I couldn't do much of anything but lay on the couch (propped up just enough for adequate sinus drainage), and bemoan my fate. Upper respiratory infections are nasty.

There were at least three days where I didn't eat at all, and about five or six where I could only get about three mouthfuls down. Needless to say, I lost about 18 pounds the hard way. I've only gained a couple of pounds back, as I decided to go ahead and start moderate carb reduction.

I'm still fairly weak, and the appetite isn't fully back -- thankfully, and it's partially due to the low-carbing. I haven't written a thing since I got sick -- since my last blog post, in fact -- other than the odd message board post. I've got stories due for collections that I've got to get done, but at least I can actually sit upright longer than five minutes!

You may have noticed the background on the blog. It's something I've been messing around with, learning how to make a background myself. It needs more work (this particular one probably won't stay long, anyway) and I need more practice! I hope to get the blog redesign done by the end of next week.

Anyone who follows me over on Pinterest may notice that I've done some work there, as well. Mainly I broke up some boards, getting things categorized better.

So, that's my update post. We'll see if I can manage to be more consistent in my blogging.

Bye!