My armpits are under the weather in addition to being under my arms. I've been using natural deodorant lately. I really like it. It smells nice, has a great texture, powder finish, actually works, etc. There's one small problem: it's killing the skin under my arms. My skin changed color. It peeled off like a snake shedding its skin. It is red and cranky. This is not good. So, I worked up the nerve to head back to the store to return it, where I had to tell this tale of woe to a couple of the employees. I even wore a tank top in case they wanted a visual (or to scare off other customers? hmm). They took it back after a long consultation and some paperwork. I got some facial cleanser in exchange. In the meantime, I think that I will stick to the drugstore deodorants. Sure, I think that aluminum salts are bad, but so are fiery pits.

I finished the modified cardigan, made from the same pattern as Erica's wedding jacket. It went very quickly and used less yarn than I expected. A pleasant surprise. I'll post a picture (possibly with me in it) once I've put the button on it. My enthusiasm always wanes when it comes to all the fiddly little elements of finishing a project. Fortunately, the weather has been cool enough lately to still wear a few knitted garments. I might actually get to wear the cardigan before it gets put away for the summer.

I had a fantastic time at James's birthday bar crawl, even though I did very little crawling myself. We started off at one of my favorite diners in town. I'm not really sure why it is one of my faves, since the service is terribly slow. Force of habit and good location? The perfect start to a night of boozing is a stack of pancakes, friends. Later, we hit one of the dozens of gay bars in Boystown, which was surprisingly slow. No, that was because I had to leave early to catch the last commuter train. I missed out on the shower contest and had a couple of hi-byes with friends I hadn't seen in ages. Oh well. I had a great time, and my presents (and presence) were appreciated. James even left me a five minute voicemail raving about the soap that I gave him. That's love.

I also went to central post office today. Normally, this is something that really tries my patience, so I procrastinated until I had several parcels to ship. This time, I decided to be more zen. It will take however long it will take, and letting out big post office sighs does not speed things along. That attitude went a long way, and my wait seemed briefer than usual. To my surprise, I learned that it is almost always cheaper to send things priority mail. That really appealed to my inner cheapskate, so my friends will be receiving their care packages sooner than they might have otherwise. That may or may not mean you, but keep an eye on the old mailbox just in case.

One of the packages was not headed for happy-funtime. I recently ordered some Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk yarn in an online sale. I need more yarn like I need a hole in the head, but there it is. It was on sale, I was weak, I had a pattern that "needed" yarn, validation, blah, blah, blah. Now, this story is mostly my fault. The yarn looked red on the website, red like the two skeins I already have. Some of that probably has to do with my monitor calibrations, but I also looked at it on a couple other monitors, where the pic looked definitely tomato colored, if not red. When it arrived in the mail, it was pumpkin colored. I was surprised. I am really not an orange person and can probably count on the fingers of one hand the number of times that I have worn the color, so I called the store. As I really hate the color (their words, not mine. I was nothing but sleepy when they returned my call), they are making an exception and letting me exchange a sale item. I chalk this up to the store's general awesomeness and my extremely charming phone voice. At least, that's what one of my clients told me today. Hee.