GOOD NEWS AND BAD NEWS

When my husband wants to be cute, he tells me that he has good news and bad news. Then he asks me to choose which news I want to hear first. I alway choose the bad news, because that way in can be followed up with good news.

Well, I have bad news and I have good news.

The bad news is that I have been diagnosed with a rare form of cutaneous lupus. This appears as a really ugly rash on my trunk, with fatigue and generalized aches and pains. The good news is that it appears to be contained to my skin, with no evidence of generalized systemic lupus. The lesions have responded amazingly to injections: they are almost completely gone! They may recur, but I keep telling them to "go away"!

The other really good news is that we are going to be grandparents for the first time. The baby is due July 26th, to our younger son, Bryan, and his wife, Lori. Bryan and Lori do not want to know the gender of the baby, which makes it really hard on the knitting grandma! But I understand, and would probably make the same decision (if it were me!) The baby already has a hat and socks, and a Christmas stocking. There are a couple of other projects in the works, that I'll keep secret for now!

Inventory is done, and I've added some yarns to the sale bins. In addition, I'm planning some additional special sales for Winterfest, February 13th and 14th. Winterfest is Beulah's celebration of winter, an event-packed weekend of family activities like a frozen-face race, frozen fish toss, softball on the ice, a parade, a chili contest, and to finish it all off: fireworks!!!! Most of the merchants will have special sales! So be sure to come and check it all out!! This is our third snowiest winter on record, so there's lots of snow and lake ice for all!

Now that inventory and year-end bookkeeping tasks have been completed, I can get back to knitting. Our "Tech-Square Afghan" class is going well, the students are having a great time, and learning lots. I'm working on a similar class for lace, a skill-builder and sampler scarf. Look for it in the spring. We're also working on a lined mitten class. I'm always looking for new class ideas, so if you have any suggestions, don't hesitate to let me know.