Do you need a cup? Yes, you do. (Hint: No strings attached!)

I'll explain about the cup in a minute (that discussion is for girls only).

I also wanted to go over my new project. I'm a little proud of it. This afternoon I was telling Jordan I felt like making something creative, and he said "you should make a quilt with a pregnant belly on it." I thought this was a great idea, so I started drawing it up and went through several drafts before I realized a pregnant belly is nothing without some boobs and a neck and face, etc. I drew and erased and drew until I had her about right. I can barely draw at all, and I'm terrible at drawing out of my head so I used a Facebook picture of Melissa's belly as a starting point. I hope she doesn't mind! My tendency is to jump headfirst into a huge project, but I stopped myself and decided to make a small pillow first. Pictured below is what is going to be my pilot pillow as soon as I stuff it.

It's a little rough around the edges (literally) but I'm happy with it for a first try. I want to do more Belly Girls in white on black, but I don't want them all to be pillows. This will be a ton easier on my mom's Viking.

As a sidenote, I went to the fabric store tonight and the cutting lady was so rude! I laid the fabric on the table and she didn't say hi or kiss my foot or anything, just scowled at me, and then when I didn't say anything she barked "How much do you want?" This rudeness has happened to me many times, and it's always the fabric-only stores (not Wal-Mart, for instance). Does anybody know what I'm talking about? The funny thing is these rude women can be award-winning butt-kissers when an expert quilter walks in. They only seem to hate people who haven't taken twenty sewing classes.

Now, if you are a guy please look at the following cute picture of Suzi and then be on your way. The rest of this post does not concern you (it's about periods).



Let's talk about the Diva Cup. You know that fantastic feeling you get when you don't have your period for over a year because you were pregnant and then breastfeeding? I had that once. Sadly, although I am still breastfeeding, it recently came to an end and I was not ready to go back to tampons and pads. I will not enumerate their many faults; you know them already. I have seen the future and this is it: the Diva Cup. Here's a picture of one because I know you need a visual.

The cup fits in the vagina but stays very low compared to a tampon. (And no, it doesn't feel like it's going to fall out.) It's as easy to get in and out as a tampon, and I think it actually made my period a day shorter because it doesn't block the flow, it just catches it. I'm overwhelmed by the good things about this product, so I'm going to list my favorites:

1) Never buy another box of tampons! One Diva Cup is all you'll need for an indefinite length of time. We're talking years.

2) More comfortable than tampons! I don't know if the company promises this, but I swear I felt better when I used this. I won't go into details.

3) Think of all the tampons and pads you won't be sending to landfills. This may be an unusual way to reduce your daily impact (or monthly impact, as the case may be), but every little bit helps. What if every woman had a Diva Cup?

4) Reduce your purse and bathroom clutter. This little cup barely takes up any space!

5) 12-hour coverage! This is my favorite! You can leave the cup in for up to 12 hours, while tampons are only good for 8. (You may need to do it more often on your heavy day.)

If you're thinking of getting one of these, go to the Diva Cup site. The price ($35) may seem high but you'll save this back after just a few months. I found mine from an eBay retailer for about $25 (brand new and sealed, of course!) The cup does take some getting used to, but I did it in one cycle so it can't be that hard! (Half the battle is getting over the idea that for something to go into your vagina it has to have a string attached.)

We are going to Columbia tomorrow so I'd better go to bed! Good night!