As you might have noticed from my previous post, I was all gung-ho and planned out to conquer another full round of Nerd Wars.

There have been a few setbacks.

After Mr. Boyfriend woke up last Saturday with a set of bug bites on his person, rather large and itchy and arranged-in-linear-fashion bites, we went through the bedclothes and over the mattress with a fine-tooth comb and found…

A bug.  A bedbug, to be precise.

Any other denizens of New York City, or in fact anyone who keeps up with news of such things, will know that bedbugs are a bit of an epidemic in the city. We’re extremely lucky that we’ve never encountered them before, having lived here six years.

None of that good sense made me feel much better, though.  I unceremoniously squashed our unwanted visitor, and immediately scrubbed the apartment from floor to ceiling.  Still didn’t feel better.  We’ve been searching the bed every night since, and have found no other evidence of bugs—no eggs, no blood spots or excrement.  Mr. Boyfriend has also been bite-free.  We’re beginning to thing we’ve dodged a bullet.

But we’re not taking chances.  We searched every piece of furniture we owned on Saturday, and went through all our drawers, and we’re trying to get our building to send the inspector/exterminator over to confirm our findings.  We’re contemplating bagging all our clothes and other soft goods away for a month or two after giving them a good hot washing. Soft goods like yarn.

You can see how that might be problematic to my game strategy.

But in truth, there are other reasons I’ve been slacking.  I’m trying to be more active, and it’s cut into my knitting time a bit.  I’ve also been playing an old video game I loved when I was a kid on an emulator, and that’s eaten up a few evenings too.

And frankly, I feel a wee bit burned out.  I’m definitely still playing the games, but I’m not going to kill myself to finish every challenge this go-round.  I finished the fingerless mitts I made for the Banana.  I just need to snap some pictures and toss them in the mail (wrapped in plastic, of course).  I cast on the lace stole I’d planned, and the April socks.  I might finish more crochet blocks, or I might not.  I seriously doubt I’ll finish my sweater.

Part of me is spluttering, indignant that I would let a challenge go unmet. But the greater part of me recognizes that the month is half over, and I have other priorities I want to tend to as well, like getting out and walking in the wonderfulness of spring. And keeping my house as clean as I like it to be. And cooking. And sewing. And reading. And tons of stuff.

Luckily, it looks like I’ll have a little more free time for all this “stuff” come next weekend.  My yarn store has elected to close up shop on Sundays, so it seems my services there will be needed but rarely.  While I’m happy at the prospect of real two-day weekends, I’m sad to miss out on seeing my coworker Guggie and a lot of the regular ladies who stop by on Sundays to knit, chat, and relax.

So that’s life here at the moment.  It’s a lovely day today, I had a good walk this morning, and am sure to have a great yoga practice this evening after work. I found a new studio just down the street from my office, and they had a pretty sweet deal for new students—3 sessions for $30.  I went to my first class last week, and it kicked my butt. Hopefully in the next few months I can build my practice back up to where it used to be. I miss being strong and flexible and energetic.

Alright folks, time for some leftover baked ziti and turkey meatballs.  Happy Thursday!