I'm personally just as happy not to be sore the next day, but I was worried because I've always heard that muscle soreness is the sign that you're really building muscle. I did buy some heavier dumbbells at Wal-Mart today, so we'll see how I do with those. Be nice to drop the reps down a little bit -- you're right, Jezebel, it is indeed mind-numbingly boring!

For me, I don't think that the Valkyrie thing is necessarily body dysmorphia -- I'm pretty solidly built, and I have broad shoulders for a woman. In high school and college, I used to swim a lot as well as play polo, and my arms were definitely muscular rather than lean and shapely. I don't think my testosterone levels are unusually high, as I don't have any other indicators of such, but I do tend toward the chunky-solid look rather than the long-and-lean. Admittedly, this beats the heck out of the flab look -- I just don't want to go too far with it!

Thanks for the best wishes, Ysabella! If you want to see a picture of me in my dress, here is one taken at my first fitting two weeks ago:

http://www.atlee.net/images/dress.jpg