Can't Get Enough Word Verification Fun

exerr-that boyfriend/girlfriend you are embarrassed to admit you dated.

"Oh man he was a big exerr."

Friday Fill-In 1/29/10

1. Wouldn't it be easy if everyone just did the right thing because it was the right thing to do?
2. Right now I don't feel like anything is better than ever!
3. I love the taste of cinnamon dolce soy lattes on a Friday after a long work-week.
4. I do almost all of my knitting and computer surfing in the living room.
5. The first thing we're going to do is ignore this fill-in since I can't think of anything.
6. My faucet used to go drip, drip, drip; but a kind friend fixed it for me.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to sitting on my ass, tomorrow my plans include attending the Freshman pancake breakfast fundraiser and Sunday, I want to watch football but the season is over...Woe is me!

In my last post I mentioned that I might take pictures of some completed projects and report on them. Photos have yet to be taken, but maybe I'll give it a try again today. Rain is in the forecast (enough with the stuff already!), so natural lighting will be difficult to find.

Last Published on January 17, 2010 (and Book #6)

I feel like I'm letting folks down by not posting very often...which is quite egotistical since deep down I know very few people are at home saying "Hey, I hope Sara is ok. She hasn't posted lately." And I don't mean to imply that no one cares, it's just that aside from some of the big names, most of us bloggers have other lives and we totally understand when our blog buddies go awhile without posting.

I honestly don't know what has happened to my motivation. I've done nothing since late December. Nothing I work on gives me any pleasure. I start a project, decide I don't like it and frog it. Or I look for something to make, and nothing appeals to me. Let me add to this sad little list the fact that football is winding down for the season and it makes me a little sad.

I have managed to read. Apparently, I have three hobbies: crafting, reading and blogging and I can only focus on one of them at a time. So while I'm reading, the other two hobbies suffer.

Anyhoo...

Book #6
Spain for the Sovereigns (Book #2 of the Isabella and Ferdinand series) by Jean Plaidy.
I'm really no good at book reviews. I liked this book. Good escape while still learning a little history.

Hopefully today I'll manage to get some pictures of a few of the things I've made this month. I have to warn you, the odds are not in my favor.

The First 50 Book Challenge Report of the Year: #s1-5

Although my knitting mojo seems non-existent, I've at least accomplished some reading.

As 2009 wound down, I read So Many Books, So Little Time and The Tao of Pooh...then nothing appealed to me and I panicked so I read:

1. Lisa Bright and Dark and it was as dull as mud. Probably because I was just desperately looking for anything to read and my heart wasn't in it.

I moved on to

2. The Te of Piglet since I enjoyed the Pooh book so much. It was good and I gleaned a few useful tidbits from it, but the author seemed a little angrier in this book.

While still in a Zen mood I read

3. Nothing Left Over and liked it, but I felt like the author was not so much trying to help me as share how much she thought of herself and her ability to be simple and if only the rest of the world was as good at it as she. (Be sure to read Professor Goatby's review on amazon. He hit the nail on the head.)

After so much "deep" reading, a children's book was in order.

4. I, Juan de Pareja is the based on a true story about Diego Velazquez and his slave Juan. Actually, "based on a true story" is a bit of an overstatement. The author admits that little is known about the two and that she depended heavily on her imagination. The picture she paints of slavery is very, very rosy and I suspect this was done because the intended audience was so young.

Now in a Spanish history mood I moved on to

5. Castile for Isabella by Jean Plaidy and loved it. Nice escape reading. After a quick internet search I discovered that the author included a lot of historical fact in the novel....so I can kind of feel like it's intellectual reading. :-)

I'm currently working on book #6: Spain for the Sovereigns (book two in the Isabella and Ferdinand trilogy.)

Mid-month report

Leftover goals

• Finish and mail SIL shawl ...Nope
  

Knitting/Crocheting goals

• Finish Ophelia (52 in 52, 6 sweaters, 2010 feet per month) ...Haven't touched it
  
• Finish Granny Shawl (52 in 52, 2010 feet per month) ...Gathering Dust
  
• Make 4 potholders for Offspring (52 in 52, 2010 per month) ...2 down
  
• Start one pair of socks (6 pairs of socks, 2010 per month) ...Still staring at the yarn
  

Health Goals

• Floss Daily ...uh, no
  
• Only eat out once a week ....what was I thinking?
  
• Phase out meat analogs ....sort of
  
• decrease processed food consumption ....eating out...
  

Organizing Goals

• Ravelry tags (I'm not sure what I mean by this yet, all I know is I have to streamline my tagging system for favorites) ...fixed one tag
  

Self Improvement

• Buy Less (I already mentioned my book problem, plus I think I'll be a lurky participant of the Eat From the Pantry Challenge. My twist will be a mega grocery trip today and then see where it goes from there. We use a lot of fresh produce, so I'm not sure I can avoid the store for more than a week.)...already been to the store twice and spent more money than I wanted.
  
• Read 4 books ....done...maybe that explains the lack of progress on the other goals...
  

Seriously.Hate.Winter.Bleh.

Friday Fill-in A Day Late (1/16/10)

1. The lesson I learned yesterday was shit happens, you deal and move on.
2. Anywhere but my house is where friends and family meet.
3. All these years have flown by.
4. Everyone left when I arrived.
5. The truth is I really worry about the dumbest stuff.
6.Holding Offspring for the first time is what I remember most from that day.
7. And as for the weekend, (last)tonight I looked forward to reading, tomorrow(today) my plans include football and Sunday, I want to watch more football!

On a side note, my blogiversary has come and gone. 5 years. Wow.

Now I Understand Bears

When it is stupid cold, there is nothing to do but hibernate; conserve energy. I haven't felt like doing a thing. I've picked up SIL's shawl and worked on it a couple of hours (only 10 rows left!) I started a granny blanket. Otherwise, nothin'. I have taken lazy to a new level the last week. I was even given a bonus day off work (for snow that never came) and I didn't do bupkis...actually I was happy for the bonus day since I stayed up so late Thursday watching the CRIMSON TIDE WIN THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP!!!!!!!!!!!!

I hope I get back some drive in the next few days.

Good-Bye Mojo

Ugh. I have no desire to do anything. I've already forgotten to floss one day (but I didn't give up and I've continued to floss since then.) and it's flipping cold outside.


meh.

Unconscious Mutterings 1/3/10

1. 365 :: List


2. Tombstone :: Arizona


3. Dumb :: Ass


4. Intrusive :: Son of a bitch


5. Fat :: Ass


6. Axe :: to grind


7. Planned :: Parenthood


8. Spike :: Lee


9. Bleach :: Blonde


10. Shopkeeper :: Mr. Oleson

Oh, my I'm pretty negative and mean this morning.

January Goals

Leftover goals

• Finish and mail SIL shawl
  

Knitting/Crocheting goals

• Finish Ophelia (52 in 52, 6 sweaters, 2010 feet per month)
  
• Finish Granny Shawl (52 in 52, 2010 feet per month)
  
• Make 4 potholders for Offspring (52 in 52, 2010 per month)
  
• Start one pair of socks (6 pairs of socks, 2010 per month)
  

Health Goals

• Floss Daily
• Only eat out once a week
  
• Phase out meat analogs
• decrease processed food consumption
  

Organizing Goals

• Ravelry tags (I'm not sure what I mean by this yet, all I know is I have to streamline my tagging system for favorites)

Self Improvement

• Buy Less (I already mentioned my book problem, plus I think I'll be a lurky participant of the Eat From the Pantry Challenge. My twist will be a mega grocery trip today and then see where it goes from there. We use a lot of fresh produce, so I'm not sure I can avoid the store for more than a week.)
• Read 4 books
  

The Last Book of 2009

As the clock struck 11:51 PM CST I closed the book on this years 50 book challenge and on book #12.

The Tao of Pooh

Precious. Just Precious. Not to mention awesome.

Friday Fill-In 1/1/10

The first of 2010!



1. Last night I read a book.
2. I'm going to worry less this year.
3. The funniest thing is that I won't remember that statement in 20 minutes.
4. ...So where do we go from here? Why do we have to go anywhere?
5. He said You're funny; she said I wasn't trying to be.
6. ...And it's up to us to find it. Can't we just "be"? Why are we going places and looking for stuff?
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to football, tomorrow my plans include football and Sunday, I want to enjoy my last day of vacation!

Since All The Cool Kids Are Doing It

A sampling of the FO's of 2009





Quite a few dishcloths....

Resolutions for 2010-Part the Second

I started writing the following post weeks ago, but the more I thought about this year's 365 list the more I realized that there are just so many things in my life I need to change. There is no way I can write an all inclusive list, so to cover my bases I added "Making monthly goals" to this year's 365. Since most of the changes fall into one of 4 categories: Knitting/Crochet, Health, Organizing, and Self Improvement, most of my monthly goals will be organized that way. I'll be posting January's goals later today or tomorrow.

In the meantime, enjoy this post about 2010's 365 list.(And the flashback to last year's list.)

*****

If you've been hanging around here for any amount of time, you know I am not a fan of goals or resolutions. Last year I wrote a 365 list. Some items on the list were traditional, all-or-nothing endeavors. Most were "progress is the goal" activities. I assessed my progress in an earlier post and I'm ready to think about this year's 365.

3 Techniques to learn:

• Tubular cast-on
• After-thought heel
• Seaming
  

6 Stashbusting Challenges:

• 6 pairs of socks
  
• 52 projects in 52 weeks
• Knit or Crochet 2010 feet per month (about 670 yards)
• Charity Knitting
  
• Make 6 sweaters one of which is knit in pieces (Most likely a vest...baby steps, I'm not ready to seam a sleeve yet.)
• Read 52 Books
  

5 Habits to Continue and Perfect

• Not buying yarn
• Blocking
• Blogging and commenting
  
• Not buying books
  
• Making monthly goals (This really works well for me.)