Sunday, December 26, 2010

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. The presents knitted were well received, even by my mother (long story, but she usually doesn't appreciate homemade gifts). One gift was not finished in time, and gifted in its unfinished state. My SIL was the recipient, and was so happy. She was actually going to ask me to make her a scarf, so knowing I was working on one for her thrilled her to no end. Hopefully pictures will be available soon.

I had a terrific Christmas, and was given some yarn and a swift. I look forward to creating something with the gifted yarn. There were other non-knitting related gifts, and one in particular was extraordinary. My loving hubby gifted me witih a restored doll from my youth. This was my first doll, and she had been in some disrepair for several years. Now, she is fixed. It was a perfectly wonderful gift. We even had snow on Christmas (a rarity around here).

I hope your Christmas was as wonderful as ours, and may the New Year hold many more blessings.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Not quite, but almost

Well, from my list last week, I almost did everything on it. I was mostly successful, but lacked a few areas. Here's the updated list:

1. Apply for 2 jobs by Wednesday - done
2. Finish two knitting projects by Saturday (12/11) - done
3. Post at least 2 blog entries - not done
4. Finish up the 2 classes online I'm currently taking by Tuesday - done
5. Get Christmas decorations up - partially done
6. Workout at least 3 times by Saturday (12/11) - partially done (I worked out twice)

Not bad, considering things are still not quite normal around here. By "not quite normal" I mean I still don't have a job. I doubt I'll have one before the holidays are over. I'm hoping in January something will come open for me. There are good job leads out there, but the holidays slow everything down.

How I missed posting last week I'll never figure out. I thought about it, but it just didn't work out for me. This week will hopefully be different. It already is, since I'm posting tonight. Saturday is a little more free (the one obligation I had has been cancelled). Hopefully the knitting projects will be a little better, and the workouts will get there too. I bought a jump rope in hopes that the love I once had for it will come back. I hope I can utilize some space in the sunroom to workout; I think the ceiling fan is high enough so I won't hit it with the rope.

It's been freezing here - no really, I mean actually freezing temperatures, like below 32 degrees. That's rare for Georgia. We don't normally get that cold of temperatures until sometime in January or February. We occasionally have snow, but this year so far, we've had flurries 3 times already, and it's not even Christmas yet! I hope to have snow for Christmas. That's even rarer in Georgia than just snow. We did have snow earlier this year, in February. It wasn't a lot (by the northern U.S. standards) but anything that accumulates here is considered a lot. Growing up in Tulsa makes you realize 3 foot snow drifts are a lot of snow, not 3 inches.

On the knitting front, there are 2 more knitting projects for Christmas to be completed. Fortunately, I'm about halfway done with one and that's been about 4 days worth of knitting. This one has a lot of color changes, so it takes a little longer than normal. I'm kicking up the knitting time, and I'm hoping to get this one finished by this weekend, and get the other one knocked out before Christmas.

Goals for this week: finish the one Christmas present, get the other one started, and start the new exercise program (thanks to Oxygen Fitness for Women magazine for the routine). The rest of the Christmas decorations need to get up as well. I'm about 30% on those. Posting I'll keep at 2 times for this week as well. I'm down to one more post by Saturday. I think I can manage that. :)

Friday, December 03, 2010

Busy days and nights

These days, I'm finding more focus, and a little more time. It's becoming easier to fall into a rhythm between homework, daily chores, and all the extras I want to do. I can't promise that all my blogs will be about crafts; but hey, "It's my blog and I'll post what I want to..." (apologies to Leslie Gore). The more I can accomplish during the day, the more I feel like accomplishing and the more I can accomplish. So, here's the agenda for the next week:
  1. Apply for at least 2 jobs by Wednesday
  2. Finish two knitting projects by Saturday (12/11)
  3. Post at least 2 blog entries
  4. Finish up the 2 classes online I'm currently taking by Tuesday
  5. Get Christmas decorations up
  6. Workout at least 3 times by Saturday (12/11)

For those of you who don't know, I lost a good bit of weight last year, and this year it was stymied by the arrival of a new little one. However, I am determined to get back on track, even without a gym membership. I have plenty of stuff that I can do at home, provided I focus just on that. As a mom, it's hard. I see things that need doing, and immediately want to do them. I have found one thing to be true: the more you exercise, the more energy you have. You would think the opposite to be true, but really, what the experts say does hold water. For whatever reason, now that I'm home and not working out consistently, I need at least 8 hours of sleep a night. Before, when I was up at 4:30 most mornings to go to the gym, I was fine on about 6 hours of sleep. My activitiy level hasn't changed much, since I was working a day job, and now I'm working the homefront. If anything, I have a higher activity level. At any rate, the above looks good for goals for this coming week. I'll post some updates along the way (if I keep up with #3) and hopefully I'll also get the good camera back and can post some pictures of Finished Objects.

Wednesday, December 01, 2010

December

This is my second greatest finished object - I don't think 000 size needles can compete.

So, other than this, my days have been filled with my first great FO, who is now potty trained, job hunting, school and knitting. Yes, I do manage to find time to knit. I recently finished the top down raglan from the Spud and Chloe blog. I loved it so much, I bought the book Custom Knits and started Pink.

It's a new month, and I have new goals. Obviously, a day job would be terrific. In the meantime, I refuse to be left out in the cold. I plan on updating the blog regularly, school will also take up a lot of time, and then there are the kids. Christmas is also quickly approaching, which means a few gifts to be knit (it's surprisingly cheaper when you have the time to knit). I plan on utilizing my time wisely while still at home. I have already started some projects to organize the house, and more of those will come as the month progresses. Today begins a new month, and a new committment. When I can get the good camera back, I will take pictures of the next few FOs I should have completed (yes, I can actually finish a project). I do enjoy being a process knitter, but there are times when FOs really boost your morale. Perhaps I will even have pictures of the FOs with their intended recipients. Maybe traffic will also pick up around here. :) Although this blog is more for me, I hope to reach some and help where I can.