The Status of My Stripes

Back in September I mentioned that I had started a new crochet project. At the time, it looked like this:

And then like this:

And now it looks like this:

ZOMG, you guys. This thing is taking me FOR.EV.ER. But I seriously love it.

I made the rookie mistake of not following the pattern. Guys: when she says chain 250, chain 250. Don't think "man, this doesn't look very long - I'll just add a few chains" and end up with 271 chains and rows that never fucking end. I would probably be done with this thing by now if it weren't for those extra 21 chains that make this afghan not an afghan anymore. Seriously, this thing fits either way across my king-sized bed. And the longer you make one side, the longer you have to make the other in order for it to be a proportionate rectangle, so, here I am. In it for the long haul.

The pattern is called "Vintage Stripe", and you can find it just by googling those two words. The version I went off of is here though. While that lady was using this pattern as a stash buster, I decided to pick out all new yarn (much of the fun of crocheting is in purchasing the yarn) in 7 colors. And you *can* do this afghan in completely random color patterns, but I chose to do white every 5th row. There's no other real color pattern to it than that, although I keep a running tally of how many rows I've done in each color so that I don't go too long without one.

Anyway, I'm sure so many of you couldn't give a flying flick about my crochet project. But you get this update anyway. Because I miss you, and I love it, and, well, just because.

Hugs!

Focusing On Time and Other Things

Well hello there, 2014! Glad to see you!

2013 was a very "meh" year for us. Aside from moving in with the in-laws, there wasn't anything terribly exciting about those 365 days. Many people I know had a really, really shitty year, so for them, I'm happy to see it go.

I'm feeling optimistic about the year ahead. I'm not making any official resolutions because it seems to me, as soon as you attach that word to it, you fail. But I do have a few goals in mind and I'm pretty optimistic that I will be able to see them through.

Focus On Time - More specifically, what I'm doing with it. There will always be a few major areas of my life that demand my time and energy: being a wife and mother, work, school. But I feel like I've not really been putting a lot of valuable energy into them. I mean, things get done, but I've just kind of been going through the motions and vegging out a lot. I want to be more actively involved in those areas.

School - I recently switched programs from Elementary Education to Human Resource Management. Truthfully, at this point it doesn't matter what words are on that little piece of paper - I just need the degree. Going into the HRM program is a much more efficient (and therefore cost-effective) choice. My goal is to finish the 22 courses I have left by the end of the year. It's a very lofty goal, but if I manage my time more effectively (see goal number 1) I think I can totally do it.

House - I want to be living in our own home by Christmas. The hardest part about this goal is that whole, "you can't change people" thing. I can only do MY part toward getting us to this goal, which is watching my spending and not encouraging or suggesting The Hubs' spending. However, a large part of this goal is on his shoulders - the finding of a new, closer, better-paying, career-type job. Without that, we're living with his parents indefinitely. So part of this goal is me remembering to focus on what I am able to do to get there, not what I wish HE were doing.

Health - Not just weight and lap-band related stuff, but I would like to work on improving my general health overall. Which means finally filling out/mailing in the paperwork needed to get myself another steroid injection for my lower back problems, finally going in for the diabetes blood work I was supposed to do back in October, finally finding a new, closer dentist and scheduling a check-up since it will soon be a year since I've had one. And also, of course, getting a fill to try and figure out where I need to be with Tim Gunn, eating better and moving more. This whole working from home thing is HELL on my exercise levels. I (very literally) am in my bed 95% of the time between waking up and 5:30 pm. This needs to change.

So that's where I am with the whole new year, new beginnings thing. I'm feeling pretty good about things and motivated to work. What I really need is to figure out a way to keep the motivation up, because when I'm motivated, things happen.

Happy 2014 all! I hope you have a tremendous year ahead!