Happy (belated) New Year 2024!

Another belated Happy New Year! Once again, I was on travel over the holidays.
It is, therefore, time for my annual goal update....

Progress bar goals
• Read 12,000 pages - Between books and audiobooks, I read over 31,000 pages last year. That was 67 books, including Stephen King's _Dark Tower_ series, all of the Babylon 5 books, Isaac Asimov's Robot series, Martha Wells' Murderbot series, Geddy Lee's memoir _My Effin' Life_, and many others. I'd call it a resounding success
• Lose 25 pounds - Well....between January and July of last year I lost 18 pounds, but have sadly gained almost all of it back. Abject failure

Other goals
• Finish one large needlework project - I finished Ink Circles "Castle Walls" at the end of October, so success.
• Finish one medium or small needlework project - This was the year of big project stitching, but I did finish a small - Ink Circles "All Sorts Welcome", a Patreon freebie. A small success.
• Inventory my crafting supplies - Sadly another year has gone by without my doing so.
• Complete one yarncrafting project - Not quite, although I am getting near the end on knitting Scheepjes "Book Lovers Wrap".

Habits
• Drink at least 1.5 litre of water a day - I've been hit or miss with this.
• Continue Duolingo and Lumosity daily exercises - My Duolingo streak has stayed active, but I've missed the occasional day on Lumosity. I need to get that streak going again.
• Do some form of exercise daily - As of this typing, my daily exercise streak is now at 465.
• Make sure the dishes are done daily - i've been doing pretty well with this also.
  

So...obviously there are areas I'm doing well on, and some not so much. So for 2024 goals...

Progress bar goals
• Read 20,000 pages - Since I blew away last year's goal, I'll increase this from 12,000 to 20,000.
• Lose 25 pounds - I need to do this. Maybe I'll actually make it this year.

Other goals
• Finish one large needlework project - Of my four seasonal large projects, I'm likely to finish my winter project, Liz Almond's _Save the Stitches_ blackwork sampler. There's a chance I may finish all 4, which would be an awesome accomplishment, but we'll see.
• Finish one medium or small needlework project - I have two medium projects in the works, and two smalls. Again, I'm leaving the particulars up in the air for finishing.
• Inventory my crafting supplies - I need to inventory what I have, and possibly cull a bit, and didn't do that this past year. Or the year before...
• Complete one yarncrafting project - Either crochet or knit. This is a good recurring goal, in much the way the reading goal is, and I'm close to a finish on Book Lovers Wrap.

Habits
• Drink at least 1.5 litre of water a day - Maybe I should start a streak for this too.
• Continue Duolingo and Lumosity daily exercises
• Do some form of exercise daily
• Make sure the dishes are done daily
  

Here's to a successful 2024!

Happy (belated) New Year 2023!

Happy 2023, somewhat belatedly. As has been the case recently, this past year has been a mixed bag.

The best thing that happened in 2022 was that DH and I took a long-delayed anniversary cruise (originally slated for 2020 and then 2021, but we all know what happened there). We've recently returned, hence the delay in the goal posting. It was a very enjoyable trip.

The worst thing that happened in 2022 was an unexpected major medical event that threw our lives into a tailspin in late summer. Fortunately we're recovering and life is mostly back to normal with some adaptations.

But onward to goals!

Progress bar goals
• Read 10,000 pages - I came in at 11,560 pages, so this was a success.
• Lose 25 pounds - Surprisingly, I've gotten closer than I have in a while, losing 20 (at least, before vacation...). Not *quite* a success, but certainly on the road to victory.

Other goals
• Finish Ink Circles "Blackstone Fantasy Garden" - Success! I finished this in early February.
• Finish reading Neal Stephenson's _Baroque Cycle_ - Success! I finished this in early October.
• Inventory my crafting supplies - Sadly, I didn't get to this.
• Complete one yarncrafting project - Success! Actually, I finished two - one knit and one crochet..

Habits
• Drink at least 1.5 litre of water a day - I've been doing pretty well with this.
• Continue Duolingo and Lumosity daily exercises - Sadly, had some inconsistencies during late summer's difficulties, but I'm back on track.
• Do some form of exercise daily - As above, I got off track during late summer, but have been pursuing this with renewed vigor. Our old treadmill died earlier in the year, but we've gotten a new one.
• Make sure the dishes are done daily - I'm doing pretty well with keeping this up.
  

Overall, I think I actually did relatively well, all things considered. So let's look at 2023...

Progress bar goals
• Read 12,000 pages - Since I've been coming in over 11,000 the past couple years, I'm going to increase this.
• Lose 25 pounds - I made a good start this year, so I want to keep this up.

Other goals
• Finish one large needlework project - I have four large projects in progress, working on one each season. Ink Circles "Castle Walls", my autumn project, is likely to be the one I finish, but we'll see.
• Finish one medium or small needlework project - I have one medium project in the works, but there are a few small ones I'd like to do. I'm leaving the particulars up in the air.
• Inventory my crafting supplies - I need to inventory what I have, and possibly cull a bit, and didn't do that this past year.
• Complete one yarncrafting project - Either crochet or knit. This is a good recurring goal, in much the way the reading goal is.

Habits
• Drink at least 1.5 litre of water a day
• Continue Duolingo and Lumosity daily exercises
• Do some form of exercise daily
• Make sure the dishes are done daily
  

Happy New Year 2022!

At least, I hope it's happy but to be honest I'm almost afraid to say anything. I think we're all looking back at 2021 and wondering "what the (redacted) was that??"

But anyone reading this has survived whatever that was, and so it's time for a retrospective. For the most part, my year was much the same as 2020 - I was able to work from home most of the time, though alas that is ending and I'll be going into the office when I go back after the holidays. I also had an unexpected need for shoulder surgery mid-year, which ultimately went well but did impact my ability to stitch for a while. Some much-anticipated travel plans fell through...again...which is one more reason to give 2021 the stink-eye.

But, I'm still standing. So without further ado, I need to hold myself accountable for last year, and so let's look at my plans, shall we?

Progress bar goals
• Read 10,000 pages - I came in just under 11,800 pages, so this was a success.
• Lose 25 pounds - Sadly, I didn't lose anything. I could blame the pandemic, but I know I need to do better about my health.

Other goals
• Finish Chatelaine's "Walled English Garden" - Success! I finished this in late January.
• Finish Ink Circles "Castle Walls" - I finished the center and one of the quadrants, so I made good progress but nowhere close to finishing.
• Finish the center square on Chatelaine's "Poison Garden" - I made good progress on this after my surgery, but not enough to finish the center square before moving on to other projects.
• Clean up and organize my crafting lair - I didn't finish by Easter as I'd hoped, but I did get it cleaned up and organized. Inventorying what I have is a whole 'nother task.
• Complete one yarncrafting project - Success! I finished a C2C crochet scarf in February, and started a knit wrap.

New Habits
• Drink at least 1.5 litre of water a day - I did well with this most days.
• Continue Duolingo and Lumosity daily exercises My Duolingo streak is technically still active. My Lumosity streak, sadly, is not - I've broken this multiple times this year, so I'm not sure what's going on.
• Do some form of exercise daily - Started off the year strong, but I've been less diligent the latter part of the year. I need to do better.
• Make sure the dishes are done daily - This is working well for me still.
  

Very much a mixed bag of results, but I'm sure many folks can say the same as this pandemic just draaaaags on.

What about this year? I think I'm going to refrain from making too many specific crafting goals and try to enjoy the journey rather than stress about it.

Progress bar goals
• Read 10,000 pages - I made this last year, and I've identified several things I want to read this year, so this should be achievable. If I can make goal for 3 years running, I'll consider increasing this.
• Lose 25 pounds - If I want to stay off any sort of maintenance med, I really need to get a handle on this...

Other goals
• Finish Ink Circles "Blackstone Fantasy Garden" - This was my birthday start last year, and I'd estimate it at about 70% complete. I want to finish this soon-ish so I can start Liz Almond's "Save the Stitches" blackwork sampler as my next birthday start.
• Finish reading Neal Stephenson's _Baroque Cycle_ - This has been on my TBR pile for a while, and I started this last month. It also clocks in at about 4000 pages, so that should help my reading goal.
• Inventory my crafting supplies - Now that my lair is pretty well organized, I need to inventory what I have, and possibly cull a bit.
• Complete one yarncrafting project - Either crochet or knit. This is a good recurring goal, in much the way the reading goal is.

Habits
• Drink at least 1.5 litre of water a day
• Continue Duolingo and Lumosity daily exercises
• Do some form of exercise daily
• Make sure the dishes are done daily - Keeping this up!
  

I guess this year's goals look a lot like last year's goals, and that's ok. Consistency is half the battle.

Happy New Year 2021!

If you're reading this now, congratulations! You survived 2020!

I think it's an understatement to say 2020 was Not a Good Year. I made it through better than many, with much of my life remaining relatively unchanged. I was able to work from home some, though not exclusively, and my workplace has new procedures in place to help protect those of us who do need to physically report to the office.

But let's have a look back at my naive optimism about 2020, shall we?

Progress bar goals
• Read 10,000 pages - I did finish reading all of Shakespeare in 2020, but I fell short of the goal, coming in at just under 8900 pages.
• Walk Minas Tirith to the Morannon - I made it!
• Do 200 workouts at Curves - This started off well - I hit my 1000th workout in early February and was making it all 5 weekdays. Then the pandemic happened, and they had to close for a while. She's back open in a limited capacity, but I won't be carrying this goal forward just yet.
• Lose 25 pounds - Another goal that started off well and was derailed by the pandemic. I'd lost 10 pounds by mid-April, but have gained it back with interest.

Other goals
• Finish Chatelaine's "Walled English Garden" - I focused on this almost exclusively this year. I'm not *quite* done, but I'm probably about a week away from a finish.
• Finish one page on Log Dog Samplers "Death by Cross Stitch" - Honestly, I realized I was not really looking forward to working on it (perhaps over-1 on 22ct was a poor choice for my aging eyes), and abandoned it.
• Clean up and organize my crafting lair - HA ha ha ha... yeah, I didn't finish this. I did a little bit, but it is still a very looming project.
• Complete one yarncrafting project - Hey, one I did actually finish! I knitted the Blue Sky Fibers "Endless Wrap" in "Storm Clouds" worsted. I haven't blocked it yet, but the knitting is done.

New Habits
• Drink at least 1.5 litre of water a day - I'm managing at least 1L a day, sometimes 1.5, so it's a work in progress.
• Continue Duolingo and Lumosity daily exercises - These are going well. My streaks are up to 1089 and 732 days respectively.
• Do some form of exercise daily - Ehhh. Hit or miss here.
• Make sure the dishes are done daily - This has been going well, and I've discovered how satisfactory it is to have dishes done (or at least loaded) every day.

For the new habits, I think I did fairly well, which is encouraging. As for the rest...well, 2020 explains much.

Moving on to this coming year:

Progress bar goals
• Read 10,000 pages - I do have my first few books identified for this year, and maybe I'll actually make goal this time.
• Lose 25 pounds - Rather than identifying specific steps, I'll just leave it at this...

Other goals
• Finish Chatelaine's "Walled English Garden" - I'd better, given how close I am.
• Finish Ink Circles "Castle Walls" - This was my New Year's start last year, and hasn't seen action since that day.
• Finish the center square on Chatelaine's "Poison Garden" - I just started this an hour ago, but it will lie dormant until Walled English Garden is finished.
• Clean up and organize my crafting lair - I hope to finish this by Easter. I know, I said that last year, but it makes the organization a good Lenten goal. Yes, I hear you laughing. But maybe if enough people laugh I'll actually do it.
• Complete one yarncrafting project - Either crochet or knit. This is a good recurring goal, in much the way the reading goal is.

New Habits
• Drink at least 1.5 litre of water a day
• Continue Duolingo and Lumosity daily exercises
• Do some form of exercise daily - I'm going to start by walking a mile (or equivalent exercise) and see if I can increase from there.
• Make sure the dishes are done daily - Keeping this up!
  

Now that we've kicked 2020 to the curb, here's to hopefully better days!

Happy New Year 2020!

Happy New Year! Apparently I haven't blogged at all since last year. Most of my activity, such as it is, has been on Facebook or, more recently, Instagram. I can't promise I'll be more active here in 2020, but I should at least resume the Monday Miscellany recaps I was doing for a while.

Anyway, new year, new goals! How did I do against last year's goals?

• Read 10,000 pages - I read 12,353, so that's a win. A third of that was reading the entire Brother Cadfael series, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
• Walk Rauros to Mt. Doom - Made it there, and am halfway to Morannon. This is getting near the end, so I'll need to find another fantastic 'walk' to go on.
• Lose 25 pounds - Well, I did better than last year by actually losing a few pounds. Progress, but nearly negligible.
• Finish Teresa Wentzler's "Fantasy Triptych" - Finished and framed!
• Finish Chatelaine's "Violet Mandala" - Finished and framed!
• Clean up and organize my crafting lair - Some progress, though you wouldn't know it from the current state.
• Complete one yarncrafting project - I don't think I did any yarncrafting this year.

Habitica was quite helpful in getting me to form (and break) some new habits:

• Drink at least 1 litre of water a day - this worked well, and I should probably increase this for 2020.
• Do Duolingo and Lumosity exercises every day - 723 day streak in Duolingo, and 366 in Lumosity!
• Stop following stupid clickbait listicles that erode my faith in humanity - mostly success here. I do occasionally follow links to posts of cute dogs or cats, but that's a bit more wholesome.

So, on for this year!

Progress bar goals
• Read 10,000 pages - This seems to be a good benchmark for me for now, to be revisited if I keep exceeding it. I've signed up for a project to read the complete works of Shakespeare in 2020, which will cover half of my goal by itself.
• Walk Minas Tirith to the Morannon - Halfway there, so this should be an easy completion. I'll need to find another walk after this.
• Do 200 workouts at Curves - This is committing to about 4 workouts a week. I'm currently doing that most weeks, so this should be makeable.
• Lose 25 pounds - I'm entering a challenge with some coworkers this month, so that should help some.

Other goals
• Finish Chatelaine's "Walled English Garden" - This and Long Dog's "Death by Cross Stitch" are now my oldest two WIPs, both started in June 2017, so I'd like to get one of them off the list.
• Finish one page on Log Dog Samplers "Death by Cross Stitch" - I think it'll be a goal to finish this before I retire, but that's about a decade away.
• Clean up and organize my crafting lair - I hope to finish this by Easter. I know, I said that last year, but it makes the organization a good Lenten goal
• Complete one yarncrafting project - Either crochet or knit.

New Habits
• Drink at least 1.5 litre of water a day - This is an increase from last year
• Continue Duolingo and Lumosity daily exercises
• Do some form of exercise daily - Curves, treadmill, stretches, anything. Well, probably not burpees. Those suck.
• Make sure the dishes are done daily - This isn't necessarily running the dishwasher - with just two of us now, it doesn't need to be run daily. It is, however, making sure the dishwasher is emptied or loaded and doing any handwashing necessary.

Onward to a new decade! At least for me, since I do hit a milestone birthday in several weeks. As for whether 2020 is a new decade or not, I'll leave you with today's XKCD.

Happy New Year - 2019

Happy New Year!

A new year is widely considered a time to turn over a new leaf, to set goals or resolutions, and to put the past year behind us. My 2018 wasn't bad, and did have some very fun moments such as the Rhine river cruise, but I think many people are just glad to have 2018 behind us.

I do need to look to the past to see how I did on my goals from last year, though, so here they are:

• Read 10,000 pages - I fell short of this again, only reading 6545 pages, but I did read more than last year.
• Isengard to Minas Tirith - I made it to Minas Tirith with Gandalf and Pippin, and am now halfway to Mount Doom with the Ring.
• Lose 25 pounds - Well....not even close, and actually went negative on this goal.

Another lackluster showing, I'm afraid. It's a new year, though, so here are this year's goals.

• Read 10,000 pages - Even though I've failed to meet this goal the past two years, I don't believe it's unreasonable, and so I'm retaining it as is.
• Walk Rauros to Mt. Doom - Halfway there, so this should be an easy completion. I'll follow it by walking with Aragorn from Minas Tirith to the Morannon and back.
• Lose 25 pounds - Another failure that I really need to keep as a goal, and devote more effort to completion.

I do have some goals that aren't well-suited to progress bars, so I have a separate list. More goals may get added as the year goes by.

• Finish Teresa Wentzler's "Fantasy Triptych" - I'm aiming for the end of the month.
• Finish Chatelaine's "Violet Mandala" - I hope to finish this by the end of May.
• Clean up and organize my crafting lair - I hope to finish this by Easter (21 April)
• Complete one yarncrafting project - I don't know whether it will be crochet or knit, but I do have a number of things kitted and I need to start doing more than just hoarding yarn.

In terms of habits I want to establish, maintain, or break:

• Drink at least 1 litre of water a day
• Do Duolingo and Lumosity exercises every day
• Stop following stupid clickbait listicles that erode my faith in humanity

I've discovered an app called Habitica that I'm hoping will keep me on track with my goals and habits.

This year will probably also be heavy on introspection in general, since I'll hit a milestone birthday early next year. In the meantime, it's time for me to buckle up and enjoy this ride!

Monday miscellany - 12Nov2018

Forgive me, reader - it's been 5 weeks since my last update.

Life has been busy, although mostly in good ways. Since my last update, DH and I have been on a lovely two-week vacation to Europe. One week of that was a Rhine river cruise on Uniworld (highly recommended), followed by a few days knocking about the Netherlands and Belgium. I may write more about it later, but right now I'm still fighting an unplanned and unwanted souvenir in the form of a head cold. Fortunately I was able to get some good medicine overseas and other than keeping DH awake with my congested snoring, it didn't slow me down much. Now that we're back home, it's taken more of a toll on me but I hope that I'm on the mend.

Anyway, on to the update!

What I've been reading.... Travel is usually good for a reading binge, and this time was no exception. I finished _Straight Outta Tombstone_, and have also read Shirley Jackson's classic _The Haunting of Hill House_, Brandon Sanderson's _Legion: The Many Lives of Stephen Leeds_, and a short story collection edited by Ellen Datlow called _Haunted Nights_.
My current read is Evangeline Walton's _Mabinogion Tetralogy_, and I'm about 40% through. I've had it for years and somehow it had never bubbled its way to the top of my TBR pile despite my love of mythology. I'm familiar with many of the stories, but Walton's treatment really does bring them to life.

What I've been stitching... I've made some progress on Fantasy Triptych over the past 5 weeks, but nothing significant. I don't usually travel with larger stitching projects, so it's been several weeks since I've picked up a needle. I did finish a small crocheted throw for DD, but that's about it.

Fumbling toward fitness There have been some good weeks and some stumbles. I did clock about 42 miles of walking while we were in Europe, for an average of 3 miles a day, so that's a positive development. Hopefully I can keep up the increased activity level, once I've recuperated from this cold.
On the mental fitness front, my Duolingo streak is still going strong, but losing track of time one night cost me a 285-day Lumosity streak, and I haven't yet managed to get back on track with that.

One Little Victory We had gotten a call the week before our trip that there was a chance the ship might not be able to sail the entire path due to the Rhine being at record lows. We went anyway, and saw enough rain on the trip to be able to make the entire voyage. And it was spectacular.

Monday miscellany - 1Oct2018

The months fly past at an increasing rate, it seems, and October is already upon us.

I’ve been doing some thinking over the past week about my recent lack of success with exercise goals, and have come to the conclusion that I need to restructure some things. Rather than committing to treadmilling every day and Curves every weekday that they’re open, I’m going to start by setting a somewhat ‘modest’ goal of 200 minutes a week between those two things (or any other exercise). Once I’ve had 3 consecutive weeks of meeting that goal, I’ll increase it to maybe 210 or 225, and just keep progressing upward from there. This gives me a bit more flexibility to adapt to busy days, illness, travel, or all those other little bits of life that play havoc with best-laid plans.

Speaking of best-laid plans, off to the updates!

What I’ve been reading…. I read Brian McClellan’s novella “War Cry”, and have started _Straight Outta Tombstone_, a collection of short-stories set in the Wild West with a sci-fi or fantasy twist to them. I’ve been enjoying it so far.

What I’ve been crafting… I finished the central square on Chatelaine’s “Violet Mandala”, and have set that aside for a while. I’m about to pick up Teresa Wentzler’s “Fantasy Triptych” again – I only have the castle panel remaining, and will continue work on that until I’ve finished. After all of the over-1 violets I stitched last month, this should go a bit more quickly.

Fumbling toward fitness… After the decision to revisit my exercise goals, I did succeed the first week of it, with 201 minutes total. I went by Curves 4 times and made up the balance on the treadmill. Short story collections do seem to help my treadmilling!
My Lumosity and Duolingo streaks are still going strong, but I've not had much of an issue with that.

One Little Victory I achieved my 800th workout at Curves! Also, UCF is now 4-0 and has a 17-game win streak. Go Knights!

Monday miscellany - 24Sept2018

Well, after last week's inauspicious start, things were fine once I got my car back and life could proceed as normal.

Unfortunately "normal" now also seems to be a consistent string of treadmill intentions gone awry, and I need to figure out why I'm letting my routines slide so much. So, there's some soul-searching in order so I can get back on track. Perhaps I need to recalibrate my routine if I'm just being too ambitious with what I plan to accomplish.

But onward to status!

What I've been reading... Well, I still have "War Cry" at the top of the queue, but somehow haven't cracked it yet. Hopefully once I get back on track with the treadmill, my reading will also pick back up.

What I've been stitching... I didn't stitch much during the week, but I did make some decent progress on Violet over the weekend.

Fumbling toward fitness... I made it by Curves every weekday that I had a car, which is good. I also continued my Duolingo and Lumosity streaks, which is also good. Treadmill is where I'm falling flat, as I have for the past several weeks, and that's something I need to address.

One Little Victory In college football, UCF is undefeated at 3-0. Go Knights!

Monday miscellany - 17Sept18

My evening has been somewhat subpar - got a flat on the way home and discovered my car had a tire repair kit instead of the donut spare, and sadly the flat was such that neither the repair kit nor the can of Fix-A-Flat got me mobile again. Fortunately, I didn't have to wait too long for a tow, and hopefully my car will be back to all-fours tomorrow.

In the grand scheme of things, it's a minor inconvenience, especially compared to folks up in the Carolinas, so I'll count my blessings even if it did throw off my evening.

What I've been reading... I finished _Kill the Farm Boy_ yesterday, and found it enjoyable. Up next is Brian McClellan's newest novella, "War Cry".

What I've been stitching... I've done about half of the over-1 on Violet Mandala that I'd hoped to accomplish this month, so it's still looking like a reasonable goal.

Fumbling toward fitness Much the same as recent weeks - I've been pretty good about getting to Curves regularly, and my Duolingo and Lumosity streaks are still going strong, but I'm still struggling with the treadmill. I had hoped to try to get back on track tonight, but the flat has put a serious dent in my motivation. Still, I know I need to do it, even if I only do a few minutes tonight.

One Little Victory DH and I spent the weekend in Atlanta for a family event, and got to spend time with an old friend while we were there.