Fail-tacular

Remember how I used to make lists of goals for the year? And then I wouldn't do ANY of them? Oh, pre-child self, you were a good time.  I think I did one thing on that list - I tried to play the new Harry Potter game, but it didn't work on my stupid computer (graphics and things like that), so I had to return it.

So no more lists. No more goals. Just get up in the morning, feed yourself and the other people/animals in the house, and avoid laundry at all costs.

That being said, I did decide on a personal theme for the year. And clearly, it's not about doing things (like blogging about it) in a timely fashion.

2013 is my own personal Year of the Albatross.

That is one sassy albatross. Thanks, Department of Wildlife and Fisheries! Or the Department of Conservation. I downloaded this three months ago. Sorry.So this is the year that I will try to finish all of those languishing projects - the Fireside Sweater (a sleeve and a half to go!), our wedding quilt (chopping up what I already have and trying something that could either be wonderful or awful), and maybe even quilting that very first quilt from Kristin: The College Years.

To celebrate, I bought the materials for a new quilt.

31 for 31 - 11 months to go

As noted in my previous post, I'm not so good with the follow-through. I have grand ideas and then life (and small children) get in the way. But here's my list for my 31st year anyway. Because I'm nothing if not optimistic.

31 things to do while I'm 31

1. Finish the wedding quilt.

2. Sew the grey and pink fleece coat.

3. Design and knit my Weasley sweater.

4. Finish my Bayerische socks.

5. Knit a sweater for Justin.

6. Knit 20% of my yarn stash, including any new additions.

7. Spin 30% of my fiber stash, including any new additions.

8. Piece my very own Harry Potter quilt.

9. Send #8 out to be quilted.

10. Make a cream pie.

11. Finish the first draft of my story.

12. Finish the Fireside sweater.

13. Sew something out of knit fabric.

15. Teach myself Trigonometry.

16. Begin my quest to knit all of the sock architectures in Cat Bordhi's New Pathways for Knitters.

17. Finish big orange blanket.

18. Make macaroons.

19. Learn double-knitting.

20. Knit 5,000 yards of fingering-weight yarn.

21. Finish all of the Sherlock Holmes books.

23. Teach Gracie some manners.

24. Relearn geometry.

25. Repair the two white afghans.

26. Get Henry to roll over. (Kind of done - he can get from his back to his front, but not his front to his back. He's like a very sad, backwards turtle.)

27. Go to Houston to see Abby (and go to Quilt Market...).

28. Lego Harry Potter. Buy it. Play it.

29. Resurrect my love of The Sims.

30. Make some baby items for expecting friends.

31. Read 10 books I own but have not read. (An oldie but a goodie.)

30 for 30 - this is what we call a bust

Oh, my 30 year-old self! You so crazy. Look at all of these things you didn't accomplish (again...the first three things have been on this list for at least four years. Consistency!). But you did, however, give birth to the world's youngest rapper:

This the cover of his debut album, "Cut Some Bitches."But you tried to do things on this list, self. Not very hard, but you tried. Here's the final tally:

30 things to do while I'm 30

1. Finish the wedding quilt.
2. Sew the grey and pink fleece coat.
3. Design and knit my Weasley sweater.
4. Finish my Bayerische socks.
5. Knit a sweater for Justin.
6. Knit 20% of my yarn stash, including any new additions.
7. Spin 30% of my fiber stash, including any new additions.
8. Read all of the Anne of Green Gables books.
9. Bedroom makeover.
10. Knit a sweater from my handspun yarn. (Still needs buttons, but they are in my possession.)
11. Finish the first draft of my story.
12. Complete and submit the first level of the Master Knitter's program.
13. Sew something out of knit fabric.
14. Paint the upstairs/downstairs hallway and stairwell. (We opted to redo the basement and office, as well as my old office and our bedroom. I get a pass.)
15. Teach myself Trigonometry.
16. Knit all of the sock architectures in Cat Bordhi's New Pathways for Knitters.
17. Finish big orange blanket.
18. Make macaroons.
19. Learn double-knitting.
20. Knit 5,000 yards of fingering-weight yarn.
21. Read all of the Sherlock Holmes books.
22. Go on a "babymoon" with Justin.
23. Teach Gracie some manners.
24. Relearn geometry.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.

My favorite part of this list is the fact that I couldn't even think of six things that I very well knew I wouldn't finish.

I'm working on next year's list. I enjoy a yearly spectacular failure, apparently.

Time to add another

I'm no longer 29, so it's time to make next year's list. Here's the one I half-heartedly worked on during my 29th year. I've decided that it's no use to be hard on myself that I don't even finish half of my goals (and that I've carried some of the same ones for more than four years). I should just be glad to have goals, I suppose. Also, a few of these will be finished within the next few days/weeks, including #10 and #12.

29 things to do while I'm 29
1. Finish the wedding quilt.
2. Ride bikes with Justin.  Justin sold his bike for $5, so it's time to give up on that dream.
3. Sew the grey and pink fleece coat.
4. Design and knit my Weasley sweater.
5. Make Elizabeth Zimmerman's modified yoke/raglan/whatever sweater.
6. Finish my Bayerische socks.
7. Knit a sweater for Justin.
8. Knit 20% of my yarn stash, including any new additions.
9. Spin 30% of my fiber stash, including any new additions.
10. Read all of the Anne of Green Gables books.
11. Repaint the concession wall in the bedroom
12. Knit a sweater from my handspun yarn.
13. Finish the first draft of my story.
14. Complete the first cross stitch I ever started (8th grade?).
15. Complete and submit the first level of the Master Knitter's program.
16. Get new furniture for the family room.
17. Take a long weekend vacation with Justin. Austin, TX for Paul's wedding. It was wonderful.
18. Switch over to homemade cleaning solutions.
19. Celebrate Literacy Day (September 8).
20. Sew something out of knit fabric.
21. Paint the upstairs/downstairs hallway and stairwell.
22. Read at least 10 books I own but have not read. (Death Comes at the End, The Patient, The Daily Coyote, The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, A Year in Provence, Anne of Green Gables, Anne of Avonlea, Anne of the Island, One for the Money, You Don't Look Like Someone I Know)
23. Teach myself Trigonometry.
24. Knit all of the sock architectures in Cat Bordhi's New Pathways for Knitters.
25. Do something with all of these loose photos - scrapbook? Album? Scanned and on the computer. It's a good start.
26. Finish big orange blanket.
27. Make macaroons.
28. Finish all of my holiday knits before Thanksgiving.
29. Learn double-knitting.

I've been thinking about what I'll add for next year - definitely more about stashbusting yarn, house maintenance, that sort of thing. There is, however, one that can't really be named. Mostly because we don't know who it is yet.

I'm very much looking forward to August and meeting our new little friend.

29 for 29

Justin reminded me that I hadn't yet shared my list of 29 things to do in my 29th year. A lot of them are the same because I'm pretty good at writing down goals and then completely ignoring them, but for some reason, I think this year is going to be different. For example, I only have three knitting projects on the needles. Three. There have been times when I've had 12. So clearly I'm in a place of finishing things, and maybe I'll get to the point where I work on one thing consistently.

And maybe monkeys will fly out of my butt.

But I have finished something, and in honor of Earth Day, I thought I'd share:

29 things to do while I'm 29

1. Finish the wedding quilt.
2. Ride bikes with Justin.
3. Sew the grey and pink fleece coat.
4. Design and knit my Weasley sweater.
5. Make Elizabeth Zimmerman's modified yoke/raglan/whatever sweater.
6. Finish my Bayerische socks.
7. Knit a sweater for Justin.
8. Knit 20% of my yarn stash, including any new additions.
9. Spin 30% of my fiber stash, including any new additions.
10. Read all of the Anne of Green Gables books.
11. Repaint the concession wall in the bedroom
12. Knit a sweater from my handspun yarn.
13. Finish the first draft of my story.
14. Complete the first cross stitch I ever started (8th grade?).
15. Complete and submit the first level of the Master Knitter's program.
16. Get new furniture for the family room.
17. Take a long weekend vacation with Justin.
18. Switch over to homemade cleaning solutions.
19. Celebrate Literacy Day (September 8).
20. Sew something out of knit fabric.
21. Paint the upstairs/downstairs hallway and stairwell.
22. Read at least 10 books I own but have not read. (Death Comes at the End)
23. Teach myself Trigonometry.
24. Knit all of the sock architectures in Cat Bordhi's New Pathways for Knitters.
25. Do something with all of these loose photos - scrapbook? Album?
26. Finish big orange blanket.
27.
28.
29.

We are now a mostly-vinegar-and-baking-soda household. I'm still using a green cleaner for the toilets, but everything else is cleaned with a baking soda paste (or Bon Ami) and then copious amounts of vinegar. I hate the smell of vinegar, but other that than, it's working really well. I especially love when I spray the baking soda on top of the vinegar and everything starts to fizzle. In that same vein, cleaning the drains is one of my favorite things to do. Dump a cup of baking soda down the drain, followed by a cup of vinegar. It's like a middle school science project volcano. Follow with hot (not boiling - you may have plastic pipes) water 15 minutes later and your drain is good to go. My favorite place to do this is in the basement on our floor drain because I'm all willy-nilly with the amount of ingredients and sometimes get a mini Mt. St. Helen. I never got to build a volcano in school.