1/7/14

Monday's Meanderings

Is it safe to be normal again? I think with Monday being the first Monday of the new year, it's okay to pretend the holidays are behind us and believe that we can get back to a routine. I was right back into it with an early morning session of PT and then a trip to the grocery store. We keep a magnetic white board on our refrigerator door where we write things down when I need to buy more. It has worked quite well, and it also gives Mike a chance to make special requests. If he writes it on the list, he finds it in his stash of food goodies after my next trip. So, all of that to say that I needed to pick up something for dinner yesterday, but I was saving my big shopping trip for today. Still, I ended up with 20 items on my list, most taken off the white board, and the rest for one night's dinner (plus leftovers). We had split pea soup made in the new crockpot Santa brought for me, and it was so yummy. I used the ham bone left over from our New Year's Day ham. Today's grocery list has 37 items on it, so I'm glad I broke it into two pieces even if it does mean another trip.

There was no time for sewing yesterday, although I did make more progress on my Cornflowers table runner on Sunday.


All of the flower stems and petals are top-stitched now, and I started on the yellow leaves. There are 35 leaves, and I was able to finish 8 of them.


They go faster than the petals and stems, so I'm hoping to finish those today. The only other thing I did on Sunday was to change my mind about Sharon's Let's Book It Challenge.

Not that anyone cares or even is paying attention, but I spent some time reading the instructions for the quilt I'd chosen originally. Reading what I needed to do to make it all come together right started hurting my brain, and I could see that this was frustration in the making. Besides, I was going to need to buy fabric for it, and so I went to my second choice, still from the same book:


Call me a chicken if you want to. I was afraid if I stuck with my original version that I'd be writing a lot of blog posts with four-letter words, and I was thinking of you, my bloggy friends. You wouldn't want your eyeballs to catch on fire reading all those bad words, now would you? I decided to go with this scrappy table runner called Outback Sunset. 


Here's an image of the whole thing:


And I had all the fabrics I needed...leftover from other projects. I did need to purchase a red and black stripe, but that will work for future projects as well.


So I'm hoping to get some more sewing done today, but I don't know if I will. I'm starting today on my annual promise to myself to get more exercise and lose weight. I'm not dieting, strictly speaking, because I've come to the conclusion that dieting (for me) is a waste of time. For one thing, I don't really over eat. I do eat a lot of baked goods and therefore plenty of sugar. But calories-in-calories-out-wise, I'm still pretty sure I break even. What I really need is to get more exercise and I think the weight loss will take care of itself. That's what I'm telling myself anyway.

So my new goal is to get some exercise four times per week, and for now, I'm counting my physical therapy day in there. The pool has been closed for the past three weeks, but it reopened yesterday, and so I'm headed there this morning. My goal is to swim on Tuesdays and Thursdays, walk with Sue (or by myself, if necessary) on Fridays. For now, Mondays are my PT day. If I ever get to quit PT (which is anybody's guess at this point), I'll add another day of walking on Mondays. We'll see if I can stick to it.

As I said, this is my annual goal. I think I've been setting this goal for about five years now, and I have yet to manage to keep it for more than a few months. 2014 is a sort of a big year for everyone in my family, however. Maybe that will make a difference in some psychological way. As for me, I'm hitting the big 6-0 on my next birthday. Matthew will graduate with his engineering degree in June. Erik and Mae will hit five years of marriage and they are celebrating with a trip to Hawaii...Mae's first trip. Mike will hit eligibility for social security this year, although he's not planning to draw on it. Still, it's a milestone, and something worth celebrating. So I figure it's a good year to actually make that exercise/weight loss goal stick, but I'm also keeping a healthy dose of realism in my planning.

What about you? Did you set any goals for yourself in 2014 beyond doing lots of sewing?

19 comments:

Vicki W said...

I love the Judy Hooworth table runner! I attended one of her classes at Houston years ago and she's still one of my favorite teachers. The candy corn table runner is going to be really pretty!

Diane Wild said...

Goals are a daily must with me. Otherwise I get nothing done. Exercise should be your new addiction. I like the new table runner choice.

gpc said...

I hope I will exercise a couple times a week by walking, and I hope I will try anything new that falls into my path. I'd like to hope I will find a new job idea, too, but that's a lot to hope for in such a new year. :)

kathyinozarks said...

I have such a hard time sticking with any exercise plan but I do want to get back to my walking every day. we live in the woods-so there is really no excuse for me not to.
Last February we lost our long time furry member Nikita and for months after I would start crying when ever I tried to take a walk by myself-so as soon as we rid ourselves of these frigid temps and deep snow-I am going to try again to walk-and remember happy times and not cry-that's the plan anyways.

Brown Family said...

THose are two pretty and bright table quilts! I started loosing weight last year and plan to keep it up, I also need to move more, but I know resolutions will fall by the way side, so I did not make any

Dasha said...

Judy Hooworth lives not far from me. Well it is not far by Oz standards LOL - just over half an hour. I love her work, but I've never been to one of her classes or talks. Perhaps I should remedy that.

Lyndsey said...

I love your new choice from the book and appreciate your changing so we wouldn't have to read all the four letter words. Besides Smitty is far too young for such language and Gracie far too much of a lady.

I hit the big 60 back in December and it was such fun, not at all painful. I also must lose weight but like you I'm going to increase my exercise as at the moment my intake / use of calories is evenly balanced. Good luck.

WoolenSails said...

I sure wish we lived closer, we could go swimming together. I really need to get out and get some exercise, gotten too lazy this winter and it plays havoc on the joints. Love your new piece, that is really fun.

Debbie

Lynda Halliger Otvos (Lynda M O) said...

Four days a week is a great goal. It's hard for me to get out of the chair behind the computer to do any regular exercise altho it does feel really good during and after so there's truly no decent reason not to exercise.

Andee said...

I am trying to get on my bike at least four days a week too..I go in spurts and I really need to get a new spurt going! Good luck to you too!

Vroomans' Quilts said...

I think you made a wise choice in changing gears in your book. And what great fabrics!! I don't really set big goals cuz' things whammy them. Only biggy was to make 2014 a slow year - slow it all down, keep it simple, keep it small, keep it fun.

Needled Mom said...

Your Outback Sunset is going to be stunning and I love the cornflower runner too.

Junebug613 said...

Oh I like your new choice! Yes, our delicate eyeballs might just burst if we had to read posts strewn with obscenities about sewing. Ha Ha. Best wishes for your success on your weight loss goal.

Karen said...

The cornflower runner has a lot of work in it with all the pieces and the top stitching. It's looking good.
Good luck with your goals.

kauanoeanuhea said...

oh, goals...we all need them. To bad we can't always keep them. I don't know where mine go to but it seems I am always losing them somehow. I am trying again this year too....walk more, quilt more, eat less. We shall see where I am at the end of January! Like your candy corn runner and outback sunset fabric choices.

quiltzyx said...

Thank you for changing to the new table runner. I don't think I could handle all those particular 4-letter words in such a concentrated place!

Good on ya for your goals - I know you will do the best you can!

Dana Gaffney said...

I would like you to try to set my eyeballs on fire, but I can't speak for the others. I like this table runner better than the other one anyway. As usual, for me, I picked my project and it morphed into something not even close to the original.

Denise :) said...

Aaaah!!! I love the stripes in that table runner!! Your cornflowers are coming along very nicely. I wonder if Sharon will let me count pictures of projects I've taken *from* books count??! LOL! :)

Kate said...

You've made a lot of progress. I like your new table runner project, it's always good to use up stash. Good luck with the exercise goal.