Today is a bit of a combination post. I've not posted in so long---two whole weeks!---that it'll be good to get the head screwed back on, all around.
My focus, really, is very simple---get back to keeping track of what I'm eating (and eating healthier), spend some more time exercising, and otherwise just keep keeping on. I need to find an easy way of keeping track of this, and of reminding myself to do it---something portable, private, and non-silly.
Also, I need to write more.
As far as the roundup goes:
1. White afghan: This has been going slowly. My hands have been acting up (rather nastily), and so my crocheting has slowed to a standstill as I try to get them back into working condition. I think I'm going to focus on finishing up a couple other projects which are, at this stage, just needing some fine-tuning to be finished.
2. Yarn bin: I gave away some scrap yarn, as I said in the last post, but then I also thrifted some yarn the other day. Oh darn.
7. Perfecting the noms: So making hopjesvla again soon. I have all this coffee leftover that I can't drink because ow. I'm in need of a few other good puddings/custards, though. There's a nutmeg and maple custard I've been eyeing over at Smitten Kitchen, which I messed up horridly the last time I tried it. (This, I think, is my story with custards and puddings: Fuck up horribly the first time, make it great the second.)
12. Nail polish: Very excited to be doing a girls' night with one of my housemates and a friend. Toe-painting will be happening.
13. One new dish: I tried "Java Jacks" from The AntiCraft yesterday. I used double-strength coffee, but still barely got any coffee flavor(!), and the pancakes were pretty dry. Not making these ones again, I think, although I do love the idea of coffee + sweetened condensed milk in a pancake.
14. Capsule warddrobe: Having such problems here! You see, I like black. I also like grey, navy and brown as base colors. The last of these three are very easy to match with a wide variety of colors---those neutrals are pretty interchangeable. Black, on the other hand, I find to be a pretty stark color that, well, pretty much only goes with... black (and grey and white). So, I'm torn between being colorful and turning corporate goth.
15. Key interest: It remains below $3000, and I've had the luck to get it lower and lower each month. Barring disaster, I might even be able to pay it *fully* off if I do it right.
19. Emergency fund: I've expanded it to 4 months (relatively generous) living expenses. Ideally I'd like it to be at six months before I graduate, but we'll see how that works out. It's quite difficult to keep that much money aside when you make 16.5k a year.
Then again, the idea of graduating (without a job) and needing that money is also god-damned terrifying.
21. Fruits and veggies: Yeah, whoops.
22. Exercise: Ditto.
24/26. Dentist/brush/flossing: Doing fine, and again looking forward to clean teeth in early October.
28. Calling the 'rents: I've been calling them! And it's awesome! It makes me happy!
32. All music: 3509/6354.
36. Lang practice: I started out very strong this August, and then poof! None. I'm feeling the craving again, though, which is good.
37. Making the bed: Being going strong on this. It's nice to have a neat bed (especially when my books decide to escape their bookshelves, i.e. I don't have room for them on my bookshelves).
85. Japan: This is not happening, as it turns out. The paperwork got messed up and I would only be able to be there for about three weeks---and I can't quite justify the ticket for that right now. I'm sad, but I think I will just go visit my parents and N. instead.
91. Dissertation: I'm almost done with the first draft of the first chapter! We'll see how this goes....
95. Charity: Donated $100 the other day---a friend of a friend desperately needs a life-saving surgery, has no insurance, and is already broke from medical bills.
29 August 2012
14 August 2012
Roundup (Tuesday)
1. White afghan: I finished all but one of the required panels. I then started stitching together some of the panels, and realized that although the length was exactly what I wanted, the width was not. So, I'm now making four more panels, in order to make the afghan larger. Looks like I'll need to order more yarn. . . again.
2. Yarn bin: I gave away some scrap yarn to N.'s mother, as she knows some ladies who make scrap afghans. Now I've not got to deal with the stuff, and I still have plenty left for making hats and the like.
22. Exercise: Totally haven't been doing this. Totally should get back on that wagon.
23. Breast exam: Complete for August! And entirely because I was l
ooking down my list and went "oh, I should do that". Go this project. 25. Skin: Doing okay with this one. My skin really does feel better post-moisturizer.
26. Brush/flossing: Doing fine. Looking forward to my next cleaning.
28. Calling the 'rents: I haven't done this as much as I'd like to. I had a great hour-long call yesterday; I want to do that more.
32. Music: 3414/6367.
34. Fruits/veggies: I've decided I'm going to start some up over the winter---perhaps some herbs. I'm not quite sure what, though. I'll want something that can handle colder nights here on the coast.
36. Foreign language practice: I've been doing this! I've also added in some Old English, for the hell of it. I'd like to learn a bit more about the history of my language....
37. Bed-making: Starting this back up again, now that N. is gone (sad) and I won't have to kick him out of bed (not consolation).
44. Lang-8 has been going well: I've managed it so far for most of the summer.
70. E-mail inbox: Down to 44 unread out of 1498. This is actually a significant improvement over before....
74. Camera: I've been checking out cameras, and girding myself to throw down the $200 that it will cost.
85. Japan: Plans have gone awry. At this point, I'm not certain if I'll be going or not, as paperwork on the other end has gotten wonky; I wouldn't be able to go until mid-September, and would still need to be back fairly early for NELS/the Vigo conference. It would be maybe a three-week stay, at that point, and I'm not sure what to do (both for financial and other reasons). I'll need to make this choice soon, though, as in this next week. Ack.
2. Yarn bin: I gave away some scrap yarn to N.'s mother, as she knows some ladies who make scrap afghans. Now I've not got to deal with the stuff, and I still have plenty left for making hats and the like.
22. Exercise: Totally haven't been doing this. Totally should get back on that wagon.
23. Breast exam: Complete for August! And entirely because I was l
ooking down my list and went "oh, I should do that". Go this project. 25. Skin: Doing okay with this one. My skin really does feel better post-moisturizer.
26. Brush/flossing: Doing fine. Looking forward to my next cleaning.
28. Calling the 'rents: I haven't done this as much as I'd like to. I had a great hour-long call yesterday; I want to do that more.
32. Music: 3414/6367.
34. Fruits/veggies: I've decided I'm going to start some up over the winter---perhaps some herbs. I'm not quite sure what, though. I'll want something that can handle colder nights here on the coast.
36. Foreign language practice: I've been doing this! I've also added in some Old English, for the hell of it. I'd like to learn a bit more about the history of my language....
37. Bed-making: Starting this back up again, now that N. is gone (sad) and I won't have to kick him out of bed (not consolation).
44. Lang-8 has been going well: I've managed it so far for most of the summer.
70. E-mail inbox: Down to 44 unread out of 1498. This is actually a significant improvement over before....
74. Camera: I've been checking out cameras, and girding myself to throw down the $200 that it will cost.
85. Japan: Plans have gone awry. At this point, I'm not certain if I'll be going or not, as paperwork on the other end has gotten wonky; I wouldn't be able to go until mid-September, and would still need to be back fairly early for NELS/the Vigo conference. It would be maybe a three-week stay, at that point, and I'm not sure what to do (both for financial and other reasons). I'll need to make this choice soon, though, as in this next week. Ack.
06 August 2012
Roundup (Monday)
It's been quite a while. I've been to a wedding and a birthday party the past two weekends, and have been spending as much time as possible with N. before he heads back to the other coast for school. So, I've not quite had the time for this. That being said, here's a brief roundup!
1. White afghan: Got new skeins, and am so close to getting this thing done! I'm almost done with my current panel, and have two more to go after this. We'll see if I can still get it done before Nihonland....
7. New cooking: The second go at hopjesvla was immensely tasty, and I will certainly be making it again. Nom!
12. Nail polish: Played with a new bright coral on my toes. Fantastic color.
15. Key interest remains below $3000. I'm feeling very good about this goal, pending any financial blowups.
19. The emergency fund, however, might get dipped into for tickets to Japan/the fact that we still haven't found a fifth housemate for September. I might be paying quite a bit of extra rent if we can't fill that last room. :(
21/22. Fruits, veggies, and exercise have unfortunately gone down the pipe these past few weeks. I'm trying to make this work better again soon.
26. Flossing/brushing remains okay, although I flaked a night a few times this past week---fell asleep reading and couldn't get my ass up to do it.
28. Calling the parentals has also been a total flake recently. Again, time to do better at this.
36/44. Regular foreign language practice has been going well, though, because I've been playing a lot with Lang-8---huzzah! It really helps just with remembering vocab and recognizing (if not really knowing) kanji.
46. N. and I watched Beetlejuice and Edward Scissorhands this past week. I'd never seen either movie (I know! I know!) and we figured I had better get educated. I definitely enjoyed both to no end, especially Beetlejuice---what a riot. I also watched Nana, which is a Japanese film based on a manga by Yazawa Ai. Very cute, very typically Japanese. As usual, I was able to understand about 1/2 of the movie with the help of subtitles; I need so many more vocabulary. But, that hits B, E and N.
85. Japan: I'm checking on plans, but if this works, I go very, very soon. I'm somewhat terrified.
95. This isn't directly related to the charity goal, but it's something I'm somewhat happy about---I've taken the initiative to start donating more to charities (in particular, to Wuqu Kawoq', a group which provides medical care in Guatemala, and to a local food bank). The goal here, of course, is entirely separate from this; all the same, I want to remind myself here to keep donating. I might not believe in religion, but if there's one good thing I learned from being raised Catholics, it's to try to do good works. I can at least start here.
7. New cooking: The second go at hopjesvla was immensely tasty, and I will certainly be making it again. Nom!
12. Nail polish: Played with a new bright coral on my toes. Fantastic color.
15. Key interest remains below $3000. I'm feeling very good about this goal, pending any financial blowups.
19. The emergency fund, however, might get dipped into for tickets to Japan/the fact that we still haven't found a fifth housemate for September. I might be paying quite a bit of extra rent if we can't fill that last room. :(
21/22. Fruits, veggies, and exercise have unfortunately gone down the pipe these past few weeks. I'm trying to make this work better again soon.
26. Flossing/brushing remains okay, although I flaked a night a few times this past week---fell asleep reading and couldn't get my ass up to do it.
28. Calling the parentals has also been a total flake recently. Again, time to do better at this.
36/44. Regular foreign language practice has been going well, though, because I've been playing a lot with Lang-8---huzzah! It really helps just with remembering vocab and recognizing (if not really knowing) kanji.
46. N. and I watched Beetlejuice and Edward Scissorhands this past week. I'd never seen either movie (I know! I know!) and we figured I had better get educated. I definitely enjoyed both to no end, especially Beetlejuice---what a riot. I also watched Nana, which is a Japanese film based on a manga by Yazawa Ai. Very cute, very typically Japanese. As usual, I was able to understand about 1/2 of the movie with the help of subtitles; I need so many more vocabulary. But, that hits B, E and N.
85. Japan: I'm checking on plans, but if this works, I go very, very soon. I'm somewhat terrified.
95. This isn't directly related to the charity goal, but it's something I'm somewhat happy about---I've taken the initiative to start donating more to charities (in particular, to Wuqu Kawoq', a group which provides medical care in Guatemala, and to a local food bank). The goal here, of course, is entirely separate from this; all the same, I want to remind myself here to keep donating. I might not believe in religion, but if there's one good thing I learned from being raised Catholics, it's to try to do good works. I can at least start here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)