So Let's See ...

Hello Sports Fans!  I'm still here, just not organized enough over the last few days to post.  And the worst part is, it's not like I've been busy with other things, and not able to fit in posting.  I've just been truly disorganized.

Anyway, remember this post?  Well, even though it is not technically the end of summer, it's nearly September 1/Labor Day weekend, so I think we should review and assess.

1.  Lose 6 pounds.  Almost a complete success - I've lost 4 pounds.  I'll take it.

2.  Finish my Narrangansett sweater.  Nope.  Didn't even pick it up.

3.  Take better care of my nails.  This started out not so well.  A friend talked me into a gel manicure.  It looked nice, lasted a long time, and then when it came off my nails were in pretty bad shape for about a month!  They are much healthier now, and I've done a pretty good job taking care of them.

4.  Try to be more creative with my CSA items.  Yes and no.  Yes - I've done well when making an effort.  No - laziness has won out most of the time.  However, it lasts through October, so there is still hope!

5.  Get rid of stuff.  OK, but not great.  However, this weekend is a three-day weekend here in the U.S. because of Labor Day, and The Tim has to work.  I have big plans, let me tell you!

6.  Try to be nicer.  Doing OK, much better than usual in a summer when it is too hot and humid all of the time.  Most of my success is a result of just keeping my mouth shut in the first place ...

7.  Clean up/fix up the garden.  Not really.  Took some early steps, and it was a) overwhelming, we had neglected it for so long, and b) then it got too miserable for me to be outside.  I do plan to start doing more this fall, and maybe seeing if I can afford someone to come and give me a consultation/suggestions early next spring.

8.  Visit the Barnes Foundation.  Nope.

9.  More trips to the shore.   Two words for you here:  Foot brace.  Nope.

10.  Try to have realistic expectations about all of the above.  This was a success. I didn't get down on myself about any of it, and usually I really get frustrated when I try to get things crossed off a list and don't have perfect results.

So I am pretty OK with what did/did not happen this summer.  To be perfectly honest, I'm happy I got as far as I did with things!

What about you?  Did you have the kind of summer you'd hoped?

In Which I Ask: What Was I Thinking???

If you have been a reader of the blog for even a short time, you know that I am not exactly a knitting machine, cranking out things like crazy.  Which I'm fine with, I enjoy knitting, and though there are things I wish I had/would finish(ed), I'm not really in a race with myself.

But I really do have to wonder sometimes.  Take the past two weeks, when - besides working on the Cranberry Waffle socks - I have taken on more projects.  Why?  You may well ask, as I have wondered myself.

Let's review:  I have a pair of the aforementioned Cranberry Waffle socks on the needles, and a long-time-on-the-needles project of my Mallard Sweater, and my Turquoise Narragansett, which I have vowed to finish by the end of the summer.  And there are other bits and pieces along the way.

So ... WHY in the past couple of weeks, have I felt compelled all of a sudden to start knitting:

1)  What I am calling my Lemming Shawl.  It's a KAL on Ravelry by the Loop Group.  I wasn't going to even think of trying it, and then others started posting pictures of their completed ones.  Of course, I bought the yarn and got started.  As a matter of fact, I bought two more skeins in a different color to make another one at a later date!

2)  But Oh, I wanted to make something for my new[ish] great nephew Parker, who lives in San Francisco.  His parents are not much for homemade things, but I have made something for all of my other great-nieces and -nephews, and wanted to make something for him.  I decided a toy was a good idea.  So I started the Baby Bobbi Bear:

and then, 

3)  I decided to try to do something for the Ravellenic Games (formerly the Ravelympics).  Of course, there is a "team" for those who want to finish WIPs, but did I join that one?  It didn't occur to me, as clearly I didn't think it through at all.  So, I have started Caeles:

I have until the end of the Olympics (roughly two weeks) to finish.  HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!  

Dear Diary:

What was I thinking?  Why would I do all of this - or rather, try to - all at once?  Oh diary, I fear that I have done something foolish here.  Hello, my name is Bridget, and I have a problem ...

Love, Bridget

****************

In other news, Pip finds that the Olympic Women's Cycling Road Race can make one quite tired.

Ready to Return

I haven't had much to say lately about any knitting projects.  That's mostly because since May, I've been wearing a hand brace on my right hand, due to "extreme arthritis," as the doctor called it, in my right thumb joint.  It hasn't been that I couldn't knit, it's just that it was extremely uncomfortable.  So I'd knit a few rows/rounds, and that would be it.

Yesterday, I returned to the doctor for a follow-up.  It does feel better - for instance, it doesn't wake me up at night! - but the doctor pointed out that because it's arthritis, it won't ever be cured.  The idea is to make it bearable.  So his instructions were to wear the brace at night, and if it gets really bad again, but otherwise to take naproxen twice a day and it should be OK.  I'm gonna be trying that "plan" starting tomorrow, so I hope things will be OK at least most of the time.

Most of all, I'm hoping it will mean I can knit more.  The good thing is that it will likely keep me from overdoing it, because if not, OUCH.  But I've been itching to knit a bit more than I have been.  I currently have a pair of socks started, and of course, have said that by the end of the summer, I want to finish my Narrangansett sweater.

I'd cross my fingers, but I don't wanna tempt fate ...

Goals for My Least Favorite Time of Year

Sigh.  I just realized that the post I scheduled for Memorial Day (yesterday), I actually scheduled for today.  We were out of town and I didn't have any access to e-mail or anything else, so I didn't even realize it until today.  Fortunately, it did not cause the world to explode or anything ...  and I hope everyone had a good holiday weekend here in the U.S.  We visited my sister at home in WV, and most of the family was there, so it was lots of fun, as it always is.

Even if it was too hot.   Which brings me to:

 This week's topic:  10 Goals for This Summer

If you have been reading this blog for any length of time, you know that I am not a fan of summer.  I don't like hot weather, and I absolutely abhor humidity.  So I thought I would try to come up with ten things that I could concentrate on accomplishing, thereby (in theory) keeping me from complaining so much.  A tall order, but worth a try.

1.  Lose 6 pounds.  Why six?  Because I think it is completely realistic to think that I could lose two pounds in June, two in July, and two in August.  I'm hoping that will get me back on track with healthier eating without seeming like punishment.

2.  Finish my Narrangansett sweater.  Ideally, it would have been nice to have it a month or so ago, and have worn it.  But it isn't finished, so I'm gonna aim for the end of the summer at the latest.  If I don't wear it this year, I'll have plenty of opportunities in the years to come.

3.  Take better care of my nails.  One of the first thing I notice about people is their hands.  I was doing pretty well with  mine, but tried one of those shellac manicures, and though it did last two weeks, and looked nice, it made my nails all peely and icky-looking.  So I'm making an effort to bring them back to health and looking nice.

4.   Try to be more creative with my CSA items.  I joined a CSA at work, and we've had one delivery so far that was pretty great.  I want to give at least one new recipe/food item a try with each delivery.  The same old things are yummy and reliable, but I don't want to get tired of the tried and true.  And who knows, I may just find the next amazing thing!

5.  Get rid of stuff.  Clothes/shoes I don't wear, or that are worn out.  Same with household linens.  And just the other *stuff* that has accumulated over the years.  Stay tuned - a stash clear out is part of this goal!

6.  Try to be nicer.  I'm doing pretty well overall with my efforts to be more kind this year.  But summer challenges me in a whole different way, 'cause when I am way too hot and uncomfortable, I really don't want to be nice to anyone.  At all.  Ever.  So I want to change that, even if it's just in a baby steps kind of way.

7.  Clean up/fix up the garden.  The Tim already has his "crops" planted on the deck, but I want to clean up our street-level garden and plant some things, so we can start actually using it again.  When it's not terribly hot, it's a great place to sit in the evenings to relax, and a wonderful spot for weekend breakfast.

8.  Visit The Barnes Foundation.  I never visited it in its suburban location, but really have no excuse, now that it is a) within walking distance of my house, and b) literally across the street from where I work.  I even know the woman who is the Librarian there through knitting workshops, so I should take advantage of it.

9.  More trips to the shore.  Last summer, mainly due to laziness, we only made it two or three times, which is just wrong.  

10. Try to have realistic expectations regarding all of the above.  None of them absolutely have to be done this summer, so I don't want to get caught up in whether or not I'm sticking to them.  I want to try, but not obsess, if you know what I mean.

Now to find something cold to drink ...