Saturday, January 2, 2016

Kick-my-butt-January

Sometimes I think I like to put pressure on myself.  We are right in the throes of packing and cleaning and it sucks.  Hubby is of the "chuck it in a box and worry about it later" school of packing whilst I like to be more considered and cull and sort and go gaga when I find one of Dan's impossibly small baby shoes tucked behind a box in the top cupboard.  Anyhow, I find myself packing up knitting projects and realising that I have WAY TOO MANY cardigan projects on the go so I need some incentive to finish them hence Kick-My-Butt-January (because I am sure I will need a break from packing and unpacking occasionally and if I have only these projects out then the rest can get packed surely?)  So the plan is to finish at least some of these in January:
The Tea Leaves Cardigan - up to the armpits at present I think
Maddie's school cardi (still needs the bottom 3 inches and the sleeves)
Practically (also up to the armpits but should be a quick knit from there?)
Winter Happy (just needs bottom band and sleeves)
Comfy Green Cardi (barely even started - only about 20 rows in on the back)
Stained glass baby cardi (this will have to wait until we've moved as I think I packed the book with the pattern)
Pink gifted cardi from Deb (this really just needs to be seamed up!)
All smaller projects can be put on hold excepting a test knit hat that I really couldn't say no to.

What about you? Want to join me to kick some butt in January?

Friday, January 1, 2016

Here's to a New Year!

Happy New Year.
Sir James was recovering from gastro so we postponed our barbecue with friends and had a quiet night in.  Hannah made tiramisu for dessert and we had barbecued lamb and salad.  After almost a fortnight without alcohol I had a big glass of shiraz and promptly fell asleep on the couch! I woke up in time to see the Family Fireworks on telly with the kids and then I knitted my Whimsy Cowl until just before midnight and had a bath and went to bed just after midnight.  It was a very middle-aged way to celebrate.

I am looking forward to 2016 with great anticipation.  This will be a year of new beginnings.  I already know that it promises the joy of a new home, and the joy of working part time.  I am looking forward to "getting the balance right" this year.  To spending more time at home. To saying no to some things so that I can prioritise others.
My New Years Resolution is not really a resolution. It is just a feeling that I want to live simply, to appreciate the little things, to appreciate and savour the ordinary, to not take a single day for granted.
That means more baking, and more cuddles with kiddos, and walks down the Summer track, and time spent at Bushland Park, and more bike riding on the Amy Gillet path, and more one on one time with my kids as the 6 year old becomes more and more fiesty, and the 9 and 11 year old hurtle towards those teen years at a rate that I am not ready for.

It means lots of relaxed and happy times with friends.  Hopefully it means a bit of crafting and gardening too.

Today was spent doing a little bit of everything I love - scrapping and knitting and hanging with the kids.  And as a commitment to the New Year I finally used the Madeleine tin I brought back from Paris and made Madeleines (which were every bit as good as real Parisian ones and so damn easy that I wondered why it took me 3 years to get around to it!)

May 2016 hold happiness for you, and may you grasp it with both hands.