No M&Ms so far

It seems that I stay away from the M&Ms, but eat all sort of other choclate, I will have to do Weight Watcher routines again to lose those 10 pounds.

See more progress on: stop eating M&Ms for June

Finished my River Rapids

While watching soccer yesterday afternoon I finally finished my Rapid River socks. When counting out the repeats on the first sock I realized two things: I made two different heels and there is one mistake in decreasing that is hardly noticable. As they are for me I left it. They look good and I look forward to wearing them next fall.

So one goal for Blue month June has been reached.

My CeCe is up to the arms and I have to knit the sleeves before I can continue with the main piece.

I seamed up May’s sweater as well. It now only needs the crochet finish at the neckline and a wash and block. I want to wear it soon, so this should be done this week.

See more progress on: participate in Project Spectrum

Finished Nachtzug

and started a recently bought Amy Tan book: Saving Fish from Drowning. I love Amy Tan’s books and this one is good, too.

See more progress on: read all the books I own

Little Stitching done

I did stitch a bit, but as I am obsessed with my CeCe at the moment little progress was made. I did a bit of rust on the middle book though.

The fabric is black Aida and I am sure it will get softer, but right now I do not like it.

See more progress on: do a Stitch Along

Already gone to the frog pond

I have hardly stitched anything, but that was already too much… I had to frog quite a bit yesterday evening on my Freddy. I had miscounted on the rust. I have redone it, but then have returned to my trusty CeCe (not that trusty either as I messed up a yarnover, but I got it fixed with little swearing).

See more progress on: do a Stitch Along

Bought more yarn

I have bought turquois yarn for a CeCe from Chicknits. I have started it and despite initial doubts about the lace I am totaly loving it. I had confidence in BonneMarie as I have already made a Ribby Cardi and a Cutaway, but at first I was not sure. By now I have almost 20 cm done and it looks good. My Guy has already christened it the Swimming Pool cardi. LOL. I look forward to wearing it.

I have joined the Summer of Stash, so this is the last yarn purchase for this summer.

See more progress on: knit all the yarn I've bought

Walk on Wednesday

I had planned to go swimming, but the weather was so nice I went for a walk instead. Should have gone swimming as I had a bad cramp in my foot after just a quater of an hour. Ouch! Something did not work between my shoes, my orthodentics (?) and my walking/running. But I am proud that I can run more and more of my walking round. Yeah me!

See more progress on: walk regularly.

Official Start

Yesterday was the first official day of the SAL. I have put in some stitches, but nothing like an hour’s worth. I feel I should have washed the fabric, it’s incredibly stiff. On the other hand stitching on black was not as bad as I though it might be. I started with the shelf Frederic is lying on and did two threads worth of work. The threads are alright for the loop method so for the unblended colors I will use that to start.

See more progress on: do a Stitch Along

On the final stretch

I have finished both sleeves and the back and am up to the chest on the front. So this green sweater is approaching the finishing line just when the weather got bad and cold again.

See more progress on: knit all the yarn I've bought

And a quickie in between

I have gotten Mary Davidson’s latest on Betsy the Vampire Queen and this one I am reading in between. Despite the fact that Nachtzug is close to the end and still very interesting. But with all the philosophical ideas in the later one, I am glad I am for once reading it in German.

See more progress on: read all the books I own

SAL instead of Finishing

I am still enjoying the sea horses though their process is slow, but now will start another project as there is a SAL for it. But as it was one that I already had in my stash I am fine with that.

See more progress on: finish cross stitch projects

Menu planning

I want to plan for dinner and office food better. Dinner will be a bit more of a challenge as I spend time in my flat and in My Guy’s and never quite know where I will be. But maybe we can plan together and try new things.

See more progress on: plan our food

SAL Frederic the Literate

On AngelSan’s forums I found two other ladies who want to do this cross stitch project. We will stitch at least an hour a day on it. I think this will be fun.

See more progress on: do a Stitch Along

I will close this

as I have not drunk coke in 4 weeks. I will drink a bit once in a while again, but keep it down.

See more progress on: stop drinking coke

I want to give up M&Ms for June

Lately we have eaten a lot of M&Ms and I think it is bad for me. So I will try to do what I have done with coke in May and severly limit my intake for June.

See more progress on: stop eating M&Ms for June

1 Glass on Saturday

I had one glass of coke light on Saturday, but despite watching my cousin guzzle down coke all evening and despite the wine being no good, that was all. As this was a wedding, I am fine with my “fall from grace”...

See more progress on: stop drinking coke

I am moving again

and I am going to use my stickers on my calender again. After doing well with drinking less coke ( I had one small glass on Saturday, that is all in May) I will try for no more M&Ms in June. This should be good for My Guy as well. It is possible that he is a bit allergic to peanuts. It might be something else, but we will try peanuts first.

See more progress on: Lose 10 pounds and keep it off.

Finished March to the Stars

and am now reading Nachtzug nach Lissabon. That one is a really quick read. I am close to finishing it.

See more progress on: read all the books I own

I seem to sell books in threes

Because that is what I sold this weekend. They are already off, blessing someone else.

See more progress on: de-clutter my apartment

Finally walked again on Saturday

I finally got my butt out of bed on Saturday and walked a medium round. Actually I run several short stretches too and after dancing Saturday night as well I now have some sore muscles. But least I am finally moving again. This morning I have done 13 min of Pilates, too.

See more progress on: walk regularly.

Mail Hotspot

I have now decluttered most of my mail hotspot. There is some health insurance stuff still there, but the salary and other insurance as well as the banking stuff are all in their correct files now.

See more progress on: de-clutter my apartment

May 22nd and still coke-less

I am doing good on this so far. It was tempting before the concert, but not as bad as at the office. Still drinking too much ice tea as compensation, but getting there.

See more progress on: stop drinking coke

Quilt magazines decluttered

I dumped a bunch of magazines the other day. Basically anything before 1995 (yes I had mags from 1991 on). It felt a bit strange and it was depressing as you could hardly notice any dent. But Babysteps will get me there. At least they are gone. Some calenders went too, so I feel good about it.

See more progress on: de-clutter my apartment

3 more books gone

I sent out three more books through amazon. But I think I need to put the listed books in a box in the basement, they do not need to clutter up the small room where my dinner table, my crafts and my computer already vie for room. But for that I will need to see which ones are already online and which ones still need to be posted.

See more progress on: de-clutter my apartment

Project Spectrum

This is a project where each month has a color scheme and you do what ever craft you enjoy in this color. May is green. I have actually started a gree short sleeved sweater in May, so I am on track.

See more progress on: participate in Project Spectrum

Still not doing good at this

I bought apples, but am not eating them. Sigh.

See more progress on: eat an apple every day

Getting dressed right away

This has been developing as a habit the last few weeks. I sleep in the nude, so I used to put on something relaxed and then change, now I just put on the nice things right away. Still resisting the shoes though. And still not putting out my clothes on the previous evening. Still a goal there.

See more progress on: set up FLYlady routines

Tax paid

I did pay the rest of the first quaters tax and two more invoices that were in area.

See more progress on: pay off all my debts

Finally got three more books read

I finally finished Bill Bryson’s History of Everything and Donna Andrew’s Owl is well. And I started and finished Bronte project (can’t remember the author just now). I am now reading David Weber’s March to the Stars.

But then I bought another 6 books…

See more progress on: read all the books I own

I got my organ donor card ...

... and have it next to my id in my wallet, so I will call this done.

See more progress on: Register as an organ donor

May 18th and still on track

Work has been stressful and coke as well as ice tea have been provided for free at our training event, but so far while drinking too much ice tea I at least managed to stay true to my no coke resolution. That is alright with me. Baby steps!

See more progress on: stop drinking coke

Still on track

I am still on track with this. Yesterday I drank Ice Tea instead of coke which is just about as bad, but at least I kept my resolution. Ice Tea can come later, for now I will concentrate on coke.

See more progress on: stop drinking coke

Well, I do like the 7mm needle gauge after all

I have knitted a bit more with the 7mm needles and though the gauge is fairly loose, I decided it looks okay and will be nice and airy for summer. So I knit the whole first short sleeve and cast on for the second one. New Cotton is a pleasure to feel while knitting. I still dislike using needles that big, they are not comfortable to knit with. On the other hand they will make for a quick garment. They are not addis either which I prefer, but I am not buying addis for a size that I do not enjoy anyway.

See more progress on: knit all the yarn I've bought

New Yarn

Aehm, I bought new yarn… But I really need some more summer knits so I bought Lana Grossa New Cotton and New Cotton Lino for two short sleeved sweaters. One will be Bob, but for the other I do not like the gauge that I get with the recommended needels. The gauge is spot on, but it looks bad. Well what do you expect: recommended needles 4,5mm, pattern (for this yarn) done with 7mm needels. I might knit a bit more on the sleeve. 5 rows is not much to base my descion on. Otherwise I will knit it with the smaller needles which will mean recalculations. Pain in the behind, but do able.

See more progress on: knit all the yarn I've bought

corner clutter reduced

At least I dumped the boxes and most of the bags. Some other things I want to keep will have to find a proper place.

I am fairly proud of myself for having done this right away.

See more progress on: de-clutter my apartment

Next to do: the corner behind my kitchen door

For some reason a lot of stuff has ended up there. Boxes and bags and the like. This needs to be seriously reduced, so that the door can be opened again properly. I will have to try to find another place for the broom, too, but that might take a bit creativity.

See more progress on: de-clutter my apartment

Received my marrow donor package

I received my package, but did not have time to take a look at it yet. I will need to get blood drawn and for that I will need to have an appointment at my doctors.

See more progress on: register to be a bone marrow donor

Clothes went to goodwill shop

On Saturday I got around to taking my “old” clothes to the charity shop. Such a relief. I did buy two new summer dresses, but I had a big box full of things I am not wearing that I gave away, so the net effect was still very positive.

See more progress on: de-clutter my apartment

Weekend coke free

I made it through the weekend without coke, that made me happy. Usually that is the time I am weakest. Especially with warm weather like this weekend.

See more progress on: stop drinking coke

Green for Project Spectrum

I have a green swatch and it would make a lovely cardigan and the color would fit with PS. So better get going. The pattern is from a Rowan mag, so I’ll have to check the sleeve length. For some reason they tend to be long on me. And Lana Grossa has too large necklines as rule. Sigh.

But I have recovered from my earlier knitting marathon enough to look forward to knitting the cardi.

See more progress on: knit all the yarn I've bought

Riding to the train station

I did this two days this week. The other days I went to work by car as it was closing week, so I am okay with my progress on this.

I also went shopping by bike yesterday. Just a few things, so that was good.

See more progress on: ride my bike more

Day 4

This one was fairly easy despite the warmer weather that makes me crave coke instead of tea. But fine so far.

See more progress on: stop drinking coke

Organ Donor

I had a little organ donor card in my twenties and it got lost. Now I am finally replacing it. My parents are aware that I wish to be an organ donor and I am sure they will go through with it if necessary, but I will feel better when I have a card again.

See more progress on: Register as an organ donor

Bone Marrow Donor

I found a German web site and have sent of for the necessary forms.

See more progress on: register to be a bone marrow donor

Add inline skating to my exercise goals

I have the skates and the protectors, I can use my bike helmlet, so this goes on the goal list. Twice each month this summer would be a good goal.

See more progress on: In-Line skate

Whoops missed Wednesday again...

I had a crazy week and only today realized that it is already Thursday. Hmph.

See more progress on: swim regularly

3rd day no coke

Yep, doing good so far, though this time with going for lunch it was a bit harder. But we ordered two big bottles of water for all and I did drink that. This morning was a bit of a temptation as I missed my train by a minute and had to wait for 20 min for the next. Prime coke occasion… But I staid steadfast. A bit proud of myself.

See more progress on: stop drinking coke

3 glasses

I had 3 glasses of water yesterday. This goes well with drinking less coke. I also had 2 glasses of apple juice with lots of water. So I am getting there.

See more progress on: drink 8 glasses of water a day

2nd of May

Another day with no coke and the temptation was not all that bad.

See more progress on: stop drinking coke

Income Tax 2005

I really need to do that. Having been out of work for 2 months in 2005 I will get a refund, but only if I file my taxes. Better get on with this.

See more progress on: file my taxes

Well I got an IShuffle

and I got it as a gift. I love it. At some point I will probably get an IPod, but I love my Shuffle a lot, especially since it was a gift from My Guy. Just because he bought an IPod for himself. It’s just sooo nice.

See more progress on: get an ipod

Need to work on this

I really want to do more here, especially as I will need to make up for the coke I am not drinking.

See more progress on: drink 8 glasses of water a day

Doing badly

I need to work more on this especially as I have the feeling that lacking vitamins might have to do something with feeling tired all the time. So apples and veggies need to creep in my diet again. Should be easier now that spring is here.

See more progress on: eat an apple every day

Making my bed

I am starting to really develop this as a habit. My bed is not perfectly made, but it looks much nicer than the nest it used to be. I air my bedding while I have breakfast and then make my bed. Not what Fly Lady recommends, but unaired is seriously yucky for me. I also make our bed when we are at My Guy’s place, so this is really a daily habit.

See more progress on: set up FLYlady routines

Done.

I have the contract for the permanent job, I just need to read and sign it. YEAH!

Therefore I will consider this done. Some celebration will ensue as soon as I find time to bake some cakes…

See more progress on: Get a new job

Plant seeds of Kindness

The actual stitching is finished and I will consider it a finished object. I really like how it turned out despite having used the wrong color for the carrot tops. I am thinking of making a wallhanging with it, but am not sure.

Instead of getting on with the reading dragon I started something new. It’s a picture of two seahorses. When done, it will be a present for my friend Andrea. She enjoys seahorses.

See more progress on: finish cross stitch projects

1st of May

I did well on the first day despite the temptation of the quilt show. I think I need to find some alternative to get my blood pressure up, I believe it is very low. Better get the doc to check it. Green and black tea will serve as substitutes I guess.

See more progress on: stop drinking coke

Biking on Sunday with My Guy

We actually went biking on Sunday, that was so cool. My Guy says biking hurts his butt, but he was doing it, because he knew that it would make me happy. We went for a little round, visited the orchids field nearby and soaked up a lot of sun. Not a lot of kilometers, but we did it and that’s the most important thing.

See more progress on: ride my bike more

Selling on e-bay

I need to sell my Cherish Teddies, some primitive dolls and teddies to decrease clutter.

See more progress on: sell some stuff on ebay

Stop drinking coke

This is very bad for me and I want to stop it. I will count it done, if I get through May without any coke or the first full months that I do not drink coke.

See more progress on: stop drinking coke

Bill Bryson's History of Everything

This is a fun light book on science. Somethings I remember from school, some were in Mountains of the Mind recently and there are other books that relate to what I have read so far. Mapmaker’s Wife and Mason-Dixon are two in my tbr piles that might get pushed forward by this book.

See more progress on: read all the books I own

Cycle to the train station

Now that spring is here I plan to cycle to the train station instead of taking the bus.

I also want to convince My Guy to do some cycling, but we might need to find a better saddle for his bike first.

See more progress on: ride my bike more

More socks

I continue to knit socks, this time for me. The blue River Rapids have passed the heel of sock 2, so if I got of my fanny it would be just knitting. I have it in my bag actually to do something on it this weekend.

See more progress on: knit all the yarn I've bought

Almost there

I have almost finished the Plant Seeds of kindness, it only lacks the brown stitches at the bottom. Today I was stitching in the train and two older ladies took quite an interest. They were really cute.

Ever the optimist I took my socks and my dragon stitching along, thinking I might need it. – Not in this reality, but hey, who knows.

See more progress on: finish cross stitch projects

May habit

I have made my bed most days, but am really bad still about laying out my clothes. So this continues, but I want to add brushing my teeth to the evening routine.

See more progress on: set up FLYlady routines

Started on my clothes

Yesterday I had a bout of throw it out and sorted through my clothes. I have now one box full of clothes and shoes to give to charity. There will be some more when I get my summer things out and I still have to decide on some of my blouses. Better take another look at all the colorful checked blouses. They are cheerful, but do not get worn a lot. Out? I guess so.

See more progress on: de-clutter my apartment

MY Guy and I - one year

As My Guy and I have been together for a year on Sunday on Friday evening I decided to stitch something. I found a cute couple and started stitching. Personalized the colors somewhat and kept going on Saturday too. As I had bitten of a bit much for slow stitching me, the backstitching was kept to a minimum and the date is a bit off center, but on Sunday morning My Guy got the picture along with a CD and some tea (Romeo&Juliet and Loving Moments). It was a great surprise and worth the effort. But after the concentrated stitching on Saturday on Sunday I didn’t do much stitching and so no further FOs.

See more progress on: finish cross stitch projects

I am getting a bit itchy for something different

I still enjoy my Lizzie*Kate Plant seeds of Kindness and am on the last third of the chart, but I am now looking for something different to stitch. Luckily I pulled out my reading dragon and realized there is not much missing on that one. So that will be my alternate project and I might actually finish two things instead of starting another new one. As my weekend is My Guy-less (he is taking a class in photography) I will try to get the beading on Santa done, too. Ambitious for such a slow stitcher, sight. I am envious of AngelSan and others who just whizz through the different projects.

See more progress on: finish cross stitch projects

6 more books sold

I just need to ship them which is not quite as easy to do when you are only in Germany after closing hours. But I will manage.

See more progress on: de-clutter my apartment

2 more down

I read John Ringo’s most recent book in the Herzer Herrick series and Aunt Dimity and the next of Kin over Easter.

See more progress on: read all the books I own

My Guy socks finished

I actually managed to get the socks finished in time. Mainly due to a sick day on Thursday. Unfortunatelly I forgot to take them to his place, so he is still waiting for his Easter present.

See more progress on: knit all the yarn I've bought

My Guy socks

I want to finish the socks for MY Guy for Easter, so better get cracking on that for this week. Luckily sock knitting works for the commute by train even if the cable needle is making things more difficult. I can however not cable these without needle, I have tried.

See more progress on: knit all the yarn I've bought

At least the weekend edition

I want to read the newspaper more regulary again. The first step is the weekend edition. Should be the easiest as this is the one with the flats and the jobs.

See more progress on: read the newspaper more regularly

Sold and Shipped 3 more books

I have three more sold. On the other hand I missed the old clothes collection and will have to do that in an alternate mode. I guess I will put a box up for all the things I want to part with.

See more progress on: de-clutter my apartment

Mom quilted and bound my gingerbread top

I had this top for a long while without a border. A couple of weeks ago I finally added the borders. My mom has quilted it and bound it for me. This top was a strip piecing class that Mom gave and I took. Lots of fun. It is orange, brown and a off white fabric with gingerbread on it. It will be nice for christmas with very non-traditional colors.

See more progress on: finish my quilts

Laying out clothes

I did that yesterday and I have to say it was good. I need to designate a spot for the clothes, but otherwise this one I think I like.

I also made my bed for the first time in ages on the weekend and might take this in the routine. Though I do like to air mine out first as I have seen a documentary on what disgusting things multiply in your bed if you do just make it. Ugh! I wonder if Fly-Lady is aware of that? However I could modify her routine so that I would make the bed before leaving the house instead of right away. I will try that.

So two new things to make a habit of.

See more progress on: set up FLYlady routines

Fly-Lady would be proud - I was

This morning despite wanting to “do it later” I emptied the dishwasher (not such a big task after all) and I was proud of myself. Babysteps… I’ll get there eventually.

See more progress on: set up FLYlady routines

Job Offer

I got a job offer at the place I am temping and I am seriously considering it. I have one more application out, but think I will stay here.

See more progress on: Get a new job

Now that we know where our next jobs are

I think we will think seriously over moving together. After almost a year I think this might be right.

See more progress on: live with someone i love

An apple a day keeps the doctor away

I want do this for one month, then I will consider it done.

See more progress on: eat an apple every day

Mountains of Mind

I started book number 2 of my tbr pile. This ine takes a look at mountains and mountaineering. Very interesting. On the other hand I hated Undomestic Goddess that I had just bought. I am ready to toss it.

See more progress on: read all the books I own

One down, but two new ones bought

I finished my Batya Gur mystery, but bought two new books. Sigh!

See more progress on: read all the books I own

No swimming today

It’s Wednesday and I should go swimming. But some things take priority and an exhibition opening that includes My Guy’s photos takes the cake without trouble. However I will have to check if I can go swimming tomorrow at a different pool.

See more progress on: swim regularly

Adding another cross stitch project

I am bad. Instead of finishing the beads on Santa I have started a new project. Seeds of Kindness is a Lizzie*Kate pattern and I had everything prepared for it. Yesterday I wanted something springlike and picked this.

See more progress on: finish cross stitch projects

Goal Weight 63 kg

I might have to loose 5 kg (10 pounds) to reach that by now as I think I gained a little weight lately. I need to exercise more and eat less choclate. But I have lost 15 kg before, so it will take time, but it’s doable.

See more progress on: Lose 10 pounds and keep it off.

Another language goal

I want to read fluently in French. For that I bought Si c’etait vrai by Marc Levy. I had 5 years of French in school, but never quite got the hang of it.

See more progress on: Improve my French

Job Interview

I have a job interview this afternoon, so wish me luck.

See more progress on: Get a new job

Beading commenced

I have started the beads part on the ornament. It is a bit of a pain on the perforated paper, but I think it will look lovely. And it means I am approaching the first Happy Dance for a finished project.

See more progress on: finish cross stitch projects

Finishing Quilts

Another goal to decrease the WIPs around here. First up is my friend Andrea’s quilt.

See more progress on: finish my quilts

Santa is the first up to finish

I have a pretty Santa which will be my first experience in stitching with beads. So this is the first cross stitch project I want to finish.

See more progress on: finish cross stitch projects

Salmon is done

I have unraveled the whole sweater and now have the pleasant task to search for a new pattern to suit me.

Otherwise I have joined 43 things as you can see from the posts below and have not done much of anything.

Future Goal

I started learning spanish a couple of years ago and at some point want to go back to it.

See more progress on: Learn Spanish

Goal

I guess I better start this despite drinking close to 3 liters herbal and rooisbush “tea” a day.

See more progress on: drink 8 glasses of water a day

Small stuff

I need to get rid of some teddy bears, dolls and other dust collectors. For this I need to take some photos to put them on e-bay.

See more progress on: de-clutter my apartment

Clothing

After losing 15 kg I have still a bunch of things that I no longer fit in (thankfully all too large). On the 9th of April a red cross drive for used clothes will take place and I want to sort through my clothes by then.

See more progress on: de-clutter my apartment

Books first

i have set aside some books I do not want to keep, but I need to put them on Amazon so that I can actually get rid of them. Throwing away books is really hard for me. So the first step is putting them on amazon.

See more progress on: de-clutter my apartment

Once a week for now

I want to swim 1000 meters each Wednesday.

See more progress on: swim regularly

Long Term Goal

I am currently in a funk about my knitting and have two pairs of socks going, but not much else. But a lot of stash!

See more progress on: knit all the yarn I've bought

Long Term Goal

This is really going to be a long term project as my estimate is 250 unread books.

But I have to start somewhere, so number one is:

1 Batya Gur: Du sollst nicht begehren

See more progress on: read all the books I own

Pink + Red = Salmon?

Well it does in my world. I have started unraveling a sweater in salmon as my Project Spectrum activity for March. It was well made and the finishing was well done, but the sizing sucked and the neck opening was gigantic. I still want a sweater like that, but this time I think I will knit it top down and in the round. It should be doable.

I have noticed that the Lana Grossa patterns tend towards enormous neck openings and will have to take that in account in the futue. I have another one to unravel due to neck opening issues. Sigh.

I also have a red and pink sock yarn waiting in the wings, but want to finish My Guy's socks and the river rapid socks first. I think I need to unravel a bit of the heel flap of my second river rapid sock, but I can't figure out how much.

In the mean time since the weather tends toward snow and cold I have taken out my Santa ornament and stitched a bit on that this weekend. I think I need a break from knitting. I just hope to get on a quilt kick so that I can continue on my friend Andrea's top.