I don’t like resolutions. Breaking your goals up on a year by year basis (or trying to hold yourself to something for a FULL YEAR) seems like an awfully long time to try something new. But it’s so convenient to start fresh at the beginning of the year, so I can’t keep myself from completely refraining from trying something new, even if it doesn’t fully take for twelve months. So I’ve come up with some things that I’m going to focus on, but not freak out if I don’t manage to implement completely.

Gawd, that’s like the biggest parachute clause ever.

Anyway, in 2011 I’d like to…

• Run a half-marathon, currently scheduled for February 20. This sucker is just for finishing, not for time.
• Reduce the amount of meat in my diet. I’m not going vegetarian (lo, but steaks are too tasty), but I do think that less meat would be good for me and my family.
• For the meat we do eat, find healthier options – hormone free, vegetarian fed, free range, yoga practicing chickens and cows for THIS family, if at all possible.
• Use more coupons. It is amazing how much money you can save by just using the discounts that stores and restaurants provide.
• Complete 6 college classes (18 total hours). I’ve got 7 semesters until that degree is complete, and this year represents 3 semesters towards that.
• Teach my kids to ride their bikes.
• Finish a pair of socks. ONE PAIR. That’s all I’m asking. JUST. ONE. PAIR.
• Try more new stuff. Break out of my norm, and be open to new experiences
• Find a pair of jeans that fits

What about you? What’s on your list?

I’ve been itching to join a virtual quilting bee (for those of you Not In The Know, this is where people from The Internets make quilt blocks for you, you make quilt blocks for them, and at the end of it you get enough blocks for a lap sized quilt), and I finally got my chance with a group on Ravelry. Yeah, I know it’s a knitting website. We’re bicraftual, remember?

Anyway.

So, this is My First Quilting Bee, and I’ve decided to use these fabrics:

and cut them into these strips:

and ask these wonderful women (actually, the correct term would be “hoars”, ’cause you know, it’s LSG) to make blocks for me. In return, I get to make blocks for them; I’ll get to try blocks that I’ve wanted to try, but haven’t had enough time to actually turn out a quilt using them. It’s like a quilt block buffet! All you can piece! I’m very excited about it! Hence the exclamation points!

We made it through the first day of school; Mom cried a bit, like a sucker, but The Boy could not have cared less. He was all, GET OFFA ME when I tried to give him one last hug before he went into class. So much for that touching moment complete with violins I was envisioning. He came home that evening completely exhausted, which amused me greatly. This is the Energizer Bunny of 5 year olds, and here he is asking me if it’s bedtime already, because he’s tired. Hell, yeah, kid – go crawl into bed! Can you convince your sister to do the same?

Do you ever look at something crafty, and think, I NEED TO KNOW HOW TO DO THAT. Immediately. And so you set out to find a tutorial and…nothing. The well is dry. There is nothing out there to possibly teach you how to do whatever crafty bit of fluff you’re trying to figure out. So you put it aside, because really, how much crafty junk do you need to be able to do?

But it keeps bugging you.

And bugging you.

For me, it was a bead weaving technique called Tubular Netting. I saw a picture of a bracelet someone made on Flickr, and I was entranced. And for the life of me, I could not figure out how they did it. It was infuriating. After digging for a while, I finally came across a tutorial that is more letter diagram than tutorial, but at least I was able to puzzle through it. I give you…completed tubular netting bracelet!

And of course, it was TOTALLY EASY once I found that diagram. Like, ridiculously easy. I have no idea where to wear it (or it’s red and black brother), but dude. I FIGURED IT OUT. So, once I had that out of the way, I had to kick into gear with my OTHER obsession: star blocks. Specifically, the tutorial that cauchy posted on her blog caught my eye – I had the fabric, I had a week off for vacation with no plans in site, and so I ended up knocking out a bunch of stars.

There are more of them now, of course. Not anywhere near the 108 I need for a quilt, but you know…it’ll get there.The orange and the aqua are knocking my socks off. It’s just so gosh darn happy that I almost can’t stand it. I’m not a fiddly quilter, not really into heavily seamed projects or anything with wonky cuts, but for some reason these little stars are doing my heart good right now.

Next week, I will officially be the mom of a kindergartener. School age. Joining the PTA and all of that jazz. It’s freaking me out that he’s old enough to do this, to lace up a new pair of sneakers and slap on a backpack and enter into an actual school where he’s going to learn to read and write and hopefully pick up some social skills that include not screeching every nine seconds. He’s going to have a lunch card and homework and the whole shebang. I’m looking forward to it, but I also kinda think that Monday morning may be a little hard for me, when we walk him into the school for the first time and leave him there for the full day to navigate the halls on his own. I hope that he has someone to eat lunch with on the first day. I hope he likes the kids that sit at his table in his classroom. I hope that his teacher sees how sweet he can be under the HIGH ENERGY label he’s got plastered to his forehead.  Mostly, I hope that he does well, because this is just the first step down the path of school politics.

The first of 13 years of schooling starts on Monday, little dude. I hope you’re ready for it. I know you’re ready for it. I’m not sure I am, though.

I’ve been blog cruising lately, and I’m coming up with this enormous list of things I want to make and create and do, and I’m frustrated by the time limits that I’ve got because there just isn’t enough time in my day to do the things I’d like to!

For example, these checkbook covers are adorable. I want to make a metric ton of them. And also, adapt them to passport covers. They wouldn’t really take that much time, but I’d also like to finish that lace scarf I posted last time. And the socks. And maybe turn out another quilt. And let’s not even get into the inspiration that Flickr is providing these days – I have to restrain myself some days from running straight out and buying fabric for the tons of quilts that I see and love.

And oh, the cooking I could be doing. Recipes everywhere, but not enough time to dig into the really juicy ones. THANKS, JULIA CHILD. That cookbook is the devil.

But I’ve got these responsibilities – kids, work, school, keeping the house in somewhat of a decent state, showering…things that stand in the way of my so-called hobbies (but let’s be honest, I’ve gone beyond the “hobby” stage with this stuff. Just don’t tell my husband). Although, I’d say that if they want to keep me from snapping people’s heads off, they’d give me mandatory knitting or sewing time every day. It’s really a public service that I’m doing, sneaking in a few minutes here and there between chapters of Economics, bath times, conference calls and the like.

For the crafty out there – please stop being so awesome, at least just for a while. You’re really distracting me from the things that I need to be doing to keep up appearances as a responsible adult.