Hello...it's Me!!

Life is good.  Busy, very busy, but good.  This year has blown by.  Summary so far:

• The most important and significant thing first - my oldest daughter and her significant other presented me with a gorgeous grandson at the end of January who has stolen my heart (along with most of my daughter's sleep).  I am smitten!
• I traveled to Utah in January for work, but also got a fabulous pow-day of skiing in.  
• In February, 20 of my Ski Patrol friends and I went to Bristol Mountain in Upstate New York for a few days and had amazing skiing in 20 plus degrees heat (Celsius that is!).  No pow, but awesome friendships.
• In April I traveled for a few days to Ottawa for a conference for work.  I love Ottawa and got to spend some time with my brother and his awesome girlfriend for a few days before.
• This was followed by another trip back to Utah for work, but also included an unbelievable hiking trip to see the Delicate Arch in Arches National Park near Moab in mid-May.  
• At the end of May, I visited Newfoundland - first in St. John's for my youngest daughter's second undergrad degree graduation, and then to the Bonavista area for a few days of hiking and exploring (it was AWESOME).  
• At the end of June, I traveled to the Netherlands with my parents and one of my brothers for an incredible bike and barge vacation - we biked about 50 km every day, and met up with the barge every night.  We had an amazing time as a family - I'm so very glad I had the chance to do this trip!
• I joined a women's dragon boat team for camaraderie and exercise - we competed most recently in Hamilton, ON and got a silver medal in the women's 200 m.  Among other races that day, we also did a 2 k, which initially terrified me, but at the finish was one of the most rewarding things I have done in a while.

Believe it or not, it hasn't all be peaches and sunshine though.  I somehow suffered a groin pull in February and re-injured it again in April, and am really struggling with shin issues which have put a real strain on my physical fitness routine (I was lucky though, hiking was ok as long as I was mindful about it!).  I also wrote an exam for a course I was taking just before going out to Newfoundland (I was STRESSED about this one!).  I am also dealing with some changes at work which are also causing me some stress.

After the past few years, which have held some really low points for me,  I really have been trying to let go of things that I cannot control and also focusing on gratitude for what I do have in my life.  I look back at all the things I've done, things that have happened and where I've gone this year and feel extremely blessed.


I've been spending A LOT of time in my Atelier (aka my sewing space in the basement) lately, but haven't taken too many decent pictures of my sewing accomplishments, other than a few to post a few cell phone shots on Instagram for some insta-love!  After a second of contemplation, I think it's because I have a project list a million projects long, and just can't be bothered to try to figure out how to deal with the lack of a photographer thing.  I made a good chunk of my wardrobe for my vacations both to Newfoundland and The Netherlands.  I'll have to do some posts and reviews in the near future for these items.

Can you believe that July is almost half over?   I do have a list of goals that I'd like to accomplish this month though.  The first big one is to get back in the habit of posting here.  I love reading the other blogs I follow regularly, and feel connected to the world somehow.  Maybe I can impact someone's life that way as well?

In any event, here's my list of goals:

Knitting

1.  Finish Tulip Socks (striped socks I started on the plane home from the Netherlands)
2.  Finish Cozy V-Neck Raglan Pullover - serious game of yarn chicken here, I'll have enough to finish the sleeve, but I'm not so sure about the neckband
3.  Finish my grandson Deklan's Sweater - all it needs is to be sewn together
4.  Block and weave in ends on my Chuck sweater.

Spinning

It's Tour de Fleece, so I've been mostly spending time spinning when I'm not sewing, travelling or studying.  My goal for TdF2017 is to spin every day.  No pressure as to what or how much.

Sewing

1.  Finish Sew Over It Penny Dress
2.  Finish Named Kielo Dress
3.  Finish My Image magazine Top M1709.

These are all sort of cheating since I've almost finished them already any way - they just need hems.  But since I did start both of them this week, and I make the rules, they're still allowed. :)

3.  Sew a Jean Jacket (white? hot pink? tangerine?)
5.  Sew hot pink skinny jeans
6.  Sew McCalls 7100 Bomber Jacket (I'm having a Sewing Retreat Day with my fellow sewing friend on Sunday where we are both going to work on this - I have to figure out what fabric to make it out of!)
7.  Sew an orange knit summer dress - mostly because I have the orange cotton/lycra knit on my cutting table
8.  Plan my travel wardrobe for the annual work conference I attend at the end of September.  This year it's in Chicago.  I'm aiming for a mustard, wine and navy wardrobe.  I also need to pull the fabrics and patterns once I've got the plans down.

If anyone knows where to get mustard stretch denim or twill, I'm all ears!!

Reading

1.  Finish reading Circle of Bones by Christine Kling.  I'm still adjusting to reading on the iPad, though I did buy an early birthday gift of a Kindle for myself on Amazon Prime Day, which should be arriving later this week - sshhh!!
2.  Finish reading Fatal Lies by Frank Tallis - this is the book I'm reading as I drop off to sleep every night.  I love this series!  Easy to read, but reminds me of my time in Vienna!
3.  Finish People over Profit - I just looked, and I've been in the middle of this one since last summer!  I really need to just pick it up for a few minutes every day.  It's a good read but I've been sidetracked by a lot of other things...
3.  Pick the next fiction book to read