April Goals

Wow - time is just blowing by.  It's been a busy, busy couple of weeks.  I have a brand new granddaughter and took a week of holidays plus a couple of other days here and there to help out, plus two work trips, one to Hilton Head Island and the other to the Philly area.  It doesn't look like things will be slowing down any in the next few months for travel or work, but I really like keeping track of my goals and accomplishments, so I'll try to keep up with these posts for the time being.

Here's what I had hoped to accomplish in March (and the first week of April) and how I fared:

Sewing & Quilting

Before I get into the list, I will state it right off the bat - I haven't accomplished any of these items.  I *have* been sewing, just not on the things I chose at the time I wrote the last post. 

1. Start working on athletic wardrobe plan. 
2. Sew SOI Pussy Bow blouse out of cream lightweight crepe.
3. Finish Hounds and Howl quilt (piece border, finish flimsy, piece back, sandwich, quilt & bind).
4. Finish piecing the flimsy for the Garden quilt (and come up with a better name for it!!).
5. Make a pillowcase for Deklan.
6. Make a sleepsack for Baby Girl.

Despite the fact that I didn't accomplish anything on this list, I sewed three knit dresses for myself for one of my recent trips, two flannel change table covers and three flannel crib sheets for the new grandbaby.  I'm also in the midst of a quilt that I'm picking away at a bit at a time.  I really would like to get some of my athletic wardrobe sewn for a trip in the middle of May, but I'm not stressed about not accomplishing it if I don't get there - I have a lot of other options already made that I can take with me on my trip.  More of that below in my April goals.

Knitting & Spinning

1. Finish the orange baby sweater. I'm done the knitting,  I just have to seam up the underarms and sew on some buttons!
2. Finish Kettle Valley handspun shawl. Done!  It turned out amazing and prompted a lot of spinning so I can have more handspun to knit with!
3. Finish Noro No. 9 cowl. Also done!
4. Finish Deklan's Maple Leaf Cardigan. The knitting is done on this one too!  I've even sewed up the sleeves, but have to find and sew on the buttons.
5. Continue spinning daily for 15 minutes.YASSS!!!  I've been really enjoying spinning every morning as a meditative practice.  Plus, I end up with some gorgeous yarn!

Reading

1. Finish reading Kindred by Octavia Butler. Done!  It was easy to read due to the vocabulary and writing style, but the subject matter was very difficult for me to read.  Reading to me invokes images like HD movies or television in my head and this story brought horrifying images.
2. Choose the next fiction read. Done - I'm reading Raven Black, which is the first in the Shetland series by Ann Cleeves.  I have watched the entire series, but I can't for the life of me remember who the murderer was so reading it is quite the mystery!
3. Finish 9 Minutes on Monday by James Robbins.  I haven't finished this one yet, I blame the fact that it's a physical book rather than an e-book.  With all the travelling I've been doing I've been reading e-books over the physical books.  It's also living on my desk in my office and between all the travelling or vacation time I've taken in March, I just haven't read it.
4. Start The 5 Second Rule by Mel Robbins.  (Interesting - I just realized the two authors' last names were the same!) Finished!  I liked the message Mel Robbins wrote in this book, but the format was a bit "hit you over the head with the same message over and over again" which I got a bit tired of part way through. Regardless, this has book has made me re-evaluate my productivity level and how I'm working towards accomplishing certain goals.  I think I'm more productive as a result.

Health & Fitness

1. Continue with the cycling training program, get back on track and be on the bike 3-4 times per week. I've been biking when I've been home, but I was hardly home in March, again between the work trips, the holidays spent helping out my daughter after her baby was born, and ski days, I haven't been on the bike much.
2. Continue with the goal of being in bed by 10, lights out at 10:30. Well...see the excuses I gave in #1.  
3. Include stretching into my fitness program with yoga and classical stretch, 3x/week I haven't done this.  At.  All.  I miss stretching and yoga and these are more portable and absolutely feasible while I'm travelling, so I really have no excuses.  They also help keep me grounded and not so overwhelmed when things just get crazy with my schedule.
4. Journal and meditate daily for 10 minutes.  I've been meditating while spinning in the mornings when I've been at home.  I haven't been journalling and need to get some of the excess stuff out of my head.  I've been feeling a bit overwhelmed and journalling really does help.

So...what do I hope to accomplish for the remainder of April?

Sewing & Quilting

1. Pillowcase for my grandson Deklan
2. Two or three more change table covers for my granddaughter Everleigh's nursery
3. SOI Pussy Bow blouse in cream crepe
4. Continue working on Hounds and Howls quilt
5. Start athletic wardrobe

Knitting & Spinning 

1. Sew buttons on Everleigh's and Deklan's cardigan sweaters
2. Continue working on Plain Vanilla Turtleneck sweater
3. Spin 15 minutes daily when I'm at home
4. Research and start the next project using my own handspun yarn

Reading

1. Finish 9 Minutes on Monday
2. Finish Raven Black by Ann Cleeves
3. Finish Money, Master the Game by Tony Robbins
4. Choose the next fiction book

Health & Fitness

1. Continue with the cycling training program 
2. Be in bed by 10 pm, lights out at 10:30
3. Aim for 8000 steps daily
4. Classical Stretch or Yoga 3x/week
5. Schedule journalling sessions for myself 3x/week

Considering I'm out on another work trip for a couple of days again coming up, I'll be super surprised if I can tackle all of these, but it's good to aim high!