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Friday, January 3, 2014

In 2014 I Plan To Be Awesome (AKA The Goals)

Welcome! It is time for my yearly resolutions/goals/intentions/shit I hope to do or not do as the case may be.

I am always flabbergasted when January rolls around. For twelve months I think "OMG this year is flying by so fast and I never get anything done!" and then, when I take time to revisit my last goals, I realize how much has happened, how much I have changed, and how far life has taken me. I've noticed that the older I get the faster time flies, so it's nice to experience this grounding sensation. A year is a long time, full of possibility. Breathe and remember how far you've come. Okay, apparently the older I get the more willing I am to write new-agey affirmation shit on my blog. Oh the shame.

2014 Life Goals:

  • Take my road test.
I got my drivers licence in 2013. It's a learner's licence, and, among other things, it doesn't allow me to drive by myself. I need to get in lots of practice, learn how to do the fiddly stuff (parallel parking, I'm looking at you), and gain the confidence I need to take a road test without suffering attacks of nervous diarrhea.  
  • Be me.
You may have raised an eyebrow at that diarrhea comment. Well, too bad. I am going to stop censoring myself this year. I'm awkward, outspoken, and prone to fits of profanity (I'm basically a fat Jennifer Lawrence without the charisma and money and pretty wardrobe). I'm an atheist. I'm a feminist. I have questionable mental health and hilariously irritating physical health (see: nervous diarrhea). I'm angry about some things, foolishly passionate about others, and wildly in love with the world. Sometimes I'll have opinions or say fuck. You'll be ok. I'm still pretty nice and I love otters so we still have something in common.

That's weapons grade cute, right there.
  • Pursue personal fashion.
I want to dress up, wear makeup, and feel awesome. I have spent my entire life feeling too fat to be noticed and too awkward to live fully because someone might see me. That is no way to live. I love fashion - hell, I spent several years and a fair bit of money pursuing a career in it - and I want to play too.
  • Pay off all debt and begin to rebuild savings.
Our only debt, thankfully, is our car. I want those payments gone, and the interest they carry gone with them. Paying it in full will eat a huge chunk of our savings, which I would like to rebuild with the money going to car payments, and anything else I can shuffle in that direction.
  • Implement a family chore schedule.
My house isn't a pit of filth, but it could use work. I want to make a weekly cleaning schedule so things like "grody bathroom corners" and "dust behind the TV so thick that the dog can't eat it even though he regularly tries" and "what exactly is that musty smell?" aren't part of our life.
  • Put child in preschool and use time gained productively.
Rei will be four at the end of this month. She can read single words, she is starting to get basic addition, and she has an imagination that puts Anne Shirley to shame. She needs preschool. Staying at home with her has taken her this far, but I've hit my limit. I'd like to have her enrolled by September and to use the time I gain away from her to find paying work, or, failing that, do what I can at home to significantly reduce our cost of living.
  • Build strength and stamina.
I have a cranky knee and I get winded too easily. The fat is obviously an issue in both cases, but weight loss isn't specifically the goal, because thus far it's been a miserable impossibility. More exercise is a must, though I will have to work around said knee. Increased dog walking, maybe swimming... who knows?
  • Make more food from scratch.
I have this hippie dream of eliminating all processed food from my family's diet. I also dream of eating Kraft Dinner every day, but some dreams are too good to come true. I'm pretty good about baking all our bread and making all our soups, but I'd like to extend that to things like tortillas, all sauces and curries, and other baked goods. I think it should save money and improve our health.
  • Read.
All the things.
  • Blog more.
Lucky you! I'm not likely to write the next great Canadian novel if I can't even keep a blog going. I want to expand beyond pathetic weekly shop update posts. That's not a blog, it's a poorly received e-billboard. I hope that more blogging will also help me improve my writing skills.


2014 Crafty Goals:
  • Finish a stocking
Har de fucking har har. You will see this goal every year until they are ALL done. I have one cross stitched stocking about half done. Life shouldn't be this hard.
  • More garment sewing for myself and Rei.
I love sewing clothes. I've had some setbacks and learning experiences over the past year, but I would like to move beyond them. I need to improve my finishing techniques and choose patterns and fabrics that will integrate into my wardrobe.
  • Knit and spin down the yarn stash.
I've been suffering stash guilt. It is too large, with too many single skeins. This is entirely because I insist on buying yarn with no project in mind. I have no desire to go cold sheep or count yardage-in vs. yardage-out, but I want to work from what I have as much as I can, for an overall volume reduction.
The Evenstar Shawl is my Holy Grail project. It was a failed goal last year, and I'd like to try again. I have eight ounces of amazing Merino/Yak blend from Sweet Georgia that I'd like to spin into a gradient for it.
  • Spin for a sweater from raw fleece.
I've done this before and I adore the sweater. I'd like to do it again, using a Texel/Finn/East Frisian fleece I bought in 2012. This means lots of quality time with the drum carder, but that's OK. If I was very ambitious I would also hope to spin a sweater's worth from the Rambouillet cross fleece I have. I don't think I'm that ambitious. That seems crazy.
  • Make a quilt for us.
Now that I've made one quilt, I feel the need to do it again! I'd love to make one to cuddle under on the couch, as well as maybe a decorative quilt to hang on the wall. I don't know if I'm ready to do one for our bed yet. We shall see.
  • Weave more.
Pretty self explanatory. I want to expand my repertoire, I have some projects in mind, and I need to get over my irritation with warping my little rigid heddle loom. It's time to suck it up and do it.

Well, there you have it. Many goals, all of them realistic (if I can keep myself under a reasonable amount of control). We shall see how I do! If you are setting goals I'd love to hear about them. We can all be accountable together!

5 comments:

  1. Wow that is quite a list. And you are already awesome, but I'm looking forward to watching you become even more awesome :)

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    1. I'm looking forward to being awesome with friends like you beside me <3

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  2. I look forward to these posts every year, and yours especially so - you've made me wish, yet again, I had more of my crafting supplies out, darn you! Especially my nearly-finished quilted table runner. Sigh. Soon, I tell myself, soon.

    Having read both your 2014 Goals post and your How I Did in 2013 post, I haz two prezzies for you:

    1) my favourite curry recipe: ... apparently that will have to wait until tomorrow, as I've misplaced the recipe >.>
    2) racy novel(s) recommendation: Louisa Edwards' CAN'T STAND THE HEAT series. The food details made me drool and other aspects sizzled, too

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    1. Ooh thanks for the novel recommendation! I shall look it up :D
      Good luck with your table runner - you can do it!!

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  3. Yay! :D Here's the curry recipe I mentioned: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/indian-chicken-curry-murgh-kari/detail.aspx

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