A Quick Recap

GUYS GUYS GUYS. I’ve been SO BUSY, OMG. The fall semester of school just ended, THANK GOD, so I finally have the energy to come say hi. There’s been so much going on lately, you don’t even know.

So in September, I petted some llamas alpacas on National Alpaca Appreciate Day. They were very cute. I also bought some yummy yarn that I’ll some day knit into a really luxurious scarf for myself.

In October, Feller and I went to a pumpkin patch and did ALL THE ACTIVITIES they offered, except ride a pony because we are both over the weight limit. But we pet some chickens and a turkey and a goat and a guinea pig and a rabbit. And a duck. Who tried to bite Feller. We also rode on a hay ride and a train that was meant for little children, and we sat in a giant chair for pictures! It was very fun and helped lay the foundations for some friendshipping. Which is awesome.

We have also had a few parties, and Feller cooked dinner for 10 people right before Thanksgiving. It was a resounding success, resulting in hangovers for everyone (I’m guessing, based on how many empties we had the next day).

I’ve started doing a buttload of volunteering to beef up my resume and gain some recent experience with people who are under 21. It’s been really fun! I’ve been doing some one on one reading tutoring with Reading Partners, homework help at the library, for which I’m now the volunteer in charge, and come January, I’ll be doing storytime at a preschool center in Oakland once a week. I’m so excited! And crazy busy! It’s been a real adjustment getting used to how many things I have going on right now, but I’m really enjoying all my extracurriculars. I’m also starting some sort of “Reading to Children” thing in San Jose. I’m not sure if they’re looking for an actual storytime like in Oakland or something a bit more casual. I guess I’ll find out at training!

This semester in school has been SO STRESSFUL. Last Spring I effed up a little, and I paid for it this semester. I was really, legitimately concerned that I wouldn’t be in school come this Spring, but THANKFULLY, everything worked out all right. I wasn’t kicked out of school, I got okay grades, and I received the kick in the rump that I need to stay on top of that stupid online discussion posts bullshit that I hate so very much. But which always screws my grade over, dammit.

Coincidentally, sort of, today is ALSO the first day of 2013. Since I was going to post this earlier (and forgot), I am hereby including my 2013 Get Shit Done’s

*One race a month. Not JUST 12 for the year, one a month. This will keep me running and on track for the THREE half marathons for which I’ve signed up.
*Finish my damn WIP’s. THIS IS THE YEAR for the Medallion Travel Bag. I got a couple other lingering WIP’s taken care of recently, and WHAT A RELIEF. Having projects on the needles for 5+ years is not only RIDICULOUS, it’s a fucking burden. That I DON’T WANT. Medallion Travel Bag, THIS IS YOUR YEAR.
*Ukulele mastery. This involves practicing more than once every two weeks. (BTW, I got a ukulele for my birthday.)
*Knit, knit, knit. Seriously, when I’m just sitting in front of the tv, I should have some knitting in my hands.
*Straight A’s in school. For reals this time, guys. This is my last year of my Master’s, and it’s time to go big or go home. No more fucking around for half the semester and then scrambling for a B. A’s all the way. Because it’s totally doable if I would just suck it up and write some dang discussion posts.

In completely different news, Feller and I (still married, still in love) are going on vacation and couldn’t be more excited. It’s HIGH TIME we had some free and easy relaxing time together. Life has been really stressful, and it shows. We’re both ready for a break.

2011 Wrap Up

Well, I was sort of on the ball and had this written on New Year’s Eve, but our internet was totes broken until … now-ish.

The school semester wrapped up really nicely. At the beginning of the semester, I thought I might try for straight A’s, but then I got LAAAAAAZY. And I also forgot until a couple of weeks before classes ended that the Library & Information Sciences school has an annoyingly effed up grading scale, so in order to even get a grade high enough to get credit for the classes, I needed an 88%, which is really, REALLY HIGH, guys. So then I spent two weeks worrying about whether or not I participated enough in the online discussions, which by the way, are UTTER bullshit, and then came the final projects. As I told one of my friends, my intention was to three quarter ass my three final projects, and I think I managed that pretty successfully. One of the assignments was WAAAAY too short (all three actually, but I think it only mattered in one case), which I am pretty sure brought my grade down significantly. I didn’t look at the teacher’s comments on the paper because once classes were over, I pretty much stopped going online for anything significant amount of time. All this to say, really, that I ended up with a B and B+ in my two classes this semester, which is exactly what I needed to not ever have to take either of these classes again. Mission accomplished! On to next semester, which holds another required course and a class all about GRAPHIC NOVELS. AWESOME.

I’m not super into making resolutions for the new year, but it is such a good time for reflection and thinking about how one wants to improve oneself. In 2012, I’ve only got three Ways in which to Be More Awesome. Or at least, I’ve only thought about three things on which I want to focus.

1. I am only reading books already on my Goodreads “to read” list. I rarely get to mark books off that list because I get so distracted by all the other shiny, happy books at the library, and I really would like to whittle it down some. Of course, since deciding this, I have been frantically adding ALL THE BOOKS to my To Read list, you know, just in case. And so it has doubled in length in the past few weeks from 250-ish books to 500-ish. Just trying to keep my options open. Though, now that we’re four days into the year, and I’m already thinking about how I’ll break my To Read List Rule, this is going to be more of a guideline than a firm rule. My focus is more intentional reading rather than just picking up random books; that strategy has often worked for me, but, for this year at least, I don’t want random books to take away from the books that I KNOW I want to read. Does that make any sense?

Additionally, Feller gave me a Kindle Touch for Christmas (!!! love it), and I’ve been scouring Amazon for cheap ass books that I might want to read. I have added about 40 books to my Kindle since Christmas, and the most I’ve paid for any of them is five bucks. Most were ninety nine cents, so I’ve got about half a year’s worth of reading just sitting my Kindle waiting for me. And once I decide how I’m using various gift cards, I’ll probably have a few more books.

2. I am super getting serious, for realz, seriously, about getting in shape. I always say I hate to put a number on it, but then I just end up slacking off and getting nowhere, so here it is, officially, I am going to run three times a week. Feller and I are going to the gym together three times a week. I would also like to take at least three fitness classes at the gym per week, but I’m a bit more flexible on that. Ultimately, I want to lose forty pounds. I remember being at that weight for about five minutes in 2007, and it was nice.

3. Imma start going to church again. I haven’t in ages, and I miss it.

4. I just thought of another thing! Number four is knitting goals: I am going to knit at least one pair of socks, of real socks, not just the baby practice socks, from Cat Bordhi’s sock book. I am going to start working on my sock yarn leftover blanket, either this beekeeper quilt or this mitered squares blanket. I am going to finish that damn Medallion Travel Bag.

5. Oh also, I’m TOTALLY going to write more often.

So, there we go. 2011 was an awesome year. Feller and I went on a great vacation, I quit a job I hated, got a job I love, started school AGAIN. I’m hella looking forward to 2012. I really think it can only bring even better and brighter things.