happy new (school) year!

i went back to work today.  summer vacation was awesome, but i really don't mind (too much) that it's over.  relaxation and laziness are good for me, yes, but so are schedule and routine.  i rather enjoy this time of year.  it's like a second new year and new beginnings are so good for getting me back on track.  like getting back on the track literally.  i have quite fallen off the exercise wagon.  i feel myself getting squishy.  oops!  yep, time to reassess my projects and goals and rediscover my motivation and drive to succeed.

on a side note, do you hate feet pictures?  maybe let's make that a rhetorical question.  i ask because i carpooled with a coworker today who mentioned really not liking feet.  i do like feet.  they are ever so useful and even at my maximum density i still liked the way my feet looked.  at least i do when i have my toenails nicely groomed and polished.  this summer i did not have time for such things and my sister was extremely appalled when she saw them.  I made sure to tidy them up for the first day of school.  (also, note the new flips.  cute, yes?  i got them in hot pink with black too.  oooh.  sparkly sequins.).

so, back to my goals.  several of them center around my "one little word" for 2014, "holiday."  to keep the word fresh in my mind, i decided to make a mini-album centered around it.  i went gangbusters on this through march and then nada.  i finally pulled it back out last week and forced the issue.  that first page on the left there came out totally fugly.  so bad that i had to redo it.  i'm not overly impressed with this second version, but it will have to do.  the next two pages are okay and may was hit or miss, but i finally found my groove once more with june.  sometimes, "get'er done" is what it takes.

then tying in with that i thought it would be nice to get a jump start on christmas crafting.  you know, finish all the old december daily type projects, make some christmas cards, make some crafties for gift-giving during the "holiday" season.  yea.  not so much.  the christmas papercrafting box stayed under the table in the shadows till last week when i knocked this page out after getting caught up on the aforementioned holiday mini-album.  what can i say?  i am a lazy bird, but when the ocd kicks in, it can be a glorious thing.

i did make some initial progress with the gift type projects.   i got that set of dish towels done and the cute easter baskets, but then started in on a couple baby afghans and got totally bogged down in them.  i have finally gotten those figured out and am cranking out rows at a steady pace now.  so, why not add some more projects to the mix then?  i'm loving jenni's new "crafted kits" and have plans to make this one for the nurses in the family.  i am a glutton for crafty punishment.

then there was the brilliant 52 week project that i decided to attempt.  it lasted through march too.  and since i'm still working on those baby afghans, it's still on hiatus. 

of course, i am doing project life again.  in my mind.  in actuality, i've gotten my photos printed through april, my photos sketched out through june, and my photos scrapbooked here and there and hardly at all.  but this is a project that i don't so much mind being behind on.  i know i'll just as much enjoy scrapbooking these photos when g goes off to college.  maybe even more so.

say "crappie sparkle nibbles" three times fast

this fish bait made me laugh. (six word memoir.  so easy.  so awesome.).

then over at get it scrapped! i set up a nice little list of monthly photo and/or word challenges for myself and whoever would like to play along.  goodness!  i was such a busy bee that last week in december coming up with all these ideas!  i managed to keep this one going through april till it fell by the wayside.  time to resurrect it.  august is "six word memoirs."  i think i can handle that.  brevity is a good thing.

 

and then on to the goals that I never mentioned publicly.  like, "oh it would be nice to read a book a week (52) books this year."  I've gotten 21 under my belt so far.  hey!  this one could actually happen.

incidentally, has anyone out there read this one?  not a rhetorical question, by the way.  i was only 40% through when the library called it home and so far i don't really much care for it.  is it worth putting it on hold again to finish it?

and then there's the "wouldn't it be fun to blog every day (365 times) this year?  yea, i'm laughing too.  but i might hit 31 posts this month.  july has been good for me.  (love this magazine, btw).

and the new year's resolution type things that you know you need to do:

organize the house - shockingly, i'm close to done with this one without hardly trying

tackle the landscaping - i found out i could do so many things this summer and i'm so looking forward to next spring when i can plant my little heart out instead of ripping out holly, pulling up rampant weeds, and chopping a felled bradford pear into garden poles.

paint our walls white - the landscaping accomplishments have made me brave.  i think i might actually attempt this one this fall once the cold winds drive me inside.

plan a trip to washington d.c. - i was hoping to take my boy to the smithsonian this summer (don't you think he would love that?), but we ended up going to florida, north carolina, and texas instead.  next summer for sure though.

it has truly been a joy to reflect on a summer well spent on this blog of mine.  and now I will enjoy the steady rhythm that is back to school (and schedule a few more adventures for the dog days of summer).  thanks so much for tagging along.  :)