New Years Resolution - Starting Cycling Again

One of my new year's resolutions was to start cycling to the train station again after a long and snowy winter break.  The snow started in November in Reading and I promptly stopped cycling the 4 miles there and back to our local train station as soon as it got a little icy.  I have visions of myself skidding round a corner on ice unable to release my feet and leaving parts of my knees on the tarmac behind me :-)  I had already stopped running, pretty much after my 10k race in October, so that meant I was doing no exercise at all.  This is bad and usually means by weight shoots up as I carry on eating the doughnuts and cake needed to fuel my non-existent activities.  But this winter it didn't, I didn't consciously eat less or change my diet but my weight stayed about the same regardless of my slobiness.

 

As the snow melted and the icy mornings became few and far between I knew I had to crawl onto my bike again otherwise I never would.  The first few days were very difficult, the hills seemed bigger and even the flat sections seemed arduous.  After about a week of solid cycling (the weather couldn't make up it's mind whether it was warm or freezing so this meant a few weeks of cycling one or two days only), I was back into my old gears of the previous winter.  Now, after cycling consistently for four weeks, I am probably back to my old self.  This bodes well for my next new year's resolution of starting to run regularly again in March (when the clocks go forwards) which I suspect will be tougher and bit more of a shock than this has been.

Happy New Year!!

2010 has most definately been my starting-to-knit-year, after finishing my first project in about 15 years (baby blanket for my niece) in May, I've gone on to knit the following:

• 3 pairs of socks (2 for me and 1 as a gift)
• 1 scarf
• 2 baby hats
• 1 phone sock
• 1 pair of baby bootees
• 1 hat and pair of matching fingerless gloves

That doesn't seem a lot but I've always had something on the go.  In 2011 I would like to knit my first peice of clothing, a cardigan for my niece and a cardigan for me (as well as lots of socks and scarves).

Speaking of New Years Resolutions, here's how I did on this years:

1. Weekly facial - FAIL
2. Finish what I start - PASS (if you don't count buying wool and then not knitting anything with it yet)
3. De-clutter - PASS (I have thrown out lots and tried to use stuff up before buying more - not wool though)

Not bad.

Next years resolutions are:

1. Start cycling and running again.
2. Learn toe-up socks
3. Read more books
4. Watch less TV
5. Be more sociable
6. Eat more healthily

I have high hopes that this time next year I will have acheieved all of them :-)

Highlights of my 2010 have been:

• Gaining a niece - Isobel Skye born in May and still as cute as ever
• Still living happily with Pete - Our 3 year anniversary is looming in Feb and I'm still as happy as ever :-)
• Starting a counselling course - Could be a new career for me, if I can get the coursework finished

There must be more but I can't think of them.

I hope everyone has a great night tonight, I'll be snuggling up with Pete and toasting the New Year in with a lovely bottle of wine I have stashed in the fridge.  I hope 2011 will bring more joy and happiness!

Happy Birthday to Me!

It was my birthday yesterday and I had a lovely day.  It started off with opening presents in bed and then off for a back massage with Lisa which was heavenly, I didn't know my neck and shoulders were so tense until she'd relaxed them.  After that I had an afternoon of knitting followed by a meal at Colleys.  I thoroughly enjoyed my deep fried goats cheese, cream of celeriac soup, sorbet, navarne of lamb and treacle sponge.  Their treacle sponge is to die for, the sponge is made with suet and just seems to absorb the syrup making it so sweet and gooey.  All in all, a wonderful birthday.

I've been very good keeping up my resolutions, I've been giving myself a weekly facial when I've been good (done quota of knitting and exercise) and that means using up all the bottles of stuff in the bathroom.  I've finally finished a really expensive bottle of shower gel I was given last birthday, I had a strange sense of achievement doing that!  I'm keeping up with my knitting, I've worked out that to finish the baby blanket by the time he/she will arrive (sometime in May/June) I need to do 1.7 squares a week, that leaves me 4 weeks to sew them all together and knit the edging.  I've rounded this up to 2 square a week, 8 squares a month and I've already finished January's quota and am starting on February's today.  Again, this gives me great satisfaction each time I finish a square and start a new one, I think I'm actually going to finish this project (another resolution done!).

I'm getting very enthusiastic about knitting, I'm starting to think about what else I can do when I've finished the blanket.  Socks seem very popular and I'd like to learn how to do circular knitting (so the socks don't have a seam).  I also like some of the wool you get which makes the socks stripey with no extra effort!  I think'll need extra help to learn how to do this, so I'm going to a knitting group (no it's not as old fogey-ish as it sounds) next Sunday, I'll let you know how it goes.

Happy New Year

I can't believe it's over a year since I started this blog, I've been looking back on what I said this time last year and a lot has happened since then. So, what will 2010 bring? Well I can start by putting my resolutions into print:

1. Give myself a weekly facial (but only if I've completed what I said I'd do that week, exercise, jobs etc).
2. Finish what I start. This relates to projects I start and never finish and to products I start to use but then leave half empty but buy more so I have a plethora of stuff. Prime example of this would be the blanket I've started knitting my sister, I'm determined to finish it.
3. De-clutter. I have too much stuff, from bathroom products (see no. 2) to clothes and shoes I never wear. I need to have a good sort out of all cupboards, drawers and the loft and make sure I give away/sell anything I'm not using now.
   

Like last year, they are quite small and achievable, nothing life changing. So how did I do with last years resolutions?

1. Get fit and stay fit – I started cycling and swimming late last year, I've lost a bit of weight through it and felt great. Unfortunately the winter weather has stopped cycling until further notice but I'm starting swimming again this week.
2. Listen to more music – I failed at this one. My idea of getting a new CD a month slipped away by April. I still mostly listen to the radio but I am getting some CDs for my birthday.
3. Say 'Yes' more – I think I have been more open to things in the past year, I have tried new experiences and done things I could have so easily have chickened out of. My greatest success in this is joining Ladies Circle, meeting a room full of people I didn't know was very daunting but I've made loads of new friends and my social life is very full as a result of it.
   

I read 43 book last year, not bad, that's almost one a week! I will be keeping track of my 2010 books in the same way as I like seeing what I've read over the year.

What else has been happening? As I mentioned before, I'm knitting a blanket for my new niece/nephew who should make an appearance in May. It's square based so is quite satisfying finishing each square and seeing the pile grow. I've nearly finished my second square and reckon they take me about 4-6 hours each, depending on complexity. It's very therapeutic and also gives me a great excuse to watch loads of TV!

Monthly CDs Update

What is it about music and it's ability to transport you to another time?

One of my new years resolutions was to buy a new CD each month and listen to it. I've found myself falling into the rut of listening to the radio all the time instead of choosing music depending on my mood.

So far my choices have been:

January - Vampire Weekend
February - MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
March - The Ting Tings - We Started Nothing

I'm listening to 'The Ting Tings' at the moment and the first 2 songs on the album are the ones they've released 'Great DJ' and 'That's Not My Name'. When I put them on I was suddenly gripped with the urge to get up and dance about in a mad 4-year-old type manner, it was so freeing, not caring what you looked like and totally losing yourself in the music. I was instantly transported to all the live gigs/clubs/concerts I've ever been to and the tingly feeling you get when your favourite song comes on and you feel so happy you could burst. My dull morning has become one of reminiscing and even though I'm not dancing now I still feel lighter and brighter.

Who thought this could be one of the side effects of a resolution?