Looking Back...and Looking Forward

Every year, everyone does it: the politicians, the pundits, the media, and that tempts the rest of us (well, maybe not all of us) to do our own "year in review." As hackneyed and trite as it might seem, I find it to be a useful exercise. I'm not one for making New Year's resolutions, but looking at my successes and "not-quite-successes" helps me figure what to keep doing in the coming year and where I can improve.

Successes

• Achieving my running goal (qualify for the Boston Marathon): I'm not sure why I succeeded; perhaps it was because I never let my training lag and during the race I was very focused.
• Becoming more technically adept at work: A couple of large software projects gave me the opportunity to do a bit of testing again and made me realize that I hadn't lost my testing "chops."
• Finishing the baby blanket...and knowing when it was done enough, even though I still had yarn left.
• Getting through most of my Christmas holiday to-do list: I'm notoriously bad at making to-do lists and then ignoring them. I managed to focus and get through most of my tasks each day and by the time I go back to work, I should have completed the remaining chores on it.

Not-Quite-Successes

• Training a bit too hard and injuring my foot: I don't think it was the distance, but perhaps the speed and the road miles. I'll spend more time on trails this coming year.
• Finishing only one knitting project: Due to my work schedule and the lack of time to do things at home, I didn't allow myself sufficient knitting time
• Working long hours: Not much can be done about that and unfortunately, 2010 is probably going to be worse than 2009. Working at home one day a week will help, especially if I can plan it so it falls on the knitting group day.
• Not holding up my end of house chores: See the previous item. The long hours, coupled with running long on weekends, led Tom to rightly declare "I do everything around here." I need to focus on better work/life balance.
• Not spending enough time on the mat: Perhaps if I established a regular home yoga practice, my life will become a little more balanced. If I can keep myself from going back to bed after I feed the cats in the morning, I've got this one in the bag!

Knitting Progress

The spiral scarf should not have looked like a sock. I came to that conclusion the other day and ripped it all out. I had miscounted some rows early on and ended up with the increases on the inside edge of the scarf instead of the outside edge. It looks much better now and I think it is going to be a quick-ish knit. I don't think it will be done by the time I go back to work, but it might be close.

I've also been teaching a friend to knit, which has been a blast! She's picking it up quickly and is so enthusiastic. The last knitting lesson was teaching her the purl stitch, then putting the knit and purl stitches together for stockinette and a 4x4 rib, which is in preparation for knitting a hat. The next lesson will be about gauge, how to read a pattern, and coming up with the 4x4 rib hat design.

Room Progress

Alas, the painting has not commenced because Tom is still working on stabilizing the ceiling, but the plaster washer installation doesn't appear to be going well. Last night Tom said that maybe we should just gut the room, which while it would be nice, is not strictly necessary. I don't need the room to be perfect; I just need it to be comfortable. The remaining "public" rooms (the dining room and the library) are more important. Besides, I'm still scarred from the kitchen/bath renovation we did in 2002.

So that's it for this year. I wish you and your family a healthy, happy, and prosperous 2010.

Happy New Year!