The last week has been interesting.  I came down with a stomach bug last week that’s been circulating around work.  I felt fine in the morning and then the next thing I knew, I was sick.  Anyway, I got over that by the weekend.  Just in time for our water heater to decide that it was also sick.  So we had one night of no water and then another few days without hot water.  This was great motivation for working out, though - hot showers at the gym!  Thankfully, the plumber came today and made the water heater better again.  All in time for the new semester to start at work.  Which has me freaking out because, of course, I’m not entirely ready for all of the new projects I decided to initiate. 

Anyhoo, I’ve been meaning to post pics from my niece’s wedding last month (that I still need to go through, resize, and upload), pics of my latest haircut (still on my camera), and show you my haul from xmas (no pics taken as of yet, though).  Thanks to the wonders of a series of tubes known as the internets, I am at least able to provide you with links to a few of my xmas gifts at least, so you can see how great santa was to me this year.  {grin}

First up… an adjustable dress form.  I’ve decided to call her Big Red.  Then, because she’s adjustable to my measurements, as I lose weight I can call her Smaller Red.  hee,hee!

Next… my new bluetooth (mine’s a plum color).  Except for the fact that the thing is too big for my ear (I seriously have the same size ears as a child), I LOVE this little guy!  It has a flip out feature to turn it on (instead of a button like my old one, which also dialed the thing – I often called people by accident when I was trying to turn the stupid thing on) and it has noise cancellation, so it’s much easier to hear people.

And… a clear teapot with diffuser and flowering teas.  I haven’t had the chance to actually make some tea yet, but I’ll be sure to report on whether this is as cool as it sounds!

There were other fun gifts (such as my “I’m Blogging This” tee from my sister that I wore when we went gliding).  Over time, if I can jog my memory, I’ll have to take some pics and show them off.

Speaking of jogging… I’m continuing with the Couch to 5k program.  Week 3 is kicking my butt.  Probably because I was sick last week and had to fall of the routine for a bit.  I’m thinking that I might continue with week 3 for another week, rather than push myself before I’m ready to try week 4.  Especially since week 4 is supposed to be a really tough one.  And, my mom-in-law is coming out for a visit this weekend (yarn shops, here we come!) and I’d rather not be torturing myself while she’s here.

In other random-ness… my office is slowly coming together.  There’s still a bunch of stuff in our hallway, but a lot of things are making their way back into the room.  One of the things I learned from the show ‘neat’ is to group like with like.  Wow.  I can’t tell you how many post-it pads and writing utensils I have.  I’m still dealing with my ad*d-like tendencies and I can’t seem to actually get rid of any of these things.  But hopefully I can stop myself from buying more, because I certainly don’t need them!

One of my other ad*d-like tendencies that I’m dealing with is my need to do everything.  I really would like to join Project Spectrum.  I attempted to join this a couple of years ago and only managed to make it through a couple of months.  So I’m making myself honestly think about how much time I have to do it… and then I laugh.  It’s a nice thought, and I love the idea of doing it (especially with the elements theme behind it this time around), but I’m not going make myself crazy by trying it.  See?  I’m making headway!

I have a few minutes before my lunch is over, so I thought I’d write a quick post letting everyone know I’m still here.  As everyone is writing about their resolutions for the new year, I’ve been deciding whether or not to resolute this year.  I’m horrible with resolutions.  I never stick with them.  I decided before the new year that maybe I should simply try having some “goals” this year.  Yeah, I know, semantics.  Anyway, if I decide to go the goal route, here’s what I’m thinking of…

- Blog more.  I used to blog pretty often and I can’t seem to get back into it. 

- Knit and spin more.  I did both over the holidays, and my fingers were quite happy!  But here’s the catch… I need to do both with the yarn and fiber I already own.

- Use my lovely, but neglected, sewing machine. 

To accomplish the first three items on this list, I’m joining in on Rebekah’s Yarn Focus Challenge and Friday Night Spinners.  For the last item here, I’m thinking about Lolly’s Project Spectrum 2.0 (because I knit too slowly to make the project useful, but sewing might actually be doable.)  But I’m still undecided, because I have a tendency to join things and then not finish them.  (hmmm… maybe that’s another goal?)

Of course, these are my more crafty goals.  I’d also like to…

- Finish losing weight.  I got halfway to my goal and just kinda stopped.

- Get in shape.  I’m thinking of trying the 100 Miles by April 1st, but I won’t actually join the blog (I have a hard enough time blogging here).  I’ll just keep track of my own miles.

- Read more.  I never realized how much reading and knitting I got done on the bus, until I started driving to work.

- Create a budget.  I created a budget many years ago that was really helpful in tracking my spending.  But a new job and new house equal new salary and new bills, making my old budget useless.

- Get organized.  Which is part of…

- Finish unpacking.

Ok, I’d better stop because I’m depressing myself now.  Let’s hope that by telling everyone my goals, that I’ll actually achieve them.  Well, some of them.  Ok, one of them?

Before I post my cacti pictures, I have to make an announcement… I completed my short-row shoulders last night.  Woo Hoo!  I only had to rip out once and that’s because I didn’t add correctly (oops!).  I don’t have pictures, right at the moment, but quite honestly there’s not a whole heck of a lot to see.  But I’m damn proud of myself for figuring it out!

Ok, now onto the green cacti pictures for Project Spectrum.  First, I have to show you what we were tromping through.

And now I have to show you the (not so) protective shoes I was wearing.

What a rookie mistake, huh?  Anyhoo, here are the photos (with bits of commentary thrown in).

Meet Arizona’s state bird, the cactus wren.  Perty, ain’t she?    

And here’s her nest.  She wasn’t too happy about us hanging out
around her home, and she sent us little chirps from time to time to let us know.    

And here is Arizona’s state tree, the Palo Verde.  It’s kinda hard to
see in this photo, but the bark is green and has a kinda cool texture.    

In addition to cacti, Arizona tends to have lots of palm trees. 
Not sure why this is, but I guarantee Eva could educate me on this.    

I got a little macro-happy with the next few pictures.    

Um, more macro-happiness.    

Yes, this is a Dr. Pepper can sitting in green slime.  I know what
you’re thinking… first rust and now slime, what is with this girl?  eh.    

This one doesn’t have anything do with green, but I like it and wanted to post it.  It’s a cactus skeleton (for lack of better words?) and then I got a little Photoshop happy.