SAL Update

Boy weeks go quickly. I am visiting my parents so don’t have much to report. I will simply give you pictures of what I have finished lately.

My second version of Hello Summer by It’s Sew Emma. I like the purple in this one and the size better than the one I made for my mom. I’ll have to try and exchange it on her!

I got the project finished for my friend’s birthday. I changed quite a few of the colours to make it look like my friend’s bike. I wish I had also changed the font as I don’t like how the two words aren’t the same.

Please check out the other stitchers in the group as there are some fabulous projects!

Avis, Claire, Gun, Constanze, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Megan, Deborah, Sharon, Daisy, AJ, Cathie, Linda, Helen, Connie

SAL Update

Ugh it has been a time trying to post this! One problem after another!

I have finished a recent project and it actually got fully finished as it was a birthday present for my mom.

The pattern is Hello Summer by Its Sew Emma. It was fun to stitch and didn’t take long. I am not fully happy with how the white looks on the navy fabric, but oh well, it got done. I’m also glad no one on here will be able to inspect my finish as it as well isn’t perfect, but is done.

I made my mom help choose the finishing fabrics and she didn’t know it was for her. I plan to do this pattern again for myself, but I want to use a hot pink instead of the red. If anyone has a suggestion of a popsicle pink DMC colour, I would appreciate hearing it. ( Hopefully I can get into comments!)

I seem to just cross stitch presents lately as I immediately started a present for my teaching partner for her birthday in August. It shouldn’t be a problem to get this done as I am about a quarter done already.

The pattern is called Adventure Awaits by AnnaXStitch and I got it off Etsy. I have changed most of the colours so that the bike will look like my friends’ bike. I am also thinking about adding the words “on Peggy Sue” at the bottom as that is the name of her bike.

Well I think that’s it for me right now. I can’t wait to see everyone else’s projects.I am four days away from holidays, so will actually be able to look and read posts then!

Avis, Claire, Gun, Constanze, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Megan, Deborah, Sharon, Daisy, AJ, Cathie, Linda, Helen, Connie

Best Holiday

My mom always seems to be worried that we don’t do much when I visit, but it was the best holiday!

I get my favourite company!

I get time and support to have all- star days in my exercise where I get to run, workout and do yoga.

I get beautiful walks with my mom along paths where there are the most amazing blackberries just waiting for me to eat them.

We go on fun adventures! We drove up to check out one of the last places we need to see in the island. We went to Gold River. It is very quiet. In fact, when you arrive you wonder if the town has been abandoned as all you see are a couple of visitors wandering around there are five residential streets to house the 1212 people who live here. We stopped by the “mall” which definitely doesn’t have Lululemon at it, and is in fact mostly closed down. We drove out to the docks but they aren’t super well organized. I have to say the best part of Gold River are the carvings spread around town.

I have absolutely no regrets about visiting though as I now know this. Plus, I got another pair of socks knitted on the trip.

I also get lots of rafting time with the added bonus of moral support!

I have sewed a tank top and a project bag while here. I have kitted two pairs of socks for myself, one pair of socks for my mom, a toque for my niece and dad and have been working on aHalloween shawl. I think this will be changed into a cowl tomorrow.

I also get to eat my favourite foods as my mom spoils me-tons of fruits, avocado and cheese, crackers and pickles!

It has been an awesome holiday, but unfortunately today I return to reality.

Have fun!

AJ

Too Hot

It is just too hot here today to really do anything.

I did start the day with a 4.23km run around a local river with Dennis. It was nice to have unexpected company on the run and I was happy to have it over with early! Unfortunately, I have done nothing else even though I had planned to do abs and yoga today. It’s just too hot!

Thankfully I got groceries on my way home because I have been laying on my bed in front of the fan today reading. I am on the third book in the Books and Brews series by Sara Rider. I think I liked the first one best, but they have all been enjoyable.

That’s it for me. I’ll go back to trying to survive this heat.

Have fun!

AJ

A Little of Everything

This weekend was a little of everything and felt great!

Saturday was probably the busiest day I have had in the past year! I ran over to my parents apartment and got the Ott light that was languishing there. I went for a walk with Brenda so we could talk knitting. I had a quick stop in not one, but two knitting stores, I met up with a friend for an outdoor Mexican lunch and a look at the bed and couch she is thinking to buy, and my cousin came to hook up my dishwasher. He didn’t quit get it complete, but we are getting close. Of course I had to do dishes and clean before my cousin arrived so he wouldn’t think I was a slob.

2020 Wrap Up-Exercise

So this year I kept a notebook in which I recorded all runs, workouts, bike rides and yoga/ stretching sessions. I often questioned why I was doing this because I have a Garmin, but it turned out it was a good thing because there were a few times when my Garmin didn’t record! I have to say I didn’t record any walks because I walk to work every day and have often socialized this year by walking, so to keep it simple, I did not record any of these. I don’t think one book would have been enough!

Overall Totals:

I was active in some way 299 days, which is 82% of the time.

Running:

I ran 1,450.67km this year.

I ran for a total of 160:54:38 hours.

I had an average pace of 6:51/km. I had trouble with this stat because I slow down to run with my running buddy Sarah, and didn’t feel like this really reflected my increased abilities, but I also know I need slow runs and Sarah makes sure I take those.

January- 17 runs for 72.25km

February-16 runs for 77.74km

March-20 runs for 116.33km

April-21 runs for 142.02km

May-21 runs for 152.79km

June-21 runs for 107.23km

July-20 runs for 126.36km

August-23 runs for 131.05km

September-11 runs for 68.05km

October-18 runs for 100.62km

November-17 runs for 120.3km

December-25 runs for 128.41km

I like how consistent I was for April,May and June.

Workouts:

This includes both cardio routines and weights and the combination of both.

I worked out for 76:44:52.

I worked out on 188 days this year.

January- 22 days

February-14 days

March-26 days

April-21 days

May- 20 days

June-17 days

July- 15 days

August- 18 days

September-15 days

October-10 days

November-11 days

December-10 days

I really don’t like seeing the decreasing trend here! I guess that explains why my running felt so much easier in April, May, June and so much more difficult at the end of the year.

Biking:

I biked for 12:37:37

I biked 123.12km (this is somewhat of an estimate as I’m really bad at starting my watch when I’m on a bike).

I biked 15 times this year.

This is probably the most I have biked since I was a tween. I really noticed on the last ride how much more comfortable I was.

Yoga/Stretching:

I did yoga for 14:58:31 this year

I did yoga 50 times this year.

My yoga was all over the place, but definitely not consistent:(

I burned a total of 84, 280 calories this year.

Strava tells me that my most consistent day was Sunday which totally makes sense because that is the day I meet a group for a long run.

However, my data tells me that Saturday was my most consistent day to do exercise of some kind.

Monday- 42 times

Tuesday-42 times

Wednesday-43 times

Thursday-38 times

Friday-43 times

Saturday-46 times

Sunday-45 times

I do love seeing that all of these numbers are close. It’s also a good thing I literally just signed up for a Thursday exercise class!

Well, I went back and looked at last year and I ran about 249km more and spent 14 more hours running this year. At least I know I’m improving and hopefully I will continue to do so next year!

Have fun!

AJ

2020 Wrap Up Knitting

I’m going to do a series of wrap up posts as I love numbers and to review my year, but I’ll do them separately so you all can avoid reading the ones that don’t interest you.

According to Ravelry:

I completed 50 knitting projects in 2020. My goal was just forty so I think that’s pretty good. I actually did a few more than that as some projects contain more than one item.

13 sweaters

17 toques

9 cowl/scarf/shawl

2 pairs of socks

3 pairs of booties

5 headbands/ear warmers

1 baby blanket

1 market bag

When did I do all this knitting? Well,…

January – 8 projects

February- 10 projects

March- 10 projects

April- 2 projects

May- 4 projects

June- 1 project

July- 1 project

August- 2 projects

September- 2 projects

October- 3 projects

November- 2 projects

December- 5 projects

Wow I never realized I knit so much more at the start of the year than during the rest of the year. I also had thought the quarantine time would be the most projects, but obviously I did almost no knitting during quarantine.

Looking at my pictures, I realize I’m not a huge colour work person, but I do really like texture or interest in my projects.

I think the projects I am most proud of are the baby booties I made for a friend’s new nephew as I had to crochet and knit and I had to figure parts out for myself.

Sweater wise I am happiest with my most recent finish- the Instillness Mini by Alicia Plummer. This isn’t a tough knit, but I like that I went back and made fixed it so I am completely happy with it!

I also am pleased to say that I used exactly 100 skeins from my stash this year:)

Have fun!

AJ

Trivia Tuesday

Teaching:

We had a pretty good day. We are up to 67 items we’ve collected for the food bank and I read them a book called On Our Street about poverty so they would understand why we were doing this fundraiser.

We did a quick practice of counting by 10s, had library, and this afternoon we learned a new poem. The kids chose a poem to read to the class and I video taped it to send to parents.

After school I managed to proofread three report cards. Time always goes faster after school.

Exercise:

I ran with Dennis and Sarah after my cosmetology appointment. We got 5.25km in and it felt really good!

Trivia:

For trivia, we had the regular crew and we won the first round.

In the first round we knew:

Who was the main actress in Oceans 11?

Julia Roberts

Put the following Michael Douglas movies in order.

Romancing the Stone

Fatal Attraction

Basic instinct

Which NFL quarterback has thrown the most touchdowns?

Tom Brady ( I got this one!)

What does ECG stand for?

Electrocardiogram

What three other countries came out of Yugoslavia?

Serbia, Croatia,Slovenia

What is the supplementary angle to 70 degrees?

110

Who shot Abe Lincoln?

John Wilkes Booth

In the music round I knew the long song American Pie by Don McLean.

In the Kahoot round I knew:

What border is the Thousand Islands on?

Canada-US

What organ makes bile?

Liver

In the fourth round we knew:

What bird is released into a coal mine?

Canary

What are the names of the Howells on Gilligan’s Island?

Thurston & Lovie

Who played Dharma?

Jenna Elfman

What is the Seattle Mariners stadium?

T-Mobile

My friends very kindly paid my bill and I got this awesome gift from Jacqueline for making her socks!

And for those who want to know, there was actually a cute guy at trivia tonight, but I didn’t get the chance to talk to him.

Have fun!

AJ

Finally

It seemed like a bit of a crazy day!

Teaching:

It was picture day and I forgot so now I will need to get retakes:(.

We got through a book and a journal about feelings.

We started to practice relay races in gym.

We studied and drew pine cones and pine seeds.

We had a discussion about asking people to play at recess and lunch and how to answer.

We played outside on the swings.

I wrote two report cards. The first ones are always the most difficult and it was even more so as I wasn’t sitting with my teaching buddy:(

My prep got changed again and it’s the end of November!

Medical:

I happily left school and went for a massage!

I soaked my foot and poured some peroxide on it and then masked up and went to visit my running buddy who used a needle and got the last piece out of my foot. Hopefully I’ll now be able to walk normally.

House:

I talked to my mom and she made me think I had better get my fireplace vacuumed since the pilot light refused to go on. Well it was more cobwebby than dusty and it started right up after I vacuumed it.

Knitting:

I’m at a cross roads and thinking I’ll do the toque for my secretary’s daughter next. She has picked the Antler toque by TinCanKnits and I love their patterns so I’m not upset about that.

Reading:

I finished Tremaine’s True Love by Grace Burrowes and usually I rave about her books. This one had a good premise, but the story seemed longer than it needed to be.

Right now I am reading Rescue My Heart by Jill Shalvis, though I should really be reading a kids Bookclub book.

Have fun!

AJ

Trivia Tuesday

It was a pretty good day!

Teaching:

My prep got changed without my knowing it so I was a little off kilter as I didn’t know what I was going to do this morning.

We got through a phonics lesson on short a, and another lesson on big problems versus small problems.

I started on the parent teacher conferences I have to do by phone this week. It was very enlightening when one of the parents told me that he son is being hit by another little boy and she got told by another parent. I can’t believe nobody told the teacher!

Exercise:

I did a workout run with Dennis. We warmed up and then did 90 seconds hard, 60 seconds easy, 60 seconds hard, 30 seconds easy, 30 seconds hard, 90 seconds easy and we did it 5 times through.

Trivia:

Who was the older man on Three’s Company?

Ralph Furley

What are the three most westerly NFL teams?

Seattle, Arizona and Las Vegas

How much is a bottle of Bailey’s?

$27.99

What Mexican food means little donkey?

Butrito

Where was Bombay Sapphire created?

England

What are the second letters in each row of the keyboard?

W, S, X

Put these dynasties in order?

Mayan, Viking, and Inca

The music round was done by decade- 1975, 1985, 1995, 2005, 2015

What was the name of the butler on Fresh Prince?

Geoffrey

Where was the first real housewives?

Orange county

Where did Michael Jordan also play?

Washington Wizards

What ladies gym is associated with club 16?

She’s Fit

Who is not like the rest? Ben Franklin, George Washington, Abe Lincoln and John Hancock?

Abe Lincoln

We actually won the last round:)

Well that’s it for me.

Have fun!

AJ