reboot

after a nearly two week long christmas break, we are settling back into our old routine of school/work/home.

we had a good christmas.  the kids tore into their gifts and enjoyed their new lego/thomas/barbie goodies.  hubby and i exchanged a couple gifts (beeswax candles and cheap dvds for me, beeswax coil candles and a wool coat [on sale!] for hubby).  the kiddos spent a few days with my parents, who took them to hell on earth chuck e cheese, and petunia got her first hair cut (really, a trim).  hubby and i had "alone time" to ourselves, spent rattling around the house and slobbering over hugh jackman oops that's just me shedding tears over les miz.

new year's eve found us eating "pickies" - snack treats i got at aldi - little smokies wrapped in phyllo, baked fried green beans, spinach dip bites, chicken taquitos and my childhood favorite, cut up hickory farms summer sausage simmered in sweet and sour sauce.  we also enjoyed our crackers.  the batch i bought this year had great loot in it.  petunia got a little car, freddie a tiny screwdriver set, the big kid a pair of toenail clippers (i claimed them having lost the pair i bought months ago), i got a tiny tape measure and hubby got a whoopie cushion!  the spare cracker had a tiny flashlight, which freddie claimed.

freddie's feeling FABULOUS!

big kid claimed the whoopie cushion


someone on facebook joked that petunia found my "stash".  but that's sparkling cider from aldi, and the case of woodchuck is months old (and really belongs in the back porch).  oh, the irony.


happy new year from the mcknitster clan!




i'm not a fan of january.  i loathe the cold and darkness and it's a month that always reminds me of a icy black lake stuck in the middle of the sparkly christmas season and the warm squishiness of valentine's day in february.

the start of the new year marks a reboot in life.  many use it to make resolutions or bucket lists.  i use this time, as i do with september (the start of school) and june (the end of school/beginning of summer) to reevaluate my life, and to figure out what's working and what isn't.

welcome to my "shoulds".

this year, i hope to go to the gym at least twice a week.  i try to go when the kiddos are in school and the days i can't i go on saturday morning or a day when my folks are watching the kids.  i lost 36 pounds, two pants sizes and my A1C went from 7.1 to 6.0 over the course of 6 months. awesome, right?!  but i have quite a ways to go.  i want to get down to my college weight of one hundred mumble mumble pounds.  hard work, but i'm ready for the challenge.

a lot of people have knitting and stash challenges.  i'm not sure what kind of knitting challenges i'm up for, but i do know i want complete more FOs this year.  more hats, more mittens, more lace shawls, and a pair of gloves for me!  i have a bunch of UFOs to complete (two sweaters, a couple pairs of socks, some shawls).  as for my SABLE, i really should think about reducing it, either through stash busting projects or more realistically, putting some of it up for sale.

will this be the year i declutter the homestead?  i barely touched my lists in my sparkly green notebook. hubby talked about renting a dumpster this summer and tossing stuff that's cluttering up the cellar and in the garage;  i want to focus on the attic which is full of junk.

i think, above all, i want to be more "in the moment".  the kids' school year is nearly half over.  a decade birthday is looming.  some days, i feel like my life is passing me by and i have nothing to show for it.  i work hard at taking care of my family, my home, i should enjoy it more, right?  i know it won't be easy but it'll make me a better mom, wife and person.  i'm ready for my new year reboot.

do you have any goals for the new year?