New Year Progress

I was reluctant to call my "areas of focus" for the New Year "resolutions", but I guess I was not really fooling anybody, was I? So I thought since January is almost over, I would report in on my progress.

First of all, I am happy to report that I am now a 2 cup a day coffee drinker! I also learned the horrible lesson that someone with a new coffee habit should not drink bucketfuls of the stuff even if they are driving all night.

I have been a good girl and planned my meals for the week and done the grocery shopping on Monday, with the exception of last week when the inauguration/trip to take son#1 back to school got in the way. This planning has worked pretty well, I have been using items on hand effectively and we rarely eat out. It is nice to know what dinners we have for the whole week and not have that horrible "what are we gonna have" dilemma midafternoon.

I have paid bills the day after payday both paydays we had this year. It is a little depressing, it feels like the money is flying out of the bank as fast as it goes in. It is nice though to know we are meeting our obligations before we spend any money anywhere else.

I do not have good things to report on the health front. I have not been back to the gym. I have tried to eat healthier, but those cookies keep calling my name. I need to weigh myself and climb back on the weight watchers wagon.

Artistically, this month has been mostly about the fiber art side of things. I have made some items for trades, and worked on some embroidery and felted projects.

This was a winter themed fabric postcard I made for a trade:


This is some other felted designs I plan to use later in ACEOs:


This is an altered mint tin I made for a trade- there is applique, beading and embroidery and most of the materials are recycled:
These are some ACEOs I am working on for a bird themed trade:


Finally, some embroidery "doodles" I am working on:


I am enjoying working on the fiber art items, but I need to make some stuff for inventory soon as well, and take pictures to list items to sell.