Hello! February...who woulda thought it would come so soon?

I've not been very well this week so it's been a real struggle for me to get the things done I need to and we've missed church a couple of times this week. It's hard cancelling youth group for us because we have a real sense of purpose with the youth group and are seeing the difference it's making to the kids having somewhere to hang out so that was a bit of a downer this week.

But, I thought it was probably about time I recapped on my '13 goals and tick off whatever I've done and maybe add some new ones.

Firstly my resolution: Comment more and lurk less.

The commenting has slowed down I'll admit. Some blogs it's just too hard to comment. Sometimes they have verification turned on, sometimes there's just no comment to make. Do you ever find that? You read a blog post about something that's been made and you just don't know what to say? I do have one friend who has had a real load of hassle with her spam comments and has had to turn her verification back on (hi Kei!!) but lots of other people still have it turned on and I sigh a lot when I go to comment.

I'm glad I'm commenting more, I've found some great new friends and am enjoying the interaction, I'll try to keep this one up.

So my word: Simplify.

I'm doing ok with this, I'm trying to be a bit more 'one touch' with things like emails, blogs etc rather than reading an email and thinking I'll reply to that later then never getting round to it I'm finding it easier to just reply there and then.

Ok, goals. Here we go then, where I've blogged about it I'll link up to it. Not that you're likely to have missed it, it was only last month after all!

Personal:
*Buy a house - This is in progress, it's with the solicitors at the moment (there's a rather large 3 storey extension on the back that the seller hasn't provided any proof planning permission for...)
*Write everyone's birthdays onto our calendar and send them a birthday card! (I am awful at this, such a simple, easy thing!) - Done! So far, everyone this year has either had a card or some birthday wishes (if they're not really a close friend or I don't have their address). Some may have arrived slightly late, especially my friend's son who's birthday was soon after new year, but by George I've done it!!
*Eat at the dinner table once a week and converse with Dusband rather than watching the telly every night - No. We ate at the table twice this month, both times because we had people over!
*Resume reading my Bible over breakfast rather than randomly - No, I'm still on the randoms!
*Stop wasting so much time on Pinterest! - Sort of, I've restricted my browsing to on my phone in bed just before I go to sleep rather than hours and hours spread out throughout the day

Organising:
*Scan the family's photos onto the computer. Yes, all 4000(approx) of them - Not yet, I bought a little photo scanner, did about 300, checked them on the computer and discovered something sticky was on the lens and they all had a line through them! One day I'll get around to cleaning and re-scanning.
*Stashbust a huge amount of fabric - I made two zip pouches from my scraps, one for my sweet pouch swap and one for my friend. I've also almost finished a massive stashbuster but not quite!
*Cut down on paper clutter - Yes, I've got a quick post on this ready for February, still a way to go though.
*Clear out old DVDs - Done, gave some to friends and family, the rest are ready to go to the charity shop (I checked on Music Magpie and for 40DVDs they only offered just over a tenner so I thought Barnardos could make better use!)
*Clear out old books - Yep, I've got proof coming in February for you. I've still got some which I need to re-read before I make a decision
*Organise Christmas decs & wrapping - Done
*Sort out regular wrapping & cards - Done with above


Sewing:
*Write two bag patterns for freebie blog posts - Just another messenger bag done, one more to do, I'm going to change this to patterns, as I've got a pattern that's not for a bag in the works.
*Write three new bag patterns for sale (eek!) - One written and going out for testing next week.
*Make two blouses for Liz (that she asked me for in September) - Not yet
*Make a pillowcase for Liz from soft flannel - Nope, I couldn't bring myself to cut up the flannel duvet cover so I gave that to Liz to keep her warm and I'll keep an eye out for something warm for her pillowcase.
*Shorten white blouse - No, the simplest thing on the list and not even started yet
*Patchwork upholstery - Nope
*Get my pj quilt quilted!!! - Being sent next week to the LAQ
*Have serger serviced and change knives - I called to book this in for it's service but the servicer said he doesn't tend to do them unless it's not working right to save customers money. This is typical valleys business sense but I still wanted it doing! 
*Clear out old stock/samples - 50p sale for my old stock, not much left now.
* Shorten neck on my 'perfect housewife apron' (New goal)

Crafty bits:
*Re-do Liz's two small chairs - Done
*Sand drawer fronts and paint - Done (my grey drawers)

Food:
*Try one new recipe a month and blog about it - FAIL, I completely forgot about this!
*Eat less chocolate (This is a biggie but if I don't want to end up with diabetes I need to do something drastic soon!) - Yup, towards the end of the month I've gone off it really and am only having it occasionally 
*Eat more nuts - Yes, I'm doing ok eating a handful of almonds
*Stock the freezer with 'ready meals' ready for when youth group starts up again and we're not eating til 9pm. - FAIL, I forgot about this one too

Exercise:
*Ha ha! Yeah, maybe next year..... - Surprisingly I did actually buy a fitness dvd. I wonder if I'll ever use it.

I know I've only added one new project this month but I've got a fairly busy month coming up and still have a fair few goals left to achieve as it is! Mostly de-stashing....too. much. junk. to. move. house.

p.s. I promise I'll try for more photos in February's recap!