Showing posts with label waiting for it. Show all posts
Showing posts with label waiting for it. Show all posts

Monday, 29 June 2015

In which PhysicsGirl is on the loose... again

In May 2009, I started this blog to document ramblings on my leave year. Six years later, I'm still at it. And as of today, I'm on leave again. I don't have a major trip planned this time, but I do have plans. I'm getting married... sometime in the fall. We have planned nothing yet. I'm going to help Aged P get her house ready to sell. I'm going to get my own apartment organized. I'm going to make stuff and read all the books and drink all the tea.

And what I really like to do is write all the blog posts that are waiting, patiently, in my draft folder. It's going to be all timey-wimey up in here.

Tuesday, 16 June 2015

MMM15 wrap-up and near-future plans

Posted timey-wimey-wise.

Exams have been marked, grades are in, and for once I don't have exams on the final days, so here I am reflecting on my Me-Made May and making future plans. This post is not as stupid long as last year's. You're welcome.

Previously on PGOTLMMM15:
MMM week1
MMM week 2
MMM week 3
MMM15 week 4
MMM week 5
My pledge was to wear at least two me-made or refashioned items each day without planning ahead and to finish all my UFOs. Obviously, that UFO idea was totally crazy; I don't know why I thought that I would find time in what is possibly my busiest month to plow through them. I did manage to fix the waist of my Koi is coy skirt in such a way that it is now a genuinely finished object. The other things... gah. Some of the items I thought were finished turned out not to be. Including one of the two new items I made*. Which is a little frustrating.

Monthly total: Me-mades: 29/31; Refashioned: 3/31 Sewing: 49; Crochet: 0; Earrings/Jewellery: 16; UFOs f'd: ?/20

Most worn
sewn: tie between the cream and long blue Swoon cardis; runner-up is the Lekala skirt. No surprises there. Except for it being cold enough for the long blue cardigan so late in the month.
crocheted: Nothing! I wore nothing I crocheted, not even the scarves.
jewellery: tie between the bruised candy apple and cherry blossom earrings

circlegraph/
What to take away from this? Aside from the UFO thing, I met my goals for this year's MMM. Sort of. On average, I wore two me-mades every day; the no-planning thing meant there were days where grabbing a cardigan was the only thing that fulfilled the pledge, and others (mostly jammie-only days) where it just didn't happen. On the plus side, I didn't realize I had made or refashioned so many tops - I wore tops max twice, most only once, and I didn't wear every top I've made; and yet I wore a me-made top 23 times in May. I didn't wear as many dresses as I have done in past MMMs, which I was expecting because I'd rather go for a knit dress for work, and I've only made one of those**. I will continue focusing on sewing separates and maybe making more knit dresses.

On to the irregular wrap-up. Since January, I've sewn on average about one thing per month: a pair of ecru flannel Tofinos; a Marfy blouse; two more Swoon scarf-neck cardigans: the long blue and the yet-to-be-blogged lacy blue; white tees (Cake and Bonny, although these are currently in the UFO pile); and a breton Bronte.

Crochet-wise, I finished the Rosemary and Wine sweater I started last December and made a chunky rib-knit cowl, but did not finish my Spring Steppes cardigan. Jewellery-wise, I made a long-awaited pair of Eva earrings in aquamarine and a pair of bronze block chandeliers, which I will blog at some point.

So, onto my future plans. And by future, I mean until the end of June.

I need to take advantage of the lab benches to get as much cut out as I can. I've been sewing-dared by Gillian to sew something by a non-Sewaholic Canadian designer and/or to make a pair of wide-legged trousers. This is the impetus I need to finally trace and cut my Jalie jeans pattern and make the Wearing History Smooth Sailing trousers. This last will also be part of my Vintage Pledge. July is Lingerie month with the Sewcialists, so I could try out to sort out my fitting issues with the Measure Twice Cut Once Mary knickers and make some Tofinos -- I've had a plaid flannel pair cut out for ages, and even though it's far too hot to wear, I started sewing them up so I can use them to see how to modify the pattern for the DC's pair.
Tofinos/

But that's just stuff to cut out at school. My real plan is to finish my UFOs before I do any new sewing. For starters, I'm going to fix the gaping neckline on my LGRAB Anna to wear to commencement, and deal with the issues on the Bonny tee.

And then? I will finish that cardigan!

*Yes, I am aware of the irony of sewing new items but not having enough time to finish old ones.

**For day use, anyway.

Thursday, 7 July 2011

To-do (bee-doo-bee-doo)

I am a big fan of to-do lists. I love making them. I love scheduling my time and colour-coding my plans by category. I love making lists, almost to the exclusion of actually doing anything on the list.

I take procrastination to a whole other level.

I make my lists in two places: a white board (I have 6 different colours! meaning 6 whole categories! which aside from being fun, works well for me as a visual learner) and on the calendar on my Palm Zire, which also has colour coding. The white board is awesome because it lets me write long lists of things and then wipe them off if when I complete them. It lets me totally rearrange things when I inevitably don't get things done. I then put them into the calendar on the Zire so I can see whether there are actually enough hours in the day to do all those wonderful things.

to-do

Seriously, I can kill a couple of hours setting this up.

Big plans are afoot for this summer. I'm finally going to build the drawer for my kitchen table. I'm planning on making an awning for my deck so I can sit outside without burning my delicate flower-like skin. I'm even inching closer to finishing my Provence pictures, and getting a Dlish cupcake as a reward.

Ooh! I should add that to the list...

Edited to add: I should have linked to this xkcd strip. It's so very true.

Tuesday, 29 March 2011

Hard to believe...

This time last year, I was sitting in a rather cramped plane, beyond grateful that I'd managed to make it onto the plane with all of my doodads, and starting to get really excited that the adventure I'd spent the better part of the year planning had actually begun.

Now, as I look over my posting lists, at all the half-written posts and unposted photos, I realize I really need to get a bit of a move-on with the write-ups. In my ever-shifting deadline target, I really want to get the photos up before the anniversary of the day I left. Some of them are done already: Amsterdam, my first week in Paris, Chartres, Mont St-Michel, Venice, and part of Provence. I'm finding my Paris museum week a bit... daunting. It's a lot of photos to label and then comment on. And marks are due next week!

I also have a quite few photos I've taken in Toronto as part of my being a tourist in Toronto scheme. The nice thing about being a tourist in your own city is that you have rather a lot of time to go places and see things. Once again, however, a lot of the posts are half-written and the photos need to be labelled, sorted, and commented before I will upload them.

However, I'm really going to push to get the Europe photos done by the target deadline, as well as trying to stay on more or less top of the new photos. Maybe I will reward myself with some macarons when I get the Paris photos finished...

Then I can get started finishing all the blog posts. Oy.

Suddenly, that big pile of labs I have to mark seems rather inviting...

Thursday, 22 July 2010

Storm before the calm...

I've been very busy with summer school and catching up on North American tv, so I haven't been working on my pictures or updating my European blog posts. Aged P is impatient. However, summer school finishes next week, so I will try to get my Provence and Paris museum week pix up Real Soon, with the rest to follow In The Near Future.

Meanwhile, I've been casting about for something to do with the rest of the summer. With my unexpectedly depleted bank account, due to the fact that I apparently had a leetle too much fun in Paris, and frankly because I'm not really fond of the travelling part of travel, any "foreign" adventuring this summer must be somewhat curtailed. I've decided, though, that I will still go visit a great city, and it won't cost me a dime.

I'm going to play tourist in Toronto.

Saturday, 12 June 2010

Home again, home again, jiggity-jig...

So after all that wandering around, lugging heavy baggage, taking thousands of photos, eating far too much food, and having a generally wonderful time, I have somehow found myself right back where I started. Huh.

I'm home. Lucy, despite all fears to the contrary, has not forgotten me, but has been sticking to me like a furry,

Tuesday, 23 March 2010

7 Days Was All She Wrote...

About this time next week, I'll be stepping off a plane to the cheerful sounds of someone saying "Goedenmorgen" and "Let op de afstap!" (or whatever the Dutch is for "Watch your step!") I'd like to say I'm practically ready to go, but the truth is there is still rather a lot that needs to be done.

Many things have been taken care of: Aged P and I had a successful Skype trial. I have almost everything I need for the trip, including tickets. I have been practising tying scarfs à la française. I've fixed the major issues with The Dress... but...

Tuesday, 16 March 2010

Two weeks to go...

I've put travel stops on my cable/internet and newspaper.  I decided to save money and not put my mail on hold, since the housemates can put it in a basket for me.  I've arranged for top-up medical insurance and some more fun things to do.  I have been spending some serious quality time with guidebooks and downloading all sorts of free walking guides.

Travel p0rn

I have acquired a global sim card, a quad-band cell phone (that works only occasionally -- obviously I need to exchange it), some euros, pounds, and US dollars.  I exchanged my old Visa card for a chip-and-pin.  I have started acquiring mailing addresses for postcards.  I'm tweaking the Dress as we speak; it should be completely finished by tonight.  Finally!

All I have to now is mend a bunch of clothing and plan out what I'm taking with me, as well as make an organizer for my earrings.

I'm starting to freak out.  I'm sure there is something major I have forgotten.

Tuesday, 9 February 2010

Doing my homework: Another movie marathon

Once again, I ask your help, good people.  I'm planning another movie marathon, or a series of marathons, based on my upcoming European adventure. I'm specifically looking for movies that give a sense of the place.  If a movie is set in, say, Athens, and really gives a sense of being in Athens, I'd like to know about it.  I will take foreign movie suggestions, obviously.

Here, again, are the cities/locations I will be visiting: Amsterdam, Paris, Cycling tour of Provence starting at Avignon, Venice, Athens, Delphi, London, Oxford, Bath, Salisbury & Stonehenge, Queen Mary 2, New York.

Currently on deck
  • Paris: Paris, Je T'Aime, Amélie, Charade, Before Sunset
  • QM2: An Affair to Remember -- please don't suggest Titanic or A Night to Remember; they aren't exactly inspiring :)
  • Provence: A Year in Provence
  • Bath: Persuasion, Northanger Abbey
  • NYC: New York, I Love You (if I can get a hold of it)
Suggestions?

Wednesday, 30 December 2009

89 more sleeps!

In a bit less than three months, I will be winging my way to Europe.  And now I'm realizing that all the practical stuff I need to do -- like buying a travel steamer, other travel necessaries, important computer cables, etc. -- that I was putting off until there were three months left... well, I should get on that.

Friday, 11 December 2009

Don't hate me because I have a fabulous trip planned...

I am booked into nearly everything. I have already spent a scary amount of money, with even more frightening amounts coming due at later dates. The only night that is not booked is the train from Paris to Venice, and that has to wait until March. I’m not terribly worried about it.

So here, finally, is the plan:

Fly overnight to Amsterdam March 29-30
Amsterdam March 30-April 1
Paris April 1-May 2
Cycling Tour in Provence May 2-7
Extra day in Avignon/day trip to Nîmes May 7-8
Overnight train to Venice May 8-9
Venice May 9-12
Overnight ferry to Patras May 12-13
Athens May 13-16
Delphi May 16-19
London May 19-24
Oxford May 24-26
Bath May 26-29
Salisbury May 29-June 1
Queen Mary II June 1-7
New York June 7-11
Train back to Toronto June 11

Now all I have to do is figure out what I want to do when I’m actually there and gather my equipage together.

*Does a little dance of happiness and anticipation*

Friday, 26 June 2009

No more pencils, no more books...

...no more students asking me to bump their mark up 4%. That is, until next Thursday when summer school starts. However, today, already filled with the sweet sound of "Have a great summer!" was also filled (for me) with the even sweeter sound of "Have a great year! I'm so jealous!"

Thursday, 28 May 2009

6 days and counting...

... then there are exams and possibly summer school, but then I'm free until September 2010!

Stay tuned.