October Goals & September Update

Here’s how I did in September…

Start 30 Days of Quilt Design. Done! It’s been a fun exercise and has already led to some pretty exciting possibilities in my quilting life. Once this challenge is over, I hope to pick one or two of my favorites and turn them into full-fledged patterns for purchase in my Craftsy shop.

Finish unpacking. This is essentially done. I think there are a couple more boxes upstairs in the guest room closet, but that’s mostly holiday decor so I don’t plan to deal with those boxes until they’re needed. There are a few spots in the house — like the counter next to the fridge and the top of the sofa table — that seem to have gathered the “I’m-not-sure-where-to-put-this” items, so there’s still a bit of purging and organizing to be done, but overall we are in really good shape! Next step: get our old house sold, which will free up budget for several updates to bathrooms, the back fence, and more.

And here’s what I’m tackling in October…

Fall family fun! The art festival, pumpkin patch, fall festivals, Halloween…plus just generally enjoying the outdoors now that the summer heat has started to fade at last.

Finish 30 Days of Quilt Design. See above. I did 14 designs in September (and have been posting them on Instagram). 16 to go!

Run 3 times per week. I laid out a rough training schedule for the next several months that builds my mileage enough to be reasonably prepared for the half in January. I’ll run 3-4 days per week, however, I’ll only do long runs every 2 weeks. That’s different than a typical training plan, but it’s what works best for my life right now and since my only goal for the half marathon is to finish (i.e. I’m not trying to hit a certain time) I’m confident that this will work for me based on past experience.

Figure out how to get weekend alone time. I’ve avoided telling anyone this because it sounds pretty crazy, but I don’t always look forward to the weekend. I struggle to find the words to describe this feeling, but part of it stems from the fact that it can be stressful for me to figure out plans, run errands, and do chores all with two kids in tow. Being at work, despite the fact that I am busy doing my professional job, can also feel like a break. I’ve heard some people say that going back to work on Monday morning can sometimes be a relief, and that’s definitely true for me.

All that is to say that I think both Jose and I would benefit from carving out a couple hours to ourselves on Saturday or Sunday, whether it’s from one of us taking both kids to give the other one a break, or by getting a babysitter and going out ourselves. Either way, I want to work on this in October.