Motivated, Apparently

To begin a post about accomplishing goals, I give you this picture of the perfect bite:

If you can’t make the connection, that’s simply because there isn’t one. I just really like poached eggs. You get the still-runny yolk that represents the best part of a fried egg, but without the over-cooked, film-like white that comes from frying. This wasn’t the finest poached egg I’ve ever made (I’m very particular), but it was still in a different league from the egg I got from Chain Breakfast Restaurant the other week. That poached egg, presented in a little bowl and accompanied by some of its very own cooking water, was startlingly uniform in shape and more like a hard boiled egg sans shell.
But I digress. Or. . . can you digress before you’ve even properly got into the topic? Anyway.
Goals. Accomplishments. Motivation. I’m full of ‘em. And it. Those things. I think it must be due, in part, to the time of year — my brain has decided that wallowing (though fun) isn’t actually helpful, so it’s been driving me to get on with projects. I’ve also been keeping a list of goals in my monthly mini-journals, and despite all the resistance I gave to that practice when I was in school, I think it really works.
So far in February:
– I redesigned this site. I surprised even myself with how quickly I did that.
– I started my garden journal.
– I made a lap quilt with most of my Liberty fabrics. Will have to take a photograph of it. I got sick of all my swatches (some quite small) sitting in the cabinet, never seeing the light of day.
– I painted the front ‘bedroom’ — twice, technically. And there was a rejected test colour in between the two paint jobs. It’s perfect now, and I’m just waiting for some finishing touches to take pictures.
– I made a dress.
Yes, a dress! That I sewed by my very own self. See here. I really like the dress (it’s a shame about the apparent squareness of my jaw, though — I never knew!); it’s a Built by Wendy pattern — look for 3835 on Simplicity’s website. I had my issues, but it’s finished and wearable! I do have real problems with pattern sizing, though. The measurements they list, the sizes they give, and the general sense one has of sizes in the ‘real world’ have absolutely nothing to do with each other, as far as I can tell. I wound up just picking a size at random (a couple of sizes up from what I usually buy) and had to decrease the seam allowance in the skirt to make it slightly bigger (so I can wear it over jeans — I do not actually wear dresses this short out in public!).
Ah, well. Assuming it doesn’t fall apart as soon as I step outside in it, I’m considering it a success!