13 Things in 2013 : Another Update

I may have said this once or twice but where the heck is 2013 going? Flying by! Anyhoo, being July 1 it's again time to revisit my little list of things I want to get done this year and see my progress (or otherwise, as the case may be...). 

1. Learn to use Photoshop Elements. B+. I'm learning new stuff all the time (mainly the time when I have a vision in my head and can't make it happen and then yell at the dogs and tweet aggressively and go have a cup of tea and find the answer to all my problems on the youtube / adobe.com. I feel I've mastered the art of creating a collage template, and I managed to make something that could be called a 'logo' for my new blog without too much frustration. So, yay me!

2. Learn a new photography skill. D. I've been googling photography courses in Sydney and I've found two I'd like to do. And I signed up for the Centre for Continuing Education newsletter. That counts as something, right? 

3. Do something with my 500px account. And submit some images to Alamay. And put my best ten together to submit to the Getty Images Flickr collection. F for Fail! No progress here, though I really feel like I am very close to posting some images to my 500px account. Really close. (This is the exact same update from last quarter. So, yeah...) 

4. Do a monthly project. A. Still going strong! I haven't missed a month of Collecting Colours yet (and I don't think Brandi Hussey has either!). 

5. Make one pom pom wreath every month. F. What was I thinking? Really! I love pom poms but one wreath a month??!! Some of those wreaths have over 40 pom poms in them. Take out the days when I'm travelling, swamped with other stuff or just too depressed about the way Australia treats it's Prime Ministers to do anything and it adds up to a whole lot of intensive pom pom making. To be honest I'll be happy if I finish the year with four wreaths under my belt. 

6. Get through The Big Project without completely losing my mind. B. Things have got serious and so far so good. But that's mainly because I have an incredibly competent, cool, calm and collected architect managing things for us, and the most relaxed and friendly builder in all of Sydney. (Relaxed as in 'Yeah sure that's fine if you want us to take delivery of your washer/dryer and lug them upstairs for you and store them for a few weeks. No problems'. Not relaxed as  in 'Yawn, we don't need to work today, do we?'.) 

7. Do something with my hair. D+. I struggle with this. Terribly. It's not helped by the fact that the husband a) laughed at me last time he saw me in a headband; so they've clearly been ditched. And b) doesn't seem to be on board with my idea of employing a handmaiden to elaborately braid/crimp my hair Kahleesi style each morning. Also, I may need a baby dragon. Also, I think if Kahleesi herself came to do my hair the husband might be a bit more keen on the plan. 

8. Remember our wedding anniversary. Still not till July, so... But it's looking like I'll be in Sydney whilst the husband will be in Hong Kong (and then en route to Sydney) on our anniversary date. But, the goal was just to remember it right? I think I can do that. 

9. Attend a workshop at either Harvest Workroom, Prints Charming or The School. F. Time is running out. There's too much to fit in. Arghhhh. I am going to the Problogger event in September, which is super exciting (and a bit scary). Does that count? 

10. Send more mail art. D+. There has been some progress here! I've sent out some collage cards, and some postcards, and I've got two creative penpals on the go (with thanks to Magdalena over at The Craft Revival). 

11. Read a book a month. A+. Six months in and I've downed nine books (three are graphic novels but one of those was quite long...so...). Since the last update I've read: The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs by Alexander McCall Smith (meh); Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad (wonderful, dense, lyrical - and interesting to see the origins of one of my favourite movies); and two more books by Guy Delisle (Shenzen and Jerusalem). But my favourite read thus far has most definitely been Jeannette Winterson's Why Be Happy When You Can Be Normal?. I inhaled this book. Beautifully written, poignant, honest, inspiring...I pretty much dog-eared every page to mark the sentences I loved. 

Of late my reading has come to a bit of a grinding halt but as you read this I'll be trapped on a big boat somewhere in the Mediterranean Sea, and I'm sure I'll be burning through another book or two. 

12. Maintain my current fitness routine. B+. I've been kicking things up a bit lately at the gym and with my weird yoga-pilates-aerobics hybrid that I do at home. Two things have aided my motivation - our upcoming (now here!) Summer holiday (ughh, have I really turned into one of those ladies who tries to get 'swimsuit ready'?); and the fact I can now almost call my arms 'toned'. Seeing actual changes in my body, my strength, my shape - I get so excited! That's the best motivator for me (regardless of what those stoopid scales say). It's actually got to the point where I travel with a gym kit now! Really! Who would have thought? 

13. Make a Collecting Colour calendar for 2014. F. I kind of got distracted. I got excited about making this a reality after it had been in my head. Oh, making these too. And I've got another project (or two) that I'm working on as well. But I guess I still want to do the calendar thingl. Maybe. 

So, that's how I'm tracking - how are you tracking?

ps. Things will be a bit quiet over here for the next few weeks (I have sunshine to soak up, salty water to swim in and a ton of Italian food to eat!). But, I do have one more Death by Doxie post coming your way, and I'll still be posting three times a week over at asia*.