Tuesday, January 24, 2012

To Do Lists

I have a big exam in March. It's called the OKAPs, which, I don't even know what that stands for. But you take them every year of residency and they are supposed to be pretty indicative of how you will do on the actual board exam your first year after residency.

So, I have a study plan, and I have been doing a really good job of sticking to it. Which I am very proud of myself for. At this rate I will have read the entire BSCS (it's like 13 volumes long and is published by the American Academy of Ophthalmology) by the time I go to Philadelphia in March to spend 5 days sitting through 8 hours per day of lecture from some of the top Ophthalmologists in the country (who also happen to write the OKAP and board exam questions). Then I will have the rest of that month to review, review, review.

Needless to say, I have given up a lot in order to study for this relatively important test. I haven't done much sewing (last weekend was an exception that I paid for dearly on Sunday when I spent approximately 5 hours reading). No reading for fun. No crafts. No house projects. Just reading. And reading. And reading some more.

To keep my spirits up and keep me motivated and focused, I am keeping a list of things that I want to accomplish around the house once I'm done with OKAPs on March 31st. It is starting to get ridiculously long. For real.

My quilt. I want to make curtains for the laundry room. I want to clean the grout on the floor in the bathroom upstairs. I want to paint the basement steps. And repaint the bamboo shelves that hold our shoes (that thing has been painted a million times I think). The list goes on and on and on.

I can't wait.

Sunday, January 22, 2012

One project down...

Here is my new and improved lunch box! It turned out OK, considering it was my first try. My new walking foot is awesome and really easy to use. The binding was not that easy. I decided to make my own bias tape, which is not really that hard, but it is never quite as even as the stuff you buy in the store. The corners of the bag were not that easy, I sort of ended up smooshing them down and sewing, which means that it's not the best look, but it works, and it's all a learning process anyways. 

I'm thinking of putting some more embellishments on it, maybe a button or two, some embroidery, but for right now it's good enough. It took me the better part of yesterday to do, which means that now I'm behind on my reading. Oh well. I'm going to try to catch up today.

Also, Charlie and I put in our registration to join St. Mary's in German Village today. It was actually his idea, not mine. He said that he wanted to join because he always feels good once he leaves and he thinks that it is a good time for reflection. Plus it gets us up Sunday mornings. We'll see if it lasts, but for now we're going to try to keep going. They talked a lot about Roe v Wade this morning because the anniversary of it is this week I guess. I just tune that out. I understand where the church is coming from, and I believe that abortion would never be the right choice for me. I just believe in keeping it legal and safe for those that do.

Anyways, enough of that, I have a lot of reading to do...

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Quilting...

I've been wanting to teach myself how to quilt. I got a walking foot for Christmas and everything. Well, I'm going to do it. First I'm going to make a little quilted lunch box for myself from my One Yard Wonders book. Just to get the basics. Then, I'm going to make a quilt. A great big one. I may have bitten off more than I could chew, but I bought the fabric today, so it is going to happen. Plain and simple. Because you do not go to Sew to Speak and spend $80 on fabric and then not make a quilt.

Yikes.

Saturday, January 7, 2012

The Christmas Story

Since the 12 days of Christmas are over, I thought I'd leave you with this absolutely adorable Christmas video.






Ohmygoodness. So cute!

Happy weekend!