Looking back

At the beginning of the year, which feels like yesterday but is actually about 352 days ago, I had publicly declared that I'd complete 6 sewing projects and 6 knitting projects this year. Was I too ambitious? I may never know because true to form, I stopped keeping track half way through the year and don't remember what I completed. Why is it that I can never keep good records? For some reason, people think I'm organized. I don't know why because I certainly never try to give that impression of me.

Of the things I do remember, here's a run-down of the sewing projects. I started off with the fleece jacket with the Darth Vader pattern fabric. Turns out it's a tad too small for either of my boys and they've not worn it even once. So, I'll be giving that away. I sewed 2 gift bags for my sister to use with her soaps, started sewing a laundry bag that I never finished, and hemmed several pairs of pants for hubby and my FIL.

For knitting, I made a pair of socks for me, a pair of baby socks for hubby's cousin's baby, am almost finished with another pair of socks for me, and am almost done with the third panel of a rug that I'm knitting with yarn I won from Robin's Rurification blog. Here are 2 of the panels, done (each panel measures about 1' x 3.5').

So, not exactly 12 projects total completed for the year (unless I completed other things that I can't remember...which is very possible), and I know I could do better, but why beat myself up for not doing it all?

Besides, what's more important is that I baked a lot too. Lots of loaves of bread

and cookies and kuchens

 and stollen

and more!

Also important was that I home-schooled the rugrats. Here is Son2 in his science group (I've blurred the faces of the other people in the photo for privacy reasons). I'm very grateful to my friend THS (to the left) who lead this co-op. I merely had to clean up our house before and after. :)

The chemistry lab I have to run by myself (materials courtesy of Meg who kept everything so well organized!). Son2 is doing it with Son1 so I won't have to repeat it again in a couple of years. I already have to redo the biology and physics labs with Son2 when the time comes. Sooo looking forward to that. ;P

In between the above listed things, I did some writing too, mostly thanks to the whip-cracking efforts of my critique group gang leader, Russell James (who has a terrific novel out that you can win on Goodreads.com).

Did you have resolutions this year? Did you keep up with them?

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams

Random Tuesday Fact

Gack! Or as the White Rabbit said, "I'm late. I'm late. I'm very, very late..." (or something like that; I'm too lazy to get up and check my Annotated Alice).

Here's a quick one for today:
(The photo is of the Large Hadron Collider.)

Top 10 Scientific Discoveries of 2008 (yes, I do know it's 2009, but did you not read the second sentence after "Gack!" above?)

More later - hopefully by Thursday...photos, thanks, and all that jazz! Wishing you all a lovely week!

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams

Random Tuesday Facts - day late, dollar short

Since the semantic English theme was so popular last week, I thought I'd continue it, but with a science twist!

Light year - is a unit of distance, not time (as some sci-fi shows have sometimes erroneously used it). It's the distance light travels in a vacuum in a year; that is, 5.88 trillion miles or 9.46 trillion kilometers.

Theory, hypothesis - when people think about the word hypothesis, they think only of an idea that is to be tested in a science class. And when people use the word theory, they use it synonymously with hypothesis, which is interchangeable with idea. In the scientific community, however, the two terms are vastly different and can't be interchanged.

In science, a hypothesis is an idea - indeed something to be tested. However, a theory is not just an idea. A theory can be thought of as an hypothesis that has graduated: it's been tested numerous times, yielding the same results (within an acceptable margin of error), and is taken by the scientific community to be something close to fact.

The beauty of science is that it's constantly changing - as we learn more about the universe, we can add to or subtract from an idea. It doesn't necessarily mean the principle constructs of a particular theory is wrong; just that our understanding of it was still incomplete.

The main problem lies in the fact that the general public and the scientific community don't use the word theory in the same way. I cringe every time I hear the term "it's just a theory" used in a sneering sort of way.

And on a "lighter" note (heh):"He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home." ~ Johann von Goethe

Random Thoughts

I started this post a week ago and never did finish it in a timely fashion....

1) I rescued a fox sparrrow. It bashed into our window and was lying on its back, panting. I picked it up and put it in the shade on the stone ledge along the house where the dog couldn't get at it. After about a half hour, the poor thing recovered well enough to fly off. We were very happy.

2) More FOSs: brown thrashers, chipping sparrows

3) ARGH! Not another instance of misusing "light-year" as a unit of time; it is a unit of distance.

4) We finished the greenhouse...finally!! It only took us 1.5 years (note sarcasm). We were so relieved to finally pop the doors in. I keep forgetting to take a photo though...

"To accomplish great things, we must dream as well as act." ~ Anatole France (1844 - 1924)