Sounds like you're working hard and it's paying off. Your story reminds me of how much I used to sweat a minute or a mile during my training, and how good it felt to get it right... and how I eventually learned that far more useful than striving to never get off-course is learning how to realize you are off-course in time to avoid a problem.
Seriously... getting
too focused on the nav log- all those waypoints, times, numbers- can really screw you up sometimes. It's great to nail a flight plan precisely, but you have to be able to pull your head out of the box now and then, just to confirm what's really going on.
You mention some difficulty with CTAF comms, so I'll offer another 2 cents' worth, as someone who trained in both environments and has been operating mostly at uncontrolled fields since:
Just remember it's the same basic deal as dealing with ATC.
Who (you are), Where (position and altitude), What (you're going to do).
Forget what you hear others saying (or not saying)... it's Who, Where, What.
No use at all in adding anything else, or leaving one of those out.
Announce intentions just outside the pattern, announce entry, announce each leg, announce clear. Keep it short and sweet... and don't rely on comms to keep you safe. There could be NORDOs in the pattern, or pilots on the wrong freq, etc. Sometimes there's a lot of talk, but some is unintelligible and some could be from some other airport. Eyes outside!!
A great example of this is why I stopped asking "anybody base or final?" on CTAFs before taking the active... it is absolutely useless. Even when you cannot see the approach path from where you are holding, making that call will not guarantee you anything. NORDO, faulty radio,wrong freq, too focused on the approach, just plain stupid... just because you get no answer doesn't mean there's nobody on final. Heck, it's even happened to me at a
towered field... imagine that.
And I will admit I've been the dolt on the wrong freq, so I
know that happens.
So I don't bother asking anymore. Waste of time, and clutters up the CTAF.
Announcing you are taking the active is sound practice if you have a radio, but asking for a report... it's too much like a superstitious ritual (that might give you a false sense of security)... not as useful as just
looking.
Asking for a report places your safety directly in the hands of someone who might not be able to hear, answer, or understand you. If I can't see, I might ask, for what it's worth... but I will lay my head on the glareshield as I pull out... or whatever it takes to just
look. Meanwhile, I hope fervently that if there
is someone unseen out there on short final, they will have the sense to go around.
As far as "flow" goes- talking smoothly and surely- I got a lot better at it when I started sticking very strictly to "Who, Where, and What", with as few pronouns and verbs as possible.
As for the landings: this is another golden opportunity for me to repeat one of my stock phrases: "Your worst landing is one you haven't made yet".
) My CFI was pretty pleased with the X-C flight. Next steps: planning a night X-C from KPOU to KBDL on Thursday night - weather gods permitting - then my solo X-C, stage II check ride, the 2 solo X-C's for Stage III and prep flights for the End of Course Check and FAA PTS.