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Another hot as balls day. I trimmed Daisy's feet today and I am exhausted. The worst part is that I'll need to work on them in a week. They are so long and I have no clue when that happened.  Maybe the grass she's on now sped up the growth. Who knows. I'm also trying to find a farrier at my new barn because they would obviously be better at this then me...which should be easy because there's like 3-4 that come but I'm not part of the group chat so I have no clue.   I'm close to 5k steps today. I'm hoping I'll get a bit more energy back (and the sun will calm down) then I can take Winnie for a walk.     

FWIW, I've always said that challenges are "doing" things rather than "posting" things. If you can't make time for here because you've got stuff to do, that's honestly fine and probably as it should be. Means you're kicking ass and taking names, or alternately that you're busy surviving bad times and need that energy for yourself, and that too is fine. (not the bad times part but the part where you're taking care of yourself).   So don't worry about making time for us. It'll come back when it does. We'll be here when you're ready.

Yea! Build up a habit of waking early, then add things to that once the waking is a habit 🧡

Tuesday, 12:30pm.   I have been getting up extra early the past two days, so that's an improvement! Getting more things done, you know? Some me time. Haven't exercised yet aside from walking the dog, but I'll get there.   Work is still a bit stressful, but I'm learning things. I just have to keep everything steady. Keep myself calm. That's what meditation is theoretically for, haha. I had better get on it!

Jogging/ 2x10 minutes @8.5   Havent don’t this in a while and was not too bad.

Let's see ..... Monday ......   It ended up being a busy day, unexpectedly.  One of my tutees texted for help on a paper, and when I went to the center, my car tire was low.  So, got hubby to drive me to tutoring.  Then took care of the the car.     I definitely had more energy: got a walk in the woods got groceries hubby and I both got our flu shots (before he's traveling for work again next week ....) made some home-made hummus picked what are probably the last of the tomatoes for the season (there are a few left on the vines .... they might ripen .....)   As it turned out, LTL and family also got their flu shots.  So, today, he's been a bit under the weather and seems to have an ear infection.  Our daughter picked him up to get it checked out at the doctor's office.     We did get a walk in the woods already today (yea for the all terrain stroller), but I'm hoping to get in a little more exercise today.     The mayor was the first stop of the day, and Chris-Tien was shown to her office as soon as she arrived at the town hall.  The huge mastiff was still accompanying its master, standing impassively besides the desk.   Her honor got to the point quickly.  "There are two strangers hanging around the edge of town, making our folk nervous.  Plus livestock and other valuable items have gone missing.  I want you to check on the reports .... these bandits may be related to Maybelline's death."   While Chris was not so sure that the two strangers were connected to the murder, she kept her opinion to herself.  Something nagged at her, as if the mayor was not sharing all of the what she knew about the incidents.     "Give me your map of Langston," the mayor ordered.  When Chris complied, the half-orc circled an area to the north of the town.  "Search this area and remove the bandit camp.  With force, if necessary.  And stick to the forest paths.  People are already anxious enough without seeing another armed stranger on the roads."   The paladin accepted the map with a bemused expression and took her leave, heading north after she exited the town hall.  Although the mayor's mind was made up, Chris resolved to keep an open mind herself.  

It's very distressing that my friend keeps not being well enough to come play. In her absence I made the call that her character left the establishment, but had given no clues of her present whereabouts because that needs to stay up in the air for the rest of the group.   They followed up on the only lead they had regarding their absent allies - that Esmeralda may have been sent to the town square for demonstration of the baron's displeasure with any Vistani entering the city. They did find her there, entering the square heavily in disguise (two halflings in a trench coat, the sorcerer wearing an apron from the tavern, and the barbarian wearing an executioner's hood and a cloak to hide the trick of tying Izek's demon arm atop his own... grotesque and wonderful! 😆) and after chasing off the spectators they released all the people from the stocks (three men, two women including Esmeralda, and two children)   Next, they went to the stock yard only to find Rictavio's wagon is missing (and they might have encountered him in the woods on the way to "pay a visit" to the Vistani camp, but they carefully skirted the woods as they circled the town of Vallaki to get on the west side and venture back to Krezk to deliver the stolen wedding dress. Due to the late hour, they decided to stop at the tower for the night, but as they passed the crossroads they began to notice scarecrows in the area that weren't here before. 😈 The life cleric cast Detect Magic and was able to identify them as magically animated objects with evil intent. The twilight cleric determined that they're acting like Weeping Angels. 😈😈 The mist got heavier and swirlier and the visually obscured scarecrows are encircling the group, but that's where I ended the session. 😈😈😈   I have other plans preventing game night next Monday, but depending on the missing player's schedule and communication, we might find out another night next week what happens to Poppy and the rest of the group. Otherwise there'll be an extra week before we resume. 👿 At least everyone is on edge. 😈   I seem to have no resolve for exercise. 😣 Not sure what to do about it.   I have decided to get a tall stool against which to perch while playing bass so I can hold it better by being in a standing pose (but not having to stand while playing for fun) and hurt my shoulder less by practicing the right positioning. I haven't figured out yet what place to go for said stool, but that's the quest ahead for me.   Week 4: 👎 🤞 👎 🖇 📝 ❔ 🥔 🌿 🌽 🎭 🦇❔

Thank you! ❣️   I wrote some more, this time a really solid 3000 words for the presentation. Still nothing on State Library Analysis. I'm going to take a break and do a dry run to the college and back via public transit to see if I can make this work. I'll probably pick up some food while I'm out. State library analysis when I get back.

Alright, Mags.  You've got this.  Don't back down.   "Avens, Magnolia?" the quidditch captain looked up as he read her name aloud.   A young second-year student with unkempt dark-brown hair stepped forward hesitantly.   "Alright, show us what you've got."   The next thing she knew, Mags was handed a broom and four other students were up in the air with the quaffle, throwing it around.  "C'mon and catch it," one of them shouted.   No!  Mags wrestled with herself, Why are you freaking out?  This is what you expected, wasn't it?  Get up there and get it!   She mounted her broom, kicked off, and sped up toward the other students, the wind whistling in her ears.  She was almost to them.  It felt great to be gliding through the air like this.  Then the wind was blowing her hair in her face and she looked down.  Instead of continuing to climb, she began to lower herself slowly, at a comfortable pace and anxious to get back on solid ground.   "You're going the wrong way," one student above laughed, tossing the quaffle across the way to another.   "I know!" Mags shouted back, holding tears in with a concerted effort.  She wasn't sure if she was more scared of her immediate predicament or embarrassed for deciding to try out for the team when she knew she was afraid of heights.   Why did I come here in the first place?   She landed and handed the broom back to the quidditch captain.  "Thanks for letting me try," she said sourly, trying to ignore the fact that she'd just made a fool of herself in front of one of the most popular boys in the school.  Everybody knew Arch after last year when he led Gryffindor to win the house cup for the first time in four years.   "Listen, Avens," Arch said as he took the broom before Mags had a chance run off, "I don't know if you've noticed, but you're the only second-year here.  Don't beat yourself up for trying.  If the heights bother you, work on doing handstands to feel better about being disoriented.  Come back when you're ready."   "Thanks."  Mags walked to the greenhouses to work on an herbology assignment, but instead of being frustrated like she'd been only a moment before she was determined to give it a go and get onto the team next year.  Now to figure out how to do handstands...   ~~~~~   Thought it would be fun to write a character and base goals off of the story.  We'll see if I've got the bandwidth to keep it up, but I do have a goal to shoot to do a handstand by next summer.  Right now it's really just working off some excess weight and doing that by being consistent with staying ahead of my fork and getting out to move regularly.  Plan is to do that for a while until it becomes second nature and then bust out my old Handstands course to work through over the winter/spring.   If I don't get to the handstand by the summer, that's fine.  The important thing is that I create something sustainable and stick with it.  I used to be really tough on myself if I skipped days or overate or whatever but that wasn't a great long-term strategy, so trying to be nicer to myself and figure out how to be consistent instead.   Fitness: Walk a minimum of 5x each week (anything counts). Nutrition: Shoot to keep calories under 1500 for 5 days per week. Mindset: Write a plan up for each day the night before.   Will fill these out at the beginning of each new week for the previous week:   Fitness                                    Nutrition                                   Mindset __ Su             __ Su             __ Su __ M              __ M              __ M __ T              __ T              __ T __ W              __ W              __ W __ R              __ R              __ R __ F              __ F              __ F __ Sa             __ Sa             __ Sa   Looking forward to making some progress along with all of you here.    ~Chaser Avens

Good friends are good.   Keep up the good work!