Draco

Riley is awake and eating an icy. She sounds tired but happy. I'm going to go see her and bring her presents as soon as work is done.

Out of surgery - mommy is with her waiting for her to wake up.

Oh, and did major veggie cookup yesterday: roasted beets, sautéed beet greens, spaghetti squash, sautéed green beans w garlic and almonds, yam fries (I thought they were sweet potatoes!), baked onion rings (horrible mess and not so good - have to try a different recipe). Leftovers for a week!

Super fast update on my way to bed: Ran zombies 5K this morning, after two rest days - missed my walking goal by having two consecutive off days with good weather Yoga going well -same poses, but I can bend much closer to a full forward bend than when I started. Maybe touching toes by the end of November? Laying out clothes - easy peasey Water - missed one day, overdoing most of the time. Drinking Gatorade whenever I start to feel sick seems to help. Paperwork - did good his morning, nothing tonight And Riley's surgery is scheduled for 11am tomorrow - I'm meeting my wife there when I can get off work. I'm unlikely to post tomorrow, so I'll see you all on he flip side.

Yeah - her left nostril doesn't go all the way through. So she only breathes out of the right. Never would have known except that the left side of her nose has been running since the day she was born, and my wife kept asking the doctor about it at every visit. So she should breathe better after this, not that she ever showed any signs of problems in the first place. And they might do double duty and get her tonsils and adnoids (I don't know what those are), but only if they're inflamed. Not sure what time it's scheduled for yet....

Wait... So I didn't just try sweet potato fries? I made yam fries???

Not so well. Stress has been keeping me up nights - bills, paperwork, my daughter's upcoming surgery, etc. and then extra hours at work. So my sleep has been better. But I changed my challenge goals mid-stream to get caught up on my paperwork backlog - hopefully that part will get worked out soon. Surgery tomorrow for Riley (my three year old) - "minor" surgery, but prayers are always appreciated.

For the longest time I didn't take care of my teeth, mostly due to lack of insurance.... Have you looked into programs like DentalSave? One annual payment gets you fixed fee dental services. It's the only thing letting me get mine worked on right now.... Feel better...

Hey, you can't just sleep your way through this challenge! Wake up, guys! I mean... Well.... at least post occasionally!

Hey, how's the challenge going? We haven't heard from you in a while!

Hope you're having a great time - dont forget to let us know how your vacation went!

Hey Clarys, how's the adventure going? We haven't heard from you in a while.

Hey, how's the Whole 30 treating you? We haven't heard from you in a few days. Don't give up on it - remember, everyone falls down - the key is to get back up afterwards!

Sounds like a great time! Congrats on the milestone! Keep it up!

Lol! Maybe I could use that. Henceforth: every day that I fall behind in my paper quest earns me two burpees. Cumulatively. One on the morning of day one, two that evening, three the next morning.... And I haven't so much as done a push-up in the better part of a year. So this may hurt. Thank you! I did just shy of a half hour of papers this morning, so I'm starting from zero. I will give myself an extra day before I start earning burpees, because my 3-year old is having surgery tomorrow. I'll have enough on my plate and on my mind until she's home. Burpees begin Wednesday evening if I don't work at it. Hira, what time zone are you in? If I PM you my phone number can you kick my butt when I stop posting my burpee count?

I know I'm a bit late, but I hope you had a happy birthday!

Wow - cant believe I posted that earlier. Lol! I blame the anesthetic? Recap of yesterday: ran the first episode of Zombies 5K. Much more exhausting than I remember it. Yoga was good - I'm starting to relax into it more and find the peace of it. Had sufficient water and laid out my clothes. Did NOT work on the paperwork - I'm having a hard time keeping motivated for that....

To the tune of Freres Jacques: Sitting in the Dentists office Waiting for my Root canal Anesthetic's working Anesthetic's working Time is near Time is near okay, I'm bored and don't want to be here, but life goes on. Going shopping for veggies at the market across the street when I'm done here.

No progress on the papers today - between working late and a kids birthday party, I didn't get home till 9:00. And am tired. Yoga and water were good. Rest day from walking. I'm considering starting Zombies 5K again tomorrow morning - I'll decide then. I'm leaving my running shoes out in case.

Have you ever seen the Hoarders shows on tv? The way they know they need help, and might ask for help, but then can't bear to see something taken out of their house so they ask for it to get out back in? I've got something of that with the papers. Sometimes my wife sorts through and puts out a bag of papers to recycle. Then I pick through it and pull stuff out. I have issues with this, and I can't just let someone else sort the papers because my idea of what's important is so different from everyone else's. So I need to at least start this myself. It's bad, I know....

I doubt I will "marathon the paper monster away", but if I can work my a$$ off for a week or so and then try to just get in the habit of processing everything that comes in, I'll make slow bit steady progress. If I can maintain 15 minutes a day, I can foresee a day where my desk is empty. Unfortunately, most of my effort so far has gone to getting rid of the piles I clutter between me and the filing cabinet. That's probably not a good sign.... Yesterday and today recap: Yoga both days, no change in routine Getting the habit of stretching morning & evening - it's starting to stick, but reminders are very necessary. Waked a decent distance this morning, and timed it to get to the store shortly after opening to buy the milk we used up last night. Water about 96 ounces both days, lost track of coffee -but the quantities were excessive. I drnk more when I get a headache, and I'm recovering from yesterday's root canal (very achy today). Paperwork is... started. No real progress. Can't find what I need. Stressing over it and not sleeping well. I'm putting in the 15 minutes I demanded of myself, but it's like pulling teeth. I find that I am distracted by EVERYTHING because I would rather be doing ANYTHING else. I WANT it organized - I just don't want to do the organizing. I stress too much over each page. I'll attack the pile again tomorrow.... Clothes laid out, water filled, etc - evening routine complete. Goodnight world.

It's so quiet! Almost a week since anyone posted here.... I guess everyone must be sleeping? Good job!

Time for Plan B. So I have a bit of an emergency situation, whereby I just found out that my old insurance company never processed some paperwork from last year, and now I have to dig out a whole bunch of documentation that I have at home... somewhere. And get it to them by tomorrow. I probably would have known about his a long time ago, but I am so backlogged on papers at home that it's not funny. They're just piled everywhere. And since it seems insurmountable, nothing is even attempted to address it. Last year, when stuff came up and life got crazy, I abandoned my challenge, and moved forward without support. This time, stuff came up and life is getting crazy, and I'm trying something different: PLAN B: Tonight, I drop everything and get all the documents I need together. That's the one and only priority until this is addressed. I then make ONE PILE of ALL papers from anywhere in the house, not counting the "to read" and "to be filed" piles I have separated already. Tomorrow: I stick with my 6-week challenge, but my challenge goals have to be revised to fix the pressing issues. Diet and fitness goals are unchanged (yoga, walking, hydration, stretching). New life goal, effective immediately: ATTACK THE PAPER for at least 15 minutes a day. All new paperwork is added to the top of the pile, not used to make a new pile. Step one: file the "to be filed" pile. Stop looking for a time when I can do it all at once. 15 minutes a day will get it put away. For this purpose, I will no longer file by date within file folders. Just get it in the appropriate folder and put the folder away! Step two: process the pile. I will bring the following supplies to battle: recycling bin, shredder, garbage bag, file cabinet (now that things have been filed), and one expandable multi-pocket portfolio. From top down, without skipping pages, all papers will be processed (15 minutes a day), using one of the following options: - Garbage/shred/recycle - Reading pile - File away (NOT "to be filed" pile!) - Delegate. Make a note to follow up. - Do it NOW - Add to to-do list. Such papers can be put in the multi-pocket portfolio until processed. No other options are available, and nothing goes back on the pile (except the single page I am holding when an interruption occurs) I will still keep my old life goal in mind (evening routine, including laying out clothes), but this takes priority. If I lay out clothes, but the paper pile grows, I have failed. So... off we go! Lots of work ahead, but a new day is coming. Wish me luck!

EEEEEWWWW! Yes, he sucks, but..... gross! Seriously, though: A lot of doctors are pretty full of themselves. It's like they're saying I went to medical school and you didn't, so shut up and listen to me! Don't bother trying to show them the studies either, because they grew up learning all this other research that "proves" they're right. It's confirmation bias - if you show someone like that an article, it either confirms their position or it was written by some idiot who doesn't know what he's talking about. You know you're getting better. You know it's working for you. What else do you need to know?

Thank you both - A little perspective goes a long way. I've known people who live with pain every day. I've known people who are disfigured from accidents. My little girl is neither. A mistake was made, and a painful one at that. But we took care of it right away and she's happy and healing. Honestly, I think what bothers me most is that my instinctive reaction was to cast the blame elsewhere and yell at my wife. She didn't deserve that. She didn't know how hot the soup was. She had no reason not to give Sophia the bowl. I made a mistake, and hurt my wife emotionally over my mistake. And knowing I do that hurts, because I also know its not the only time. Not by a long shot. So today I'm getting over the guilt over the soup itself, and finding new guilt in how I dealt with it. Walking: same course as last time, 30% slower. My body's a bit sore. Water: 96 ounces. Coffee: 66 ounces Yoga: 4 1/2 pose Stretching: did morning hamstring stretches. Set a reminder to do evening when I get home. Clothes: will get to it.