Blaze

I suppose I had a little bit of a break the past week. My back was bothering me and so I had to suspend my strength program. My plan is to go back to Day 8 of the program tomorrow and see how that goes, and then just move forward from there. I have been off and on with my tracking. My plan for this week is to add intermittent fasting to the mix and see how that goes. As for NaNoWriMo - As usually, I got off to a slow start, but today I managed 2,732 words and just topped 10,000. Ideally, I should have twice that word count, but it's doable. I will check in tomorrow after I finish beginner strength work-out to report how that goes. Maybe I just need to lay off the planks and do something else instead for back strength. Any suggestions?

Off to a slow start as usual with NaNoWriMo this year, but as of 11/3 I made 1800 words, And today I hope to do a bunch more - just waiting for a friend to take me to a local cafe where we can sit and ignore each other while we do writing sprints. I completed Day 11 of the challenge yesterday, and I've determined that I'm not going to kill myself on the planks. It was up to 60 seconds yesterday and I managed 40-ish seconds, so that's good. Tracking is the issue. I didn't track at all yesterday, so I guess I'll make that my free day for the week. That means I can't skip tracking today's and Sunday's food. How's your week going?

Aweosme stuff, Blaze! I am Sovalis on the NaNo website if you want to be NaNo buddies on their website! Good luck with your words!! I just sent you a buddy request - on the NaNo site, I'm Kirei.d

Day 9 of the 30 day challenge happened yesterday though I seriously struggled with the plank exercise. My lower back just couldn't take it. So today I opted for a rest day, and I'm going to be careful with the plank moves going forward. I want a stronger core, but I don't want to make it worse in the process of making it better. I tracked Breakfast, Lunch, and at least one snack - both yesterday and today. And even though I know I've gone over my calorie goal both days, tracking is the point for this challenge. Just keep tracking. I cleared my first 1000 words yesterday, and only added another 400 or so today. Though it's a slow start, I still feel pretty good about the whole thing. This first bit is tricky, because my main character doesn't know her own name, so I can't call her anything but 'the woman', but it's working. She should have a name before the end of Chapter Two, which I hope to get to tomorrow.

Pitches are hard. I read somewhere that if you can't simplify it to 15 words or less, it's probably a dud. But I'm not sure that applies when the genre is so unusual. Maybe this? To save her new home from a rogue mage causing drought and destruction, a young woman left for dead in the desert must reclaim her lost memories if she's to master her natural gift as a Stormcracker and fight back with a storm of her own. Also, I had the original song in mind, but now I'm just sitting here thinking about Oreos. Thanks.

I’m also tackling NaNoWriMo again this year. We can help keep each other on track.

It has begun!!!!!

Is anybody else in this pub writing a novel in November?

This is lovely. Autumn is my favorite time of year, and I’ve been enjoying it, right up until it snowed 2 inches last night. Ugh!.I would love the autumn to last just a bit longer. It sounds like I have some things in common with you, like my own laundry basket of doom, and that tendency to put things off by doom scrolling. Way too much doom. You can beat it! Good luck with your Quest!

Today I tracked most of my food, and I completed Day 9 of the Beginner program - which is some kind of freakish streak for me because I have historically given these things up within a week. Pressing forward with it because I desperately need to get stronger, especially my core. As for NaNoWriMo, I've settled on the title. On Sunday I made a couple reference maps of the world and the main location of the story. Yesterday I worked some more on outlining and today I mapped out the Introduction, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action and Conclusion. So even though I've barely spent two weeks on the full concept, I'm actually going into the challenge with a better plan than I have had in quite some time. Let's see about the pitch though.... Stormcracker With no memory of who she is or what she can do. a young woman rescued from the Shatterlands must reclaim her memories and her powers to save her new home from a rogue Stormcracker mage. Or something like that. How about this one? To save her new home from a rogue Stormcracker mage, a young woman left for dead must reclaim her lost memories along with her own special powers. That one's good, not too long. I can't stay up past midnight to right like I used to. But tomorrow it begins!

It takes at least five minutes for my game to load. And if I say I will only play a few minutes, it inevitably turns into a few hours. Sims 4 is dangerous fun.

Good morning! I just completed Day 6, right on schedule, of my 30 day beginner fitness program. Every workout finishes with a plank. Day 1 was only 10 seconds. Today it was 40 seconds and I made it through the whole thing. I just checked, and on the last day it will be a 130 second plank! I have been plotting and planning like mad for my NaNoWriMo story, which now might be called Stormcracker. Or maybe The Steadfast Heart. I'm still deciding on that. The BIG NEWS on this front is that I have discovered the joys of Chat AI for coming up with coherent plot outlines. It's also very good tweeking them with new input from me. I might actually have a decent outline to follow by 12:01am 11/01/23! Tracking has been going well for the whole week. Except for yesterday when I didn't have any food to pack for working in the office and went a bit rogue on diet plan. Having one day off each week from Strength training makes sense, so I guess I'll count that as my one day off this week from tracking/diet.

I'm Lutheran so this weekend my church is doing a big Octoberfest-style Reformation Day Celebration after church, with beer and brats and strudels and what-not. (We're an inner city church so we put on big shindigs for Juneteenth and similar days as well. It's a multicultural church with lots of opportunities to over-indulge.) But lucky for me, I'm out of town this weekend so I won't be tempted by all the goodies. The downside of that is that I'll miss all the polkas too.

Am I late to the party?

Here I am again. I have goals and I thought it would be good to have some accountability to go along with them, so I'm back. This is a simple challenge for me - in theory at least. 1. November is NaNoWriMo so my first goal is to write - even if I don't quite have a handle on my story yet. Power through and get it done one more time. I can't start until 11/1 and must write 50,000 words of a novel by midnight on 11/30. I'll track my daily or weekly totals as I go along. It's going to be some kind of weird Western Fantasy thing, but I'm still lacking a bit on the plot - one week of planning to go, so I can track that as well. I've done some brainstorming the past couple days, and hey, today I actually names for several characters, so that's progress. 2. I'm determined to get into a strength training routine and I have found a Beginners Over 50 30-day Challenge. I started on Monday morning and I did Day 2 just a little while ago. Must keep going and not miss. Each video is less than 20 minutes, and I get Sundays off, so it's not too taxing. Just the right amount I'd say, considering how my arms and abs feel right now. 3. Tracking is also very important. I know that. I want to track at least 2 meals and 1 snack daily. I did that yesterday. Today I tracked almost everything I ate well before I ate it, and there's still time to get the couple snacks I missed. I'm using the MyFitnessPal app for this purpose. So that's it. I track my food. I work out daily. I write like the wind. What do you think?

I’m back. Sick of being so overweight. But more importantly, really determined to get my weight back under control and get some strength again. Over 50, I’m not getting any younger and I really need to turn the ship around before it’s really too late.

Four days in? And already it's hard. Okay the good stuff! I did Days 1 and 2 of the General DOMS Bodyweight workouts on schedule and today is a rest day, so that's good. I've been tracking the majority stuff, whether good or bad. Just tracking is good. I've put quite a few rows on this loomed hat project and it's starting to look like it might actually be a hat one day soon. Areas to work on. I -I'm not turning off media at 10pm (or shortly thereafter) . It's hard to put things down. I did start reading a new book, so I need to keep that handy so at 10 pm I can switch over. It's a Doctor Who novella so I'm definitely hooked. Didn't brush my teeth last night. Remember the rule! If it will only take two minutes to do - don't put it off or put it on a list of things to do. Just do it. -Drink more water. Like lots more! -Looming is good right now. But your big goal for the year is to break into voice acting - so don't let that sit in a corner too long.

Day 2: Checking in. My mourning routine was a bit rushed but got everything done before I had to leave for work. I've been working from home mostly, but now they want us to be in the office at least 2 days a week, so the morning and evening routines are about getting enough sleep, whether I can roll out of bed at 7:58 and still be to work on time, or I have to leave the house by 7:15 to be in the office on time. I'm trying for a consistent bed time and wake up time, no matter what my day is going to look like. It's just after 9pm so I have plenty of time yet for completing my bedtime routine. I literally just completed the NF Journey - 'General DOMS' bodyweight workout #1. I'm so sadly out of shape that I had trouble making the set minimums for each exercise. BUT I know I can do better. So I also just started a tracking log so I can tell if my set reps improve as this goes along. I drank two of my big 3-cup water bottles at work today. Plus a cup of tea and a cup of sugar free hot chocolate in the afternoon. Eight cups and probably a bit more than that with drinks at the bubbler and whatnot. I also tracked the majority of my food. Probably 85% of it, just a couple snacks I haven't tracked. YET. Finally, I'm about to go do something towards my pursuit of happiness. I haven't crocheted or done anything particularly crafty in ages. But I just got some round loom thing sfor Christmas. Trying to make a hat. I wonder how much I can add to it in 10 minutes.

Better late than never, I'm jumping back into the fray because I need the extra accountability. of posting my progress here. For 2023, I've chose the word 'Worth' to be my motivational focus. I've done this in previous years, sometimes successfully and sometimes not so much. Last year's word was 'Dare', and I don't know how much I lived up to it, but I did dare to buy my own home after decades of renting, so that was a pretty big move to make. What does 'worth' mean to me? It means asking myself important questions every once in a while. Like, is what I'm doing at this exact moment really worth my time and attention? And telling myself, when I need to hear it, that I'm worth more than I let myself believe. Matthew 10 says 'Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father's care. And even the hairs on your head are numbered. So don't be afraid. You are worth more than many sparrows." God thinks I'm worth something. So I need to start believing that myself. W = Read the Word of God daily O = Organize, clean and otherwise keep your surroundings in good order. R = Follow regular bedtime and morning routines. T = Track your food and water intake daily H = Do something that makes you happy every day. Trying to come up with a clever, nerdy theme for a challenge is tough and has held me back in the past. So I'm going to quit trying to be clever and just stick to my goals for this year that I already laid out above. The hardest so far in this new year are the routines and the tracking. And sometimes even the 'happiness' aspect. To give myself more time for these activities, I've taken the worst offenders of time wasting off my phone - Facebook and this Harry Potter game I've been addicted to lately. My goals for the last 4 weeks of the current challenge then are as follows: Routines Follow your bedtime routine and lights out by 11pm at the latest Follow the Nerd Fitness Gym General DOMS Bodyweight Workout 1 (4 week program) Tracking Track food and water intake daily. Aim for 8+ cups of water and tracking at least 66% of your food daily. Happiness - Spend at least 10 minutes a day reading, writing, playing ukulele, crocheting, learning to watercolor, or working on voice recording Not at all clever, no fancy gif to catch the eye. But if you've noticed my post and read this far, let me know what you think! Any tips?

I wish I could be so crafty. This is the way!

I'm not the most tech-savvy but could probably manage on-line play if you ever do have the time and patience for me,. A one-shot could help me dip my toes in, as I'm kind of chicken. As for crochet, I've done blankets, hats, scarves and such. Practical stuff. But I think it would be cool to do more artwork-style crochet, as I'd rather make things up as I go then fiollow a pattern.

I'm poking my head in the door after a long absence. And of all the things I've looked at and read about this evening, fast approaching midnight, it's the prospect of crocheting and sharing crafty stuff here that's got me ready to jump back into the fray. I sort of lost my cro-jo for awhile, but lately I've been wanting to take it up again. I have not watched Critical Role but I'm addicted to NPC DND from Viva La Dirt League. It's making me really wish I could play sometime.

I've updated my stats for last week and the start of this week. Got a bit off track, what with work stresses, the stress of the new home ownership thing and whatnot, but I'm trying to keep going with this challenge and not just throw in the towel like I did last challenge after food poisoning derailed me. To keep going with the little adventure quest I've created for my PC Cedar Lynd, I've added a daily dice roll element with the chance of encounters increasing every few days. Today I rolled for an encounter, so here it is... ------ After Naji, Cedar and the newly healed barbarian Jorn were finally able to meet and confer regarding the goings on in Stalis and other villages in the region, they decided to split up to help speed up the investigation. Thanks to Cedar's work so far, they are certain that the scrolls carry what might be considered a minor enchantment - something she suspects was added simply to make the these entertainment sources difficult to resist, thereby increasing the sales for the now incredibly wealthy Mr. Tock. She suspects there might be a more insidious spell at work beneath the enchantment, but none of the three have enough magical knowledge to uncover it. Today Naji, along with her faithful blink dog tor, are off visiting the farms around Stalis to determine the extent and degree of influence of the scrolls in Stalis, and to help free any and all from enchantments as she had done with most of the villagers. Jorn is continuing to chat up the locals in town, knowing from experience that there is often a grain of truth in the rumors and gossips that go around. That leaves Cedar to test her Intelligence by investigating the latest shipment from the Tick-Tock factories. Knowing there could be a mimic among these seemingly normal crates of books and scrolls and tubes, she proceeds with great caution. "Hurry it up, would you, love?" The wagon driver urges impatiently. "This entertainment ain't going to deliver itself." "Just a few more minutes, Mr. Pillowsby," she replies. "Unless you want to be held responsible when the next mimic attacks, and possibly kills someone." "Get on with it then." He huffs. She continues her search, and finishes without incident. On one hand, she's glad there are no mimics, but on the other hand, she finds no clues either. Was the mimic at the Frosty Fox simply one that had somehow had gone astray? "You're all clear," she tells the relieves wagon-driver as she leaps down from the wagon, landing in a crouch beside the wheels. Pillowsby is about to pull away when she notices the mark and shouts for him stop. "Hold up! What is this?" "What is what now?" he asks, clearly in a foul mood. "I haven't got all day.!" Cedar points to the symbol burned into the wood on the other side of the wagon. "Where did this mark come from? Or more importantly, where did this wagon come from? Is it yours?" "Nah, it's Tock's wagon, in'nit. Come from the city. He provides 'em. We just drive 'em where he tells us," he says, as he looks closer at the swirling brand burned into the wood. "What's dat then? Looks like Tock's mark, but with more bits added." "Could be nothing," Cedar says, but she copies the symbol into her book before letting him drive on. That symbol did looks like the clock symbol that Tacticus Tock used on all of his crates, but it was the 'extra bits' that worried Cedar. She had seen them only once before, in a cave some miles east of Stalis on the way to the city. A cave that contained mimics, and things much worse than mimics too. This could be the lead that they need, for the symbol of a Willow tree and moon superimposed acfross Tock's clock logo looks suspiciously like the mark of the Green Hag known as Rotten Rita Nightwillow.

Naji Whisperwood rides into town on the back of her faithful companion blink dog Kastor. When she received the message from her old friend Cedar, she found it all too easy to dismiss that anything sinister could be associated with the scrolls and books coming from the city. She'd always thought it a harmless entertainment, and often indulged in some of the magical games that could be found within those books of many faces. In her own little village of Cowomonoco, it's more of an issue with the young people not doing their chores than anything else. But now as Kastor lopes into the heart of Stalis, she finally begins to believe. It's not just the young people here, it's everyone - walking heedlessly along with their noses stuck into their enchanted books or perusing the scrolls. Kastor paused at the village green, still white with fresh snow from the night before, though no doubt it would all melt away soon by evening. The highly intelligent blink dog let out a soft growl of a comment, "You're right, my friend," Naji agreed. "This feels all kinds of wrong. The sooner we find Cedar, the sooner we can help her out." ------------ The past few days have been a whirlwind. After only just beginning the search for a condo last weekend, today I find that I've actually had my bid accepted. I'm about to be a home owner. EEK! So yesterday and today I haven't been exactly on schedule, although I'm still trying to meet all my goals. My life's about to be CRAZY the next few months. Good thing I have friends like Naji - aka my bestie Janine - to help see me through. I think at least one more of my friends will turn up in this quest, but I'm saving her for when things get really tough. Stay tuned!

After checking in on the recovery of her friend Jorn, former barbarian and current bartender and owner of the Frosty Fox tavern, Cedar notices the weather, for today at least, actually feels like Spring is here. Sure it might snow again tomorrow, but snow will make it easier to spot any prints that don't belong in her village and her woods. Another shipment of Tick-Tock scrolls, Books of Many Faces, and enchanted U-tubes have arrived in Stalis. But under Jorn's orders, none are permitted in his tavern. That just means business at the Frosty Fox has dropped off considerably, and the two other taverns in this modest village have benefited. People still walk around, if they're walking around at all, like mindless automatons. The more she notices their behavior, the less she wants to view these new magical entertainments herself. And yet... There's a lure about them that she finds almost irresistible. On several occasions now she has found herself scrolling through the latest material, without remembering when she had even begun, or why. But nothing she can do or say on her own will stop the locals from using them. She heads out for another circuit of the village and the neighborhood, hoping her friend Naji Whisperwood will arrive soon to help with the investigation. Maybe she'll have some advice on what to do about these scrolls and books... I walked 1.9 miles today during my lunch, glad that the temp is above 50 for the first time in several weeks, and that the rain is holding off. Today I'm working on eating better. So far I've had one serving of fruit AND one serving of veggies, and the day isn't even over yet. Woohoo!