Arrowan

My goals for this challenge were to: 1. Stay on target with Rising Heroes missions 2. Eat more Paleo meals 3. Study Japanese 4. Work on my job hunt Side Quest: Meditate daily Results (A=100% B=75% C=50% D=25% F=0%): 1. I did well with this, probably in part because it was new and exciting, and also because I had two "wing women" to check in with and we kept each other on track. The most substantial, beneficial missions were working out 3x/week, walking 1 mile/day (during weeks 1 and 2), batch cooking for 3 meals (this has quickly become a regular habit), and doing a self-audit of all debts, putting all balances and interest rates in one spreadsheet. There were a lot of other more minor or temporary missions I won't get into, but the total count is 92 missions (many were simple, daily tasks). I missed only two -- I ate fast food on a day I was supposed to avoid it, and I missed doing a simple balance exercise on another day. This puts my success rate at 90/92 = 98%. B 2. This was largely successful. During week 1, I ate only Paleo foods on one day. For week 2, I did the same but also added three additional Paleo meals throughout the week. Week 3 was one full day of Paleo, plus 6 meals, and week 4 was one full day plus 9 meals. I did miss one of my "full" days but made it up on another day. However, this past week I was one meal short. This goal became easier and easier as the month went on. I learned some very easy and delicious ways to cook chicken and fish and veggies, and my mindset has really shifted away from even considering pasta and rice and bread as first options. I do have a serious candy addiction, which I need to work on. According to the points I set out, I earned 29/30 = 97%. B 3. I set out to study Japanese at least 10 minutes a day, and at least 30 minutes 3x/week. I did study every day but one, whether it was picking up new kanji, learning hiragana characters, or doing listening exercises. During weeks 2 and 4, I was shy one of the 30 minutes sessions. This puts my points at 47/52 = 90%. B 4. This was a hard fail. I started out well, putting in two applications in week 1. I was aiming to read a scientific article each week, but only did this for weeks 1 and 2. I have some other applications out there from before, and it's just about time for me to be hearing back about those...I'm just feeling a little paralyzed about what my next life move will be, so I'm reluctant to throw myself into pursuing any particular job. I am at the proverbial crossroads, trying to decide if I stick with temporary work that gives me a lot of freedom and an escape route if I decide I don't like it, or committing to something more stable and profitable, but also more boring / unpleasant. Points would be 4/12 = 33%. D (okay, so not an F technically, but still not a success). Side Quest: I did okay with daily meditation. I did sessions of 2-5 minutes, with the majority being 5 minutes. I did this on 20/28 days. In summary, I'm sticking with Rising Heroes, as it's fun and incorporating some great new habits into my life, and I like the community there -- very positive. I think this challenge was a great way to bring more Paleo into my life, and I feel confident I can continue with this trend. I'm thoroughly enjoying my Japanese study, though it's going at a slow pace. I think the key is to keep it daily, no matter how gradual the progress. The job hunt is my weak spot at the moment, but I'll get it together. The way forward will present itself to me, I'm sure of it. I'm going to try to keep up meditation, increasing the length of these sessions over time. The fact that it's so hard for me tells me I need to keep at it. I did learn that Rising Heroes AND an NF challenge is a bit too much for me to keep up with right now, but I'm going to try to stay in touch around here, because I truly value the advice and encouragement from the community. It's fun to see everyone's goals and progress, and cheer people on. As I go forward with aikido, I'm sure to have questions and I know this is a great place to get answers and opinions. Thanks all!

Sorry you're sick! I have multiple friends who are down with colds. Ramp up the self-care and pamper yourself if possible. Finished my first Pratchett book, which ended up being The Time Thief. My library has a limited selection so I just picked one at random. It took me a while to get into it at first, but man did it pay off. Funny, smart, great characters, clever plot, and it makes you think deep thoughts...I was very pleased Looking forward to reading more Pratchett in the future. Thanks for turning me on to Discworld!

The enemy had a lot of tricks up their sleeves for you this challenge! You did really well keeping to your goals in the face of these obstacles. You adapted as necessary. Sounds like the things you spent money on were good investments, so have no regrets there. Congrats on keeping to meal plans as well as possible, basket weaving, and expanding your 3x20 goal. Quite admirable. Good luck as the war continues!

Just caching up on your challenge. It's excellent your wife decided to join you for some body-weight sessions, and co-workers are getting into boxing with you. You're having a great effect on those around you, so bravo! The drinking goal is difficult. I agree with Kishi that you will have to feel out the right line between pushing yourself to reach your goal and easing up to make that goal attainable. In the meantime, you have to find that mindset of being kind to yourself while still holding yourself accountable. But it sounds like you have a healthy grip on that.

So glad you got a day off, with all that's happening at work! I like your confidence. This IS great training for your boss' position if/when he leaves. All your work will pay off one way or another.

I'm rocking the RH missions, Paleo goals, and Japanese study. I am NOT keeping up with job applications...I'm definitely avoiding them. Meditation is going okay, though I've missed a few days here and there. It isn't a part of my challenge, but I'm still enjoying aikido classes. I am a bumbling beginner, but the other folks are so nice, and I really like what I'm learning. I'm not a verbal learner, so picking up terms for techniques during class is extremely difficult for me. I have to do a lot of extra study on my own to learn the names for things. Rising Heroes has been tremendous fun. We just began the second campaign (second month), so a bunch of new recruits have joined. I admit it hasn't been easy to do both RH and a NF challenge at the same time...there are just a few too many places to track goals and do check-ins. But I'd say I've still benefited overall from both.

Park Ranger = Super Hero I just caught up on your whole flea saga! What an epic battle you are fighting! Never give up, never surrender. You will overcome those dirty little buggers. Good job on all you've been keeping up with, sounds like you are still dominating despite the setbacks. Keep up the good work!

I've been completely remiss in updates this week, but here's a quick one, just to get me over the inertia of not posting for a while. RH missions going well: making the bed every morning; working out 3x/week (body weight); avoiding social media for 48hrs; practicing balancing on one foot every day; batch cooking. RH missions that are more difficult: Avoiding fast food. This week we're trying to stay away from any form of "fast food" altogether. I don't have any problem not eating out, but I'm a candy fiend. I tend to stop into gas stations and convenience stores for chocolate bars and the like. Terrible habit. Especially when I'm on the road, which happened early this week as I was coming back from a trip to NYC to visit a friend. Definitely failed this mission on that day. Paleo-- I was supposed to go ALL paleo last Saturday but completely forgot (I was in New York...). BUT I made it up on Wednesday. AND I've gotten in my six additional paleo meals for this week, plus tomorrow will be completely paleo as well. It's not all healthy -- I'm still eating a ton of fruit, which I should be trying to scale back, but for now I'm using all my will power just to keep away from the carbs and cheese and such for a day (or a meal, as the case may be). So that's still a win. Japanese study -- mostly going well. I get in at LEAST some listening every day, plus picking up a couple of hiragana characters. The study sessions were a little light last week but picking up this week. Anyone have suggestions for books, comics, or shows in Japanese that would be good for culture / language immersion? I've never been into anime but would give something a try if someone had a good pitch for it. Job hunt -- I'm sucking at this one. Hopefully I'll have better news over the next couple of days. I did read another article, this one on the decline of dusky salamanders in Acadia National Park. It's old, but of interest to me. Missed meditation on Saturday and Sunday, but have done 5 minutes a day otherwise.

And now you have opened my imagination up to the idea that there is a secret forum where the GL's gossip about guild members...like the teacher's lounge, where they talk about all the problem students. Of course, you could never admit to us that this is true...

The encouragement is very much appreciated! Saturday went well in the Paleo department. When I was craving sweets in the evening, I ate a mango and it was heaven. Had a paleo lunch on Monday as well -- chicken stir fry leftovers. RH missions are on track! Working in a little elevation into the daily walks; keeping up with workouts. The positive posts on the Facebook (which end up DOMINATING my news feed as well, are tremendously inspiring. Applied to that job I mentioned before (not the most fun in the world, but it would be steady and good pay, and a potential launching off point for other things). I did end up reading a scholarly wildlife article (here, if anyone is interested in Hellbender genetics). It's out of the lab I was in during graduate school -- I figured I would be more motivated to read it, knowing the authors. Whenever I look at the literature, I start to think I'm so far out of the game that I will never catch up...I have to forcibly remind myself that reading even just one article will put me father ahead than I was before. The temptation is to get overwhelmed and say why bother? But no matter how slow you run, you are still faster than you would be sitting on the couch. Keeping up the Japanese study, minimum of ten minutes a day. Did 30 minutes on Sunday, and that's all in addition to any listening I do during work (to podcasts and the like). Still meditating 5 minutes a day. Wish I were better at focusing during each session, but the only way to get there is practice. Second Aikido practice tonight! Just as fun as the first--just a tiny bit faster-paced, in a good way. I can already tell that getting to know my fellow students on the mat is going to make each session more and more productive. I feel terrible for not checking in on more people on the challenge forum, I've just been so busy logging in and keeping up with Rising Heroes, my two wing women, and various charts and programs. It's all good stuff, but I'm going to try to be more supportive here as well.

Things are still going pretty well. Still getting in the daily mile-long walk. Did a workout yesterday. Keeping up with the other Rising Hero missions (and still having a lot of fun with that). Prepped some food for tomorrow, since my goal is to make ALL of tomorrow Paleo. I have breakfast and lunch ready to go, and cut up meat and veg to cook for dinner. Made sure I have fruit and nuts on hand for snacks. I think since it's just one isolated day, there will be a novelty effect and it won't seem like a chore to avoid other foods. Plus, dinner will be all unprocessed foods, which checks off another RH mission for the week. Japanese practice is fun. I'm coming at it from a few different angles. I have books on writing, and I've found a useful website to clarify stroke order and pronunciation. Plus I signed up on this site AJATT, and now I get daily emails with instructions for using certain online resources to pick up kanji...the guy who writes them is pretty funny. The pace is slow so far, though I think I jumped the gun because I think it assumes I already have hiragana and katakana under control (which I definitely don't). But honestly, the emails are so entertaining that even if it gets ahead of me, it's still fun to read. I've also been delving into podcasts and found some instructional ones for speaking. I'll be looking for other podcasts in all Japanese, to do a little immersion. I get to listen to headphones at work all day, so I may as well take advantage. Found another job to which I can apply, but I haven't done so yet. And I still need to read a wildlife article this week. Failed to meditate yesterday, but did 5 minutes today. Almost forgot to mention: I participated in my first Aikido class last night! It was great. Six other students besides me, plus the sensei. All were welcoming, and it was a basics class, so most were pretty new like me. I was awkward in my movements, but had a lot of fun. Looking forward to more

I second this. Use the "never two in a row" rule and keep going. You got this.

Just a quick check-in for today, as it's way past my bedtime. RH missions: Walked a mile; did a workout (the muscles are getting used to the new movements now); got rid of a dead plant that's been in my room taking up space forever. Checked in with my buddies and made some progress on a code we're supposed to be breaking. Japanese: Did just about 10 minutes of reviewing what I did yesterday. Got busy doing a lot of other stuff today, but I figure every bit helps. Meditated 5 minutes. The biggest accomplishment of the day: observed an Aikido class at a local dojo! I have MAJOR anxiety about doing new things with strangers, all by myself, so this was extremely difficult, but once I was there it was excellent. The people were friendly and eager to share their experiences. They let me watch an hour-long practice, which was really fun. I've been trying to get myself to do this for months. I've had many excuses, but really I have just been too chicken. Now I'm psyched about signing up for a trial month, to see if I like it. Even if in the end I decide I don't like the school or the style (though right now I see no reason why I wouldn't), I'm glad I finally got the courage to make the initial visit. If it weren't for the encouragement I've gotten on Nerd Fitness, I probably never would have gone. So thanks, all

It was a pretty decent day. RH missions: walked a mile; made one meal with all unprocessed ingredients (veggie omelette, no cheese, + green salad with walnuts, and a banana -- and yes, this was dinner); picked one useless thing to get rid of in my house; and checked in with wing women. The omelette meal was also Paleo, so bonus points there (metaphorically--I'm not keeping points). Japanese: studied some hiragana, and 14 of the essential characters. This included the symbols for 1-10, which I kind of knew already, but I picked up this book from the library that goes over stroke order. Of course, I'm slapping my forehead when I get the book home and notice the copyright year is 1959!! So I won't put TOO much stock in this book, because the first thing the author explains is how much the official characters are being changed. But it IS useful for some basics. And I'm going to pick up some beginner practice books for hiragana and katakana as well. I almost got those from the library, but realized I will want them to keep, and write in for practice. Did 4 minutes of meditation.

I bet that would be really helpful, but I'm one of the last weirdos out there without a smart phone (curse my stubbornness!). But I will look into computer applications for my PC. I've heard there are a few available. Thanks!

Thanks for the link to your meal plan, this will be a handy reference!

Rising Heroes missions accomplished for the day: walked a mile with the dogs and did another of Jim's body-weight workouts--despite incredibly sore muscles from doing the first session two days ago. Last time I didn't make it through all the squats because I felt an impending injury, but this time I was successful, and no strains. Paleo breakfast today was a boiled egg and banana, if that counts. But that's extra, since my official goal for week 1 is just to make all of Saturday paleo. Still, I figure I'll try to make more and more of what I eat Paleo as it fits in. I just won't push too hard. Did my first earnest study session of Japanese. Just learning some of the hiragana symbols, using guidetojapanese.org. To say I've even brushed the surface is an overstatement, but I am starting to see how symbols = sounds, and putting those together = words...this basically makes me feel like a dummy, but I'm embracing it. I'm also gathering lists of books and websites, and signed up for AJATT, which someone recommended. Joined an FB subgroup for Rising Hero members who are specializing in Japanese. There are about 40 of us, surprisingly, so I'm in good company. Sent in an application for a job with The Nature Conservancy, which I'm really excited about. It's temporary full-time, but in a location I like, with job duties that fit my interests. I'm pumped about it, but probably have to wait a month to hear back, as that's when the job posting closes. A good first day of the challenge, overall!

I'll be following along! New clothing definitely motivates me to workout...seems ridiculous, but it works. (The podcast Invisibilia has an episode about "the secret emotional life of clothes" which is interesting--download for free on iTunes). I still haven't read Pratchett! Getting Guards! Guards! from the library is literally on my to-do list. Right on my white board. It's happening.

Glad you're keeping a thread even without an official challenge. Good luck with writing! I really enjoyed Sorcerer's Code. I plan to read more, I've just had a backlog of titles lined up. I'm sorry about the knees. Keep up the PT--with rest and care they will recover. Robots, man...I don't know. Douglas Adams warned us: The Sirius Cybernetics Corporation is the primary manufacturer and supplier of androids, robots and autonomic assistants for the known universe. They are known for their catchy jingles and catchphrases, supplied by their Marketing Department. They are not, however, known for the quality of their products. Their primary claim to fame seems to be constructing just about everything with (unstable) advanced robotics and software. From doors, to lifts, to toaster ovens, drinks machines, vacuum cleaners, and "personal massage units" -- Everything has been built with a full GPP or Genuine People Personality. This means that even a set of airlock doors has emotions, hopes, dreams, intelligence, and worse of all, the capacity for boredom. It should come as no surprise then, that the majority of these devices have a neurotic streak a mile wide... The Hitchhiker's Travel Guide describes the Marketing Department of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation as: "A bunch of mindless jerks who'll be the first against the wall when the revolution comes." Then again, if you can program it to let you call it "Jarvis" or "Holly"...I can get behind that.

Aha! You did move to the Adventurers for this one! I've gone between the two as well. Everyone is welcoming and awesome, as you well know. I can attest that Sylvaa is particularly fun to follow, and she'll be a great Guild Ambassador. Your goals look excellent. I'll be following closely, especially since we have so much in common! Just be kind to yourself too, because you've got a demanding list for yourself. Focus on that sleep goal so you have energy for all the rest!

Very nicely laid-out plan. Your goals look organized and focused. It takes honest reflection to see the connection with alcohol and overeating, so I applaud you for that. (Some added motivation for me: Why am I learning Japanese? To read Alcnedlor's posts!)

Thanks for the tip, Alcnedlor. I will look into an actual teacher in my area. And I'll let you guys know how Rising Heroes is going. There are over 2300 participants so far, and the enthusiasm and positive responses are off the charts. This is arguably classified information, but you're all part of the Rebellion, so...some of the initial missions including walking a mile a day, and doing a work out (either the one they suggest or your own) every three days. When you log in a mission, you earn points for your faction, and all of the missions are based on a running story line. Everyone is having a blast posting their info, progress, and playing along with the story on the FB page. I will say there are some organizational wrinkles to smooth out, but the fun far outweighs any clumsiness we're experiencing due to the sheer volume of participants. Kishi, thanks as well, tips appreciated! PinkNinja, I remember you, of course! You were just getting a new park job the last time I was around. Congrats on that, by the way. My college studies were in wildlife ecology (MS), heavier on management and research than on recreation, but I imagine working in a park is a lot of fun. Naturalist/interpreter does kind of appeal to me, although I am primarily looking for work in research/monitoring. I’d love to do something focused on amphibians and reptiles, but I’m staying flexible. I’d be willing to do a lot of different work, either with an NGO, government agency, or even a consulting company. A mix of field work, data management, and public outreach would be ideal. I’m trying to stay in the northeast, to be near family, but if the perfect job opened up elsewhere, I’d seriously consider it. If you do have connections or leads that sound like a good fit, I’d appreciate the help! The classes you mention sound interesting. I've heard of soundscapes in conservation, although I don't know much about any actual programs to protect them. Is there anything specific you're applying to your park? I’m totally new to Japanese, still gathering resources and ideas for how to learn, so buddy-ing up to keep each other accountable sounds great. Is the book you had good for self-teaching? I'm going to hit up the library on Monday or Tuesday. Your paleo and healthful meals for the week sound awesome. I may be stealing some recipes and ideas. I’m not so terrible at cooking, but I’m terrible at planning meals—finding the recipes, getting the ingredients beforehand, etc. Thanks for all the feedback already! Now I’m going to stalk you guys and see what you’re up to in your threads J

Arrowan’s Eighth Challenge: For the Rebellion! Stay on target Themes: Focus, Discipline, Hope Name: Arrowan Class: Adventurer (but I'm sneaky and like to hang out with Monks) Faction: Volo Starting point: Weight: 155 lbs, Height: 5’6” Introduction: I’m back after another leave of absence. Even when I’m away from the challenge forums, though, I’m always fighting for the Rebellion. I never forget about my fellow rebels—you guys inspire the hell out of me. Anyway, I want to do more challenges this year in order to keep my goals structured and be a part of the community. I’m now active in Rising Heroes, and I’m incorporating it into the challenge, because otherwise I’m likely to get overwhelmed with all the various goals and missions and posts. I’m heading into a period of change in my life, so I have to stay focused and disciplined to maintain fitness goals and keep my life in balance. There are dozens and dozens of goals on my “master list” of things I want to accomplish, but as always, I need to narrow it down so I can actually make progress on some of them. So here are my official challenge objectives: Challenge Goals: 1. Stay on target with Rising Heroes missions 2. Eat more Paleo 3. Study Japanese 4. Job hunt Side Quest: Daily meditation, 2-5 minutes a day Strategies: 1. Rising Heroes—This just started but it’s turning out to be tons of fun. The missions include physical challenges, so I’m just going to keep up with them and count that as one of my challenge goals here. 2. Eat more Paleo—I would be making this a goal about counting calories, but right now I don’t want another thing to have to log into the computer. Eating Paleo sounds like way more fun. I’m going slow, so I don’t lose interest or willpower. Each Saturday will be entirely Paleo. With each progressive week, I’ll do three more meals that are Paleo only – but they don’t have to be three meals on the same day, they can be spread out during the week. Week 1=1 day of Paleo; week 2=1 day of Paleo + 3 meals; week 3=1 day of Paleo + 6 meals; week 4=1 day of Paleo + 9 meals. You better believe I’ll be hitting up the NF recipes for ideas. 3. Study Japanese—I am brand new to this, and I’m intimidated as hell. Why do I want to learn this language? Martial arts is on my to-do list (I’ve been dabbling for a while, just haven’t committed yet), and learning the language would be a nice complement to this goal, allowing me to pick up terms for movements and have a better insight into the culture. I know it’s one of the most complicated languages I could pick, but it’s kind of like being faced with an enormous mountain. You know it’s going to be difficult as hell to climb, but the allure of the view from the top, and the feeling of accomplishment when you get there, is just too much to resist. Also, Ninja Turtles. Strategies…I’m working on it. I’ve flagged some websites and I’ll have to see how it goes. But the specific challenge goal is to work on this for at least 10 minutes every day, and at least 30 minutes 3 days a week. 4. Job hunt—Man oh man, do I NOT want to have this as a challenge goal again. But I keep taking on temporary jobs, so I continue to have to search for the next one. My current job is pretty menial, although I get to walk all day, listen to music, and I like the people I work with. But the position ends in March, and I’m not guaranteed full-time hours each week, so I really need to move on as soon as I can. The goal is a minimum of 2 job applications submitted each week. I’m aiming for something in the wildlife field, but I’m out of touch, so I’m also going to read 1 journal article each week relevant to wildlife research. Side Quest: Meditation! Two minutes to start but working up to at least 5 minutes a day. Hopefully this will bring a little clarity and focus into my messy brain. Grading: A=100% B=75% C=50% D=25% F=0% 1. Rising Heroes: grade will correspond with percentage of missions completed 2. Eat more Paleo: Three points for each Saturday of Paleo meals (12 total), plus a point for each additional meal (3 in wk 1, 6 in wk 2, and 9 in wk 3) makes a total of 30 points. Grade will correspond to the percentage of these points that I actually earn. 3. Study Japanese: One point for every 10 minutes of study; if I stick to the goal of 10 minutes a day, and 30 minutes on 3 days a week, that would make 52 points (the 30-minute sessions include the 10 minutes for that day). 4. Job hunt: One point for each application submitted, plus one point for each article read, for a possible total of 12 points. (I’m skipping the starting and ending attributes this time, because accomplishing these goals is a reward unto itself. I don’t get much out of allocating the points.)

So...posting during this challenge--not so much. I don't know why, I just kept putting it off and developed some inertia I couldn't get past. I think consistent posting would have kept me a lot more on track, but I still did an okay job with my goals. Here's the assessment: 1. Strength training routine 3x/week:B I completed all but 2 sessions (I plan on doing one today, but I won't count that chicken until it's hatched). In some exercises I made advancements -- increased jumping jacks to 85, squats to 3 sets of 20, and my plank time to 47 seconds. I got up to 23 lbs for dumbbell rows. My big regret is not working harder on chest exercises. I went with full push-ups on the floor, but 5 reps is my max (keeping elbows in). I know I can do knee push-ups or elevated push-ups and gradually progress, but frankly I'm bored with that route, and I feel like I'm using slightly different muscles with those modifications. I think I just need to do them every day and really focus on them. The bench press I wanted to try never happened, because my gym actually doesn't have a rack for doing a regular bench press--weird, I know, but they are focused on an older population and primarily have machines (really nice ones, but still). I did try using dumbbell weights for a bench press motion, but it felt very unstable. I will look more into it. The pull-up progression is also something I still have to study (I saved those links, Sylvaa, and I still plan to check them out--just got distracted this time around!). Fortuitously, one of my housemates just put up a pull-up bar in the hall downstairs... 2. Interval running 3x/week: A+ Success! As I've said before, I like to run so it's relatively easy for me to keep this goal...yet if it weren't an official goal, I probably would slack off on it. Intervals were an interesting challenge. Definitely took some getting used to but now I like it. Going forward, I may just switch things up and do alternate days doing intervals and a steady pace. And I'll have to look up farleks! 4. Auto mechanics study: C (I know I skipped 3...just wait for it) Definitely only did about half as much as I had planned for this goal. No excuse at all, I just got lazy. I did accomplish some good things -- reading several chapters in the guide I found, renewing my registration, updating insurance, cleaning out the vehicle...I did buy jumper cables and a good flashlight and put those in safely in the car. I have two tire pressure gauges and checked the pressure just yesterday. But I should have read more, and practiced some more stuff like jump starting and a tire change. I still plan to do those things, I just didn't do them in time to count for this challenge. Side Quest - Check YNAB daily/create savings account for vehicle: This was a success...with a complication. I did indeed check in with YNAB daily to keep an eye on my spending, but in week 3 my primary bank changed its online platform (or something) and YNAB was no longer able to import transactions from those accounts. After a lot of troubleshooting and emailing back and forth with YNAB support, they figured out the issue and promised that people were working on it but it would simply take "time." Not sure how much time, but in the meantime, part of my bank's updated website includes a feature called "money manager," which allows the user to create a budget. It is extremely clumsy and awkward compared to the YNAB setup, but I've decided to give it a shot anyway, since I don't have an alternative at the moment. So I've already started that set up and we'll see how it goes. I also set up a saving's account for a new vehicle and set a savings goal in my new budget -- reaching that goal will take quite a long time, but I'll get there faster than if I didn't have a goal at all. And the best news for last: 3. Get a job: A I got a job! I am so psyched about this. I'm going to be working for the state, assisting with sampling streams for macroinvertebrates, algae, and other water quality indicators. It's only a seasonal job, but it will last until October, and I already have a winter job lined up for afterwards. It's also full-time and a better wage than I'm making now. I start next week and I am so excited to do field work again. There's a long commute and it will be hard to adjust from part-time to full-time work, but I'm really looking forward to it. It feels like my life is about to start again, after being on pause for years. Points (arbitrarily allocated, as usual): 1. +2STR +1DEX 2. +2STR +2STA 3. +2WIS +1CHA 4. +1WIS Side Quest: +2WIS +1CHA Ending Attributes: STR 14/DEX 8/STA 18/CON 10/WIS 25/CHA 11 I should have been more involved in the forums but I was a hermit this time around. Haven't decided if I'm doing the next challenge, or skipping it -- sometimes a break lets me recharge so I'm really ready for the next one. I'll probably have quite a lot of stress and intrinsic challenges just starting the new job...although you could argue that's all the more reason to lean on the structure of a challenge and the support of the community. We'll see, I'll have to think on it. Still plan on reading up on all you other folks' conquests this past month! Take care!