kylesolo

I like that confidence! I'm not totally at the Iron Chef place in my life yet, but soon, I hope! It would be so nice to get to that point - I know how to make certain recipes from scratch, but I'm not totally confident playing with ingredients because when I do it all turns into omelets... The other issue is that, given the store I can walk to, there's not a lot I can get for protein - they have tofu and quinoa, but no jackfruit, no tempeh, no seitan, no vegetarian oyster sauce, etc. etc. etc. - and that's more what it's for, those obscure ingredients that I may not be able to get at the grocery store (also, I'm not totally comfortable cooking food a week in advance - I've tried, and I'm getting better, but I'm still not there yet.

Thanks, I'm hoping it's planned out well - it's a lot easier to make the small changes... so hopefully it works out. I'm not studying anything, I'm teaching! Which means school is extra crazy because I have planning and testing and so on to take care of, and it usually happens weeks one and two.

(Let's hope my attempts are better than this) So, as a brief recap from last time - I did okay! But vacation got in my way (look, I found something to blame!) and I backslid - I got a number of my goals done, some I didn't achieve how I want to, and there are some areas where I need some work. So let's work on this challenge. 1. FOOD In the last challenge, my goal was to plan out one week's worth of meals. I did it! I don't know that I necessarily like that, and I don't know that I'm the kind of person who can do that over and over and over again, week in and week out. So, I'm going to modify that a little bit. My goal is to cook at least 2 meals per week, preferably more. I'd like to plan out what those two meals are ahead of time so that I'm not sitting on the couch browsing through different cook books until it's 10 at night and I decide not to eat anything at all. This is a case where a grocery service might help? I've never used one so I'm not totally clear on the specifics, but I'll figure it out. This should hopefully be somewhat easier as breakfast is accounted for with eggs or a protein shake, so it's really only other meals I'm looking at. Problems will involve going out to eat - I know there are already scheduled times coming up where that will happen, so... I'll try to make sure to eat before hand, or at least spend some time thinking over the menu before I order. Not a big issue, but something to think about. A - Plan more than 2 meals per week, do shopping in advance, be mindful when eating out C - Plan 2 meals per week 2. EXERCISE Exercise I can do - I've been doing it, but this past week hasn't been great. So I figure, make it a goal, right? Feel the burn? Whatever I'm supposed to call it. I need to work out (body weight/gym) two to three times a week, and then do yoga in between, at least once. With my dog, I'm doing the walking (hurrah!), but I've got to do more than that. A - Work out more than 2 times a week, do more than one session of yoga a week, keep active in general C - Work out twice a week and do one session of yoga 3. SLEEP Yeah, I still need to work on this one. This involves going to bed at a reasonable hour, not getting distracted by technology, and making sure that I'm sleeping and well rested at appropriate times. I need to look into various apps to stop me from getting distracted, which I know exist but I don't know if they work on Windows. I'd rather spend nights reading or practicing diagramming sentences than falling into the wikipedia wormhole. A - Go to bed by 10:30 PM three or more nights a week. C - Turn off all electronics by 10:00 PM three or more nights a week, but read or work on other things afterwards. 4. PLAN I'm going to Australia in December. This is exciting! However, I need stuff - and that includes travel gear, luggage, and plane/train tickets for traveling between destinations when I'm there. It also involves looking at my finances and making sure I'm not blowing all my money now, because that would suck. The goal is to get gear (practical gear, not fun gear - like adapters and luggage stuff and hats, not any big electronics) and also figuring out flights/train tickets for when I'm there - I know about the budget airlines. I also want to try to narrow down my list beyond just going to the reef. Skydiving? The bridge? Hanggliding? How expensive are all of these? Where can I do them at? That kind of thing. By the end of the month I want to have transportation between cities figured out and at least one piece of equipment. Oh, and I need to find somebody who can watch my dog - right now I've got somebody who has to pay $250 for two weeks, but I want to see if I have other people who will be around during the holidays. As I see it now, the biggest struggle is school starting back up. Usually, the first two weeks of school, I'm in crisis mode running around trying to fix everything. Seeing, though, as how this is my fourth year, hopefully things will look up. I don't know. We'll see.

Alright, I've been away and I should update... I've done okay. I was in Michigan for a week at a family reunion, and exercising and going to sleep on time wasn't my first priority - though I did exercise - I swam a mile in the lake, I went for a two-mile run, and so on - but no real time working out or going to bed early, just time hanging out with family who I don't always see. I could have done better in some regards. I also could have done worse. I did one day of yoga while away (on a paddleboard!) but I didn't remember everything I should have done so it could have been better. I did fairly good at meditation. Sleep? No. I think the only way I'm justifying it now is that I had plenty of time to sleep in, and upon returning I essentially slept for about thirty hours straight, so... that's an area that needs work. Unfortunately I lost my sleep mask so now I've got to get a new one. Grr. Long story short - I could have done better. Meditation is fairly solid. Tickets were bought. I made a one-week meal plan and mostly stuck to it. Sleep is still an area to work on. I need to figure out how to do this. (I also need to really kick it into gear in terms of exercise and diet - but now that things are winding down - family reunion is over, school is starting back up in a few weeks - I should be able to focus more on that).

Sorry for not replying - a week without internet will do that... I've heard of those play competitions! I took a playwriting class in college; that would have been fun. This is through NYC Midnight and they do a screenwriting competition as well - I've never written one, though, so I'm not sure how that compares to writing a play. That definitely sounds a lot more social, at least, than this, which involved a lot of writing alone - though I would like to make use of other readers now that I know a little bit more. Here's the link to the story I wrote: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B63AVakme1GUdU1OTURKaDlJbWs/view?usp=sharing - I've gotten some good feedback already from other writers. I definitely fell victim to some issues with trying to do too much with too little word count - I think this would have worked better if it were a bit longer.

Yeah, I went scuba diving once before when I was a kid and I really liked it - and since then I've wanted to get certified but I haven't gotten around to it, for a variety of reasons - number one, of course, being the recurrence of these stupid seizures. Ah well. I'd love to scuba dive and see the barrier reef before it totally disappears (which seems like is happening), but even seeing it at all should be an amazing experience. Good call on the hiking tours - I'm actually starting to look through some of the touristy things to do, so I'm excited to see them. Mostly when I travel, I pick one or two things I really want to do, and then just kind of improvise the rest of it. Awesome - I'd have loved to see the Mayan sites. I was in Cabo when I went to Mexico - and we did more kayaking/ziplining/swimming type stuff - I really want to go to Puerto Vallarta or the Yucatan, but like you said - there are so many other places I want to go see! The writing contest is something a coworker told me about - it's called NYC Midnight. There are a couple of different ones, but I'm in the flash fiction challenge, where they give you a genre, a location, and an object you have to use, and you have 48 hours to write a story of 1,000 words or less. I got assigned action/adventure (?), a reservoir, and a beer keg, which seems okay but action/adventure, as a genre, is sort of loosely defined and I worry that I veered more into thriller or horror, but I got it done, which I'm fairly happy about, even if I get zero points. It's one of those things I've always thought about but always figured I wouldn't do because other people are better than me... and then I figured, well, might as well do it and say that I've tried instead of doing nothing and wishing I was better.

Let's go through this: 1. I was nominally successful last week - I only went to bed early two nights in a row... but it's better than going to bed early zero nights in a row. Maybe not what I want, but... I'm feeling good about it. I went to bed at 7 last night, but that was partly because I'm sick. 2. I have been meditating like a champ - almost every day at this point! And that includes in a car on the way back from hiking on Saturday while everybody else (except the driver) were playing Pokemon Go. I need to do more of the yoga - I met my target last week, but today I don't think I'm going to actually get out and exercise (I'll pick that up tomorrow) so I should do yoga. Maybe after I walk to the store. Or before? 3. I've been following my food plan, with the exception of yesterday when I didn't want to eat anything because I was sick... I did, though, eat the giant super salad I made (really good, making that again) as well as part of today - when I could barely stomach down food at all this morning (I had some salad again... I made a lot!). I'm finally getting hungry which means I need to walk to the store to get the tomatoes for spaghetti squash. 4. Tickets are bought, woo-hoo! (Now I can actually start planning what I want to do). In addition - the first week's task of three hours of travel - I didn't think I was going to get it done, but some friends and I decided to go hiking, and we went to a spot I'd wanted to go to for a while - super easy, despite being uphill, and not very crowded, which meant that we got to see a ton of lakes, hike for a while without getting super exhausted, and go for just under 15 miles without feeling terrible about our choices (bubble tea!)

I didn't think I was going to be able to get this one, but then I went on a six and a half hour hike today, so... victory!

Thanks, but don't be jealous - my last vacation like that was over six years ago, and even then I was only in Mexico for a week. I'd love to go back - what area were you in? Plans? I wish I had more of an itinerary. I'd love to hang out by the beach but I know I'd get bored... one of the reasons I wanted to go up to Cairns was to see the Great Barrier Reef, so I'm hoping to do that - and while scuba diving would be fun, I'm not certified and I'd need to check with my neurologist first anyway... hiking would be fun, though I'm definitely nervous about seeing any of the many deadly animals in the area. I'm kind of an adrenaline junkie, so I'd love a chance to go skydiving or bungee jumping or hanggliding - but buying tickets was my first priority; I haven't actually sat down and planned anything out yet (I tend not to make strict plans for vacations, and usually end up teaming up with random people I meet, which has worked out well so far!) Tell me about the sleep schedule. I'm dog tired, but I entered this writing contest and I want to bang out a first draft before I head to bed tonight.

Sydney for a few days, then Coff's Harbour, and then I'll be spending most of my time in Cairns, by the water, in the sunshine. That's all I want. Of course, to feel comfortable enough to get to that point, I'm going through a lot of this - I don't have a scale/access to a scale, but measurements are working well. I realize, of course, that my upcoming family reunion will do nothing to help with my goals, but luckily it's at a lake and I'll have an excuse to get moving... so I've just got to get a handle on my food intake while I'm there (and also my alcohol intake, we are an Irish family after all).

Yeah, I'm super excited. I've heard that about Melbourne, and I'm stopping off fairly close to it - but unfortunately, I won't be there for very long. Still - this is a dream I've had for a while, so I'm super excited to have it actually be in the works!

Oh, and in other news: I officially accomplished number 4 and my plane tickets are purchased. Did I get them for as cheaply as I would have liked? Absolutely not. But I got them and they're confirmed. Anybody have any idea about travel insurance? Also, I made a food schedule! I'm pretty excited about it. It's basic, and I'm making ample use of leftovers - I bought everything yesterday and I'm feeling good... though I had a bit of a rough start this afternoon, but I'm on track, ready to snack, and should be better at getting this in gear. I went to bed early last night. I hope I can stick with it today as well - that's hardest of all. I've noticed sleep meditation seems to help, though I'd like to get to a point where I can do it on my own.

That's an awesome resource, thanks for sharing! I looked into it and I already saw somebody I work with... will need to explore this further!

Oh thanks, that makes sense! I wasn't sure... too bad that's not happening in two weeks when I'm going to be outside for a week straight! I'll do my best to move more, but we'll see.

This has been a weird weekend in terms of life. I'm going to blame my birthday because I can (It was only three days ago! It still counts!). Lots of sleeping, lots of not eating, lots of drinking, lots of detoxing, lots of... well, lots of lots of stuff. Here are things of note: 1. Sleep - NOPE! Did not go to sleep early/on time. This is my first night not being out late. I will try to go to bed early tonight, tomorrow, and Wednesday, or Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. 2. Yoga and meditation - ON TRACK FOR THE WEEK. I did yoga yesterday. I meditated upon finishing my workout. It was really helpful, especially with some of my areas of concern - namely anxiety and feelings of rejection... anything that allows me to clear my head is a good thing. 3. Planning for food - NOPE! I will still blame my birthday, although that's not accurate - I just haven't sat down and done it. I need to sit down and make plans this week. That's okay. I can do that. I'd like to get this done before going to Michigan. 4. Tickets for Australia - NOPE! I was working on getting airline tickets for my dog squared away for the family reunion - nobody was able to watch her, so I'm bringing her with because it would be much cheaper than the pet hotel at this point. I worry about what I'll do with her when I'm in Australia, though... we'll see. Need to square that up as well, hopefully soon? That's a long time and I worry about her... In terms of general fitness, I did alright. I got about twenty minutes of walking in over the weekend, what with having to bus out to the city to meet friends... and a bit more from doing one of those escape-the-room games with family and taking the dog on a walk (so about thirty minutes total so far). Lack of sleep caught up with me upon returning home from work and I fell asleep for five hours (I'm sure not taking my wakefulness pills had a hand in that as well...). I'm feeling better after the weekend. I'm on my annual post-birthday detox, which is good to give my body some time to flush toxins/alcohol/let it have a rest. What is the group quest thing? How do we report it? Do we fail if we don't participate?

What are people's thoughts on inspirational quotes? I hate them. I hate them vehemently, almost as much as I hate mylar balloons (they never deflate, and I just don't have the heart to throw them away). Stuff like "Always stay positive" or "Happy people are pretty" or "You just have to try!" make me want to slit my throat. I just hate them. Sometimes I feel like if there's a storm and I'm on a boat and I get washed overboard, and there was only one life ring, nobody would throw it to me unless I was the last possible choice. Everybody has somebody, a friend or a loved one, who they're close to, and I have nobody. I am not good at making friends. I don't know why. I wish I were. I'm good at talking to people, but I can't do anything more than that. There's a person I've met several times and we always get along and have a good time, but that's about it. My roommate met him and within two hours they were inviting each other to events and exchanging phone numbers and planning big trips. Why can't I do that? I feel like everybody hates me or doesn't want me around. It's crazy, and I recognize that, but... well, I don't know. I'm just kind of a terrible person. I'm not explaining it right.

It was my birthday yesterday - so now I am on my post-birthday detox. Should be good. I've been dreading today because it's the one-year anniversary of my seizure that totally changed my life. It's gone well. Lots of sleeping/meditating and reflecting. Workout wise, this week hasn't been great - a lot of that is my fault (I've done exercising every day but yesterday and today), but with birthday parties (my dad's birthday is two days before mine) and drinking (I threw health out the window yesterday) I feel okay and am looking to come back strong tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it - (I say, lying to myself) - and also spending the next few weeks really getting everything together. Important thing - I need to figure out exercises I can do at my family reunion - that's something I'm worried about because I know I might make some bad choices.

I lived in a place called Pfaffenhofen - it was north of Munich (I think...) and a great place - biking is definitely not the same back in the states - over there I felt great about riding on the street, but here not so much, even in bike lanes. I haven't been back, but I'll be headed over next summer, which I'm pretty excited about! Lots I still miss so I'm excited to head back!

That's my issue! I want to fall asleep but I keep playing around on the internet - it's like there's something impressive happening here (there's not). But I haven't seen Inception so I don't know! But there's got to be more than staying up until 2 in the morning looking at hilarious clips of Broadway musicals on youtube (that's a regular man thing, right?)

My parents are moving to Germany in a few weeks, and as this will be my first winter holiday without them, I have decided to pack up and celebrate what an Australian backpacker informed me was called an Orphan's Christmas and getting out of the country for two weeks (the other option is going to stay with my brother and his in-laws, but since I don't really know them... I don't want to). My issue is tickets. I know there are lots of travel hacking websites and tips out there... but honestly, they're not super helpful (throw too much information at me at once, especially numbers and financing and percentages and my brain shuts down), and based on my credit cards, I don't think I'll qualify for international flight anytime soon. I'm looking for relatively cheap tickets... and I know that I need to buy soon because the window is closing. Any advice on places to check out? I've seen a few options - kayak is my go-to, but I've also been checking out various third party websites, google flights, and skyscanner, as well as going to airlines on their own. My question - does anybody have any other advice or resources? I'm looking for better days to buy tickets, any super great third party websites, any amazing airlines based in Australia, ways to contact people with excess miles on their account, and any other strategies that people use that have been successful. Any advice helps. Thank you all so much!

Bavaria! I used to live over there. Where are you living? Good luck! Germany is a great place for cycling.

I love that quote - this looks awesome. I'm interested to see how you do - I have a lot of clutter (physical/emotional(?)) that I need to go through - I'm running out of room in my house and I'd like to save money and not get a storage unit.

Thanks all! Thanks - I avoided posting in a guild for my second challenge, but I decided to go for it. There are bits and pieces of things I like, but I like to consider myself an adventurer, so I figured why not. I always get nervous when I try new things. Thanks for the Liz Lemon gifs... I was originally looking for John Waters gifs, but then I stumbled upon a whole bunch of 30 Rock ones and I figured, may as well go with it - ever since I watched 30 Rock the first time (as a marathon... I didn't watch it when it was originally on the air) I've described myself as a male Liz Lemon, and so may as well embrace it, right? Yeah, I don't remember where I saw that... maybe I internalized it? Not sure. I've had after work (and before that, after school) snacks for years... but I had to work with a nutritionist for B12 related reasons (I don't get enough!) and she suggested having midmorning snacks as well at a regular time... the regular time thing is something I'm working on, but when the school year starts back up that'll be way easier I think. I've heard that! I read a bunch of articles on WHEN to buy tickets, and they said that 6-7 weeks can have be good deal, but sometimes it's not worth the risk. I know right now is probably optimal time to buy tickets, and a lot of what I'm trying to do is figure out the route... Do I leave from Seattle? Do I drive up to Bellingham or Vancouver or down to Portland to get a better deal? Is it best to buy one-way tickets? Tuesdays I didn't know about though - so I'll keep that in mind. Thanks! My birthday's not until Friday... I'm kind of glad that this challenge starts AFTER my birthday because I know I'm going to eat terribly and engage in horrible sleeping habits. Last year I went skydiving, so this year will definitely be a bit more low key, haha.

(This isn't me, it's Tina Fey) I've never posted in a specific guild beyond rebels when doing a challenge, but I thought this time I'd try my hand as an adventurer (what I really see myself as) despite the facts that my actual goals this time around will fit in better with other guilds? I don't know, I still don't totally get how the whole guild thing works (I realize that I am not endearing myself to anybody... many apologies) So, adventurer - I've always felt like an adventurer, and it makes sense to me, so I'm sticking with it. Please tell me if I need to move somewhere else. Here are my goals. 1. Go to sleep Oh yes, sleeping. That thing. I have a habit of staying up late... so let's try to fix it! But let's go a little bit deeper. I have idiopathic hypersomnia (I like to say that I'm a hypersomniac) and so for years I stayed up late and woke up early... If I'm going to be tired, I may as well stay up late... but I'm on medication now so maybe cool my jets? It doesn't work and I've been more tired than usual because I'm taking half steps to fix the problem - medication without necessarily changing my behavior. So lets work on that. Keeping in mind that I won't be able to give up staying awake cold turkey, I need to work towards this. I propose the following: Go to sleep by 10 three nights in a row a week. Obviously I'd like to build on this, but this is a good start. If it's too easy, I'll adjust. If it's too hard, well, I'll work on sleep meditation. Which brings me to: 2. Yoga and Meditation I've been fairly good at doing bodywork exercises with occasional bouts of strength training thrown in. But rest days have involved a lot of rest, if you know what I mean... you don't? Me either. Here's the deal - my bed is pretty comfortable. After a long hard day of sleeping, I just don't have the energy to get up and do anything... SO! I will try to fix that. Being flexible is pretty sweet. So is being able to concentrate and free myself from stress! My goal: Engage in yoga and meditation a minimum of twice a week. For meditation, I would like to stick with guided meditation for now until I'm more comfortable (also that's all I really know because we had those tapes when I was a kid and I fell asleep to them the entire time). For yoga, I can do at-home videos (real stuff... I can do the easy five-ten minute videos as addendums, but not as the whole case) in between my heavier workout days. Bonus points for being adventurous - check out a nearby yoga studio to get some help and see if they offer free classes. A yoga mat and blocks may be good as well? Whatever, details suck! Which dovetails nicely into: 3. Make plans Last challenge I worked on making sure I was eating right. I did well! Hurrah! Now I need to get more organized. This includes tracking my food intake and making meal plans and and and and and... I'm not too worried. This is doable. The issues, of course, are eating late at night - hence needs for snacks (I thinks snacks are discouraged here, but my nutritionist told me to go for it - my snacks are usually apples and almond butter or whey protein or yogurt with honey and almonds (ABFAB!) so they're not unhealthy... provided I don't buy candy, of course). In a way, I'm glad this starts the weekend after my birthday... because after my birthday I usually detox and try to change for the better... last year I stopped drinking for a month but that was mostly because of the seizures. So figuring out accountability - starting somewhere, here's my plan: Plan one full week's worth of meals and then follow that plan. That's right - I need to sit down, come up with a schedule, and follow it. This shouldn't be too bad - I tend to make leftovers. But I also have to make sure I work in all of my necessary vitamin B12, so... this will involve some research and some modification. I think it'll be okay. I hope it'll be okay. One week feels like a cheat, but every other time I've sat down and tried to do so I've been super distressed, so... a week is good. I only have to plan for a week. It should be possible. 4. Australia I'm going to Australia in December for two whole weeks! I've booked my hotel... but not my plane tickets. I spend a lot of time looking for cheap flights (because duh) but that can often mean that I have no flights at all. Oops. I've looked at different options - while I think it may be helpful to ask for help, the main thing, honestly, is buying the tickets so I can get over there on time and not just stay at home for Christmas, sitting in the dark. So obviously, to succeed: Buy plane tickets by August. Prices are going up... but I need to do some more research to see if there are cheaper options. Which airport should I fly out of? Are there tricks or times to buy? I need to do research... and ask for help here. So let's get that done. Not sure when I'll check in - hopefully regularly? Anyway, not sure if I'll reward myself for this... I may have to go shopping for clothes for my trip, but I figure wait until there are some sales going on (hurrah!) and that will be over holidays! So not focused on that - maybe just the achievement of somebody telling me that I look like I've lost weight. Oh, and I probably need to go to a doctor to ask about my wrist. Fun stuff! Anyway, my goals. They feel easy, so that should be okay. I'm going to continue on strength training and body weight exercises (as those are needed for my overall goal). I'll also be in Michigan for part of this which will likely cause hell with sleeping... but we'll see. Hopefully I'll be able to get some adventuring in up there - we're definitely getting a boat so waterskiing is a possibility - but I'll have to check with my neurologist first. Either way, I feel like I've got this settled and I'm ready to go. Let's get it done.

Here are some things that are good - today I woke up early and made pancakes (paleo ones)... they were okay, but I'm glad I did it. I also made pad thai (using spaghetti squash) over the weekend. I feel great about that. Work has settled down a bit, but is still somewhat crazy. My dad's birthday is tomorrow. My birthday is on Friday. I need to try new things.