courtneyc

I like my tombow brush lettering pens a lot and my white signo gel pen is fun for adding a little highlight in the final stages of projects.

I watch the odd online tutorial video and look around for inspiration. But honestly my favorite thing is to either have my daughter choose a word for me to play around with (less pressure when someone else chooses it!) or to just start experimenting with letterforms and strokes until I find something I really like. Then I'll build letters off that and maybe eventually come up with a word. If all else fails I find writing swear words repeatedly in fancy looking scripts to be highly amusing and relaxing.

Hope you're finding some time (or making it) for that self care!

Aaaaand I'm back. I got super overwhelmed that first week of the challenge and entered survival mode. I didn't abandon my goals for the challenge, but they have been modified heavily. I'm actually really proud of myself for taking progress over perfection. Long and short, the stress of starting up school and the new job and then adding in a bunch of goals, even ones I thought were realistic, broke my brain. Enough about that though. Let's get to the good stuff! I joined a climbing gym! It's in no way fancy, but having an activity vs. just a workout makes a world of difference for me. Plus, it gives me an environment beyond work, school, and my apartment to enjoy. A big win for my emotional and physical health! I started hand lettering and really enjoy it. It's creative, meditative, and a great evening activity to get lost in. I transferred the dreaded credit card debt that built up as a result of unemployment to an interest free account. Now I need to develop a realistic plan for payoff. For the most part I've been able to keep school work out of my evenings. Sometimes I do math homework with the tv going after my daughter goes to bed. I'm good with that since I'm already coming into that work with a solid understanding, so the tv turns what could be tedious rote calculations into something fairly enjoyable. So that's that. I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone has been up to this challenge

Ugh, so many annoying feelings the past couple of days! A perfect storm of hormones and snow days (the bane of my existence as a single parent attempting the work/school balance) has made the kickoff to this challenge rocky. Still, progress (however imperfect it may be) is being made. Budget and debt consolidation is in progress. Food log is started. I ordered some markers and pens to start working on my hand lettering in the evenings. Those are supposed to arrive today! Keeping school work relegated to the daytime hours has been challenging/impossible with my daughter home from school the first half of the week with the snow. It has me feeling like my standard for school as a non-traditional student should be to work ahead (possibly way ahead), because life is way too unpredictable and easily thrown off when juggling more schedules than just my own. Workouts have yet to happen but really need to. An active Courtney is a happy Courtney. Tonight I'll do one of my BW workouts even if I'm half asleep for it. Maybe I'll actually be able to sleep well as a result. That would be almost as magical as dragon friends.

Thanks all!

Thanks! I'm fairly new to YNAB, but I like their philosophy a lot!

Just took a look at GMB, and wow does that look like fun! Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on it.

Sure one could slay dragons, but that seems so laden with tropes of farm boys with swords. I don't even own a pair of overalls, and the only sharp blades I keep are in my kitchen. Personally I'd rather make friends with a dragon or two. Then I have awesome dragon friends. Maybe one lets me ride on its back. Maybe we just make s'mores and talk about life. Anyway...let's meet the dragons I'll be befriending over the next 4 weeks. Budget the Mighty The most intimidating of all my dragons. This dragon can only be befriended through brutal honesty, a willingness to make tough choices, and continual tending. This pragmatic dragon will bring me peace of mind and help me plan for the future. To befriend him I must: Create a basic budget (week 1) Consolidate debt (week 1) Update any spending through YNAB (daily as needed) Prioritize goals (week 2) ?? Beatrice the Productive I've already begun making friends with this dragon. She appreciates a companion who gets their shit done. To continue growing my friendship with her I need to keep a steady, thoughtful pace with my school and work days. Beatrice prefers to hangout during daylight and generally doesn't like to see anyone after 5pm. Engage her without good reason after dark at your own peril! The Funinator The Funinator just wants to have a good time but will start setting things on fire if you tell it the night's plans are to camp out in front of the tv. She's okay with it every once in awhile, it's just that there are so many more interesting things she'd rather do like make art or music or even curl up with a good book. The Funinator is also a great encourager of getting out of the house now and again, even if it is very, very cold outside. Bro the Built Bro can be a little much sometimes, but his intentions are good. Deep down he wants his friends to be happy and healthy and knows that getting them off their asses is the best way to do that. He hasn't been super pleased watching me eat my stress the last few weeks and suggested I start writing down everything I eat for the next 4 weeks. He was also way too excited when I told him that I missed feeling strong. He is "totally pumped" for me to try his new bodyweight routine 3x per week and supplement it with 20 minute yoga sessions 2x per week.

Things are a little calmer or at least I'm beginning to adjust to the new normal. I'm really happy with how this challenge went! My main goal was just to get back into the swing of challenges and making an effort as time allowed to be social on the boards. I don't have many goal oriented people in my day to day life, so finding community is important. And with that my first challenge back is completed! On to brainstorming the next one

I relate so much to this. I hope you'll give yourself permission to feel whatever it is you're experiencing at the moment.

Wednesday ended up being a good combination of productive and restorative. I made it a point to stop working after 5 and lose myself in a night of music and homemade pasta. The big life adjustments have me feeling a little anxious, but I'm trying to trust that within a week or two I'll have a better sense of how my time should be allotted. There are some identities and properties I need to brush up on for my math class. I wish I had thought to spend a bit of January reviewing, but I think browsing the text and some flashcards will give me more confidence. At least my Matlab class is feeling very manageable now that I have a framework for programming from studying Python. Day 17 Morning routine Calc 2 write section summaries and 1 HW pomodoro Mail rent and package Cancel Saturday appointment 2 Python pomodoros Watch week 4 part 1 Learning videos

I'm sorry it didn't work out this time, but I think that's really fantastic that you and your friend support each other that way. Hope your week is improving!

You're right. I try so hard to stay positive that it can turn on me when I'm truly struggling and feel anything but positive. Thanks for the reminder to be kind to myself

Day 14 First day of classes? Pick up school books Morning routine Matlab Class 2 pomodoros Python 1 pomodoro I am so incredibly ready for a "normal" day. The run of teacher work days, holidays, and partial snow days is killing my productivity. It doesn't help that my daughter is quite literally bouncing off the walls with energy. Meanwhile I'm trying to make it more than two days without a migraine, get my first semester back to school off to a decent start, and prep for this new job that starts in a couple days. Someone please call the wham-bulance. I struggle mentally/emotionally when my routine gets upset, which has been happening a lot the last week. Thankfully, I have a few days to myself coming up. Hopefully I'll be able to get a little breathing space while I adjust to adding in school and the new job. Day 15 Morning Routine Meeting for new job 2 videos and q&a for Matlab class 1 pomodoro organizing for calc2 2 Python pomodoros **Do something nice for yourself**