PettyMort

According to the blogs, yes. Trying the first load now.

I remember talking to @WhiteGhost about dryer sheets before. Well, I just leveled up my laundry game by making my own reusable dryer sheets using nothing but softener and some old socks. Next time I'll try the dry version. If this works, it's going to save plenty of space in my luggage for new clothes and flu medicine instead...

Sweet mother of... This one is next. Actually, the other day my students and I did some spontaneous yoga at home-time, and all of those little 5 year old brats with their flexibility and low centers of gravity could do it. I think I know exactly how/where/with whom I'm going to take this next picture.

The gym is closed until the 7th. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! *starts collecting darebee workouts*

Derp, even after explanation I totally misunderstood this challenge and thought that 1. We had to think of 4 challenges in the topics for each week 2. Work on all four during the week. So, nice. I completed the combat challenge! See ya, dust bunnies!

That's an interesting idea. I get pretty obsessed with times, and tend to go after "round numbers" (my mild OCD coming into play). Eg. if I planned to go to sleep at 11:30 but now it's 11:47 then I'll wait until midnight before sleeping. Irrational but it soothes me in a weird way? Having no clock and not looking at my phone would probably do wonders. I accidentally left my wristwatch off for a whole week and it was a wonderful week. Have you seen wonder woman yet? *insert reference to a certain scene here*

Oh hey, @WhiteGhost, I google translated and apparently 茼蒿 is Garland Chrysanthemum. Not just good tea, but good eatin' too! Link for proof: http://www.healwithfood.org/health-benefits/garland-chrysanthemum-leaves.php

Wow, as an introvert living with an introvert, having something every day sounds like HELL to me! Ha ha. I mean, I gaze in wonder and respect at people who can do that (like my mom), but when the two of us have a busy social weekend we generally need two weeks of nothing to recover. But it does help to know when everyone is available for planning the rare things we do go to; my girlfriends and I shared our work schedules with each other and I compiled them into a weekly spreadsheet with available times highlighted in green. Now it's easy to plan when we do what with whom because we can pick days that suit the people we want there. Surreptitiously it also helps me avoid the one person in the group who (unintentionally) causes me a lot of anxiety without being tactless or rude to her.

Oh wow, sounds like this week has been on the verge of slapstick comedy for you. They say the key to great comedy is that it is, at its core, tragedy. Good for you for sticking with it though and finding ways to tweak the plan to make it work. Unrelated but you totally just motivated me to go get my bike that I have left at work for a month. Going to take a taxi there and ride it home. Thanks!

That does look interesting... I'll try it next time. Our Haidilao is the first one in the city (I think) so the waiting area has about 50 full tables of board games, snacks and drinks, as well as about 15 chairs to sit in to wait to get to the waiting area, and the manicure desk (which only has room for two at a time? COME ON! Luckily we were in a VIP room with reservations so we didn't have to wait at all. It was great, although I would probably stick with our usual hotpot place (downstairs from Haidilao) and do HDL for special occasions/visitors. I think the food quality between the two places is about the same. In other news Work made it virtually impossible to stay on track with nutrition this week, from the fatty zongzi we got for the long weekend, to cake TWICE for birthdays, and hotpot+karaoke followed by a buffet dinner the next night... I did my best to stick to the healthiest options where I could, but it will be nice to settle back into a healthy routine in the week to come. Saw Wonder Woman last night and it was amazing. When I did my last huuuuuge respawn about a year or two ago, I picked Wonder Woman as my mascot. The Texan got me a bunch of stuff (WW underwear, socks, sleep wear, hoodie, etc) and I did the hero's journey on Darebee. So it had a bit of extra oomph for me. I loved watching her kicking ass all night. I feel inspired. Still don't have a key to the pool so no swimming this weekend, but I'll do some darebee and yoga with Adrienne because I feel horribly bloated from all this irregular eating. My stomach has been in rebellion for days and shows no sign of improving. Might have to do a day of oatmeal and probiotic yoghurt at this point. Waiting for my trainer to tell me if the gym is open again yet. Time to think up some more Samwise Gamgee goals and catch up on all the threads I follow.

Triangle pose: the "I forgot I had plants" edition. RIP.

Woooooo you made your thread and I only just saw it now. Love it! How has the first week been? Following to watch you kick ass.

Yeah, apparently it has green stuff in it too. It's a new Hai Di Lao that just opened up in our city. Waiting line a block long (so long that they have board games and tables to pass the time while you wait) and we had 3 separate private shows in our VIP room - face-changing mask guy, noodle spinning guy, and some kind of synchronised/zumba group dance. It was pretty awesome, as far as awkward dinners with coworkers go. I had a good time, and I'm still full. Now we have buffet tonight... and we just had cake for my co-teacher's birthday. This is hard.

Whoops, I really suck at updating regularly. Well, here's a brief overview of this week's successes: Food Mostly managed to stay on track minus a couple of ice creams (tiny haagen dasz tubs) and diet cokes. My stomach has been rebelling since Monday, which is no fun. Went out for hotpot dinner with my coworkers last night (and karaoke) and I only ate the fruit, veg and meat, so that was good. Drank too much of the smoky plum juice though... It's so yummy. I'm pretty satisfied with my food choices this week. Ordered pizza for the Texan's dinner when I got home and I didn't even think of asking him for a bite (which he hates me doing anyway). Fitness Still haven't made it to the gym... because it's closed at the moment for an exhibition. That's what happens when you go to gym in the Expo center. I'm making up for it with swimming though. Swimming Went to the pool and realised I'd left my swimming cap and waterproof ipod at home, so I didn't get any hours towards my book (which I have to restart anyway because the one working earphone kept falling out). Borrowed the Texan's cap because he didn't really feel like swimming anyway, and discovered that I swim better without the ipod distraction after all. I set myself the goal of 50 laps of anything, and an hour later I was done. Paced myself by switching to different muscle groups when I needed too, speeding up to boost my heart rate or slowing down and focusing on form, trying different breathing patterns and repeating stroke exercises I vaguely remember from the swimming team in high school. My SwimPro training app was too slow to load so I just did what felt good and boy did it feel good. The first four laps were a slow slog, but by the time I got to the last ten, I was so in the zone that I barely noticed the bits between turns. 1250m completed, with gusto, and all I want to do is get back in the pool after work, but they're having a celebratory buffet because our (brand new) school got accredited in record time. Reading Still slogging through A Court of Mist And Fury but I might just ditch it in favour of something better. It's really... not that great. I don't get the hype. I'm used to reading stuff with an entertainment value similar to shows like Legion, House of Cards or West World, with depth of character and complex world-building that is evocative and can pull me totally out of my day-to-day. With ACOMAF I just feel like I'm reading words on a page about people I don't really like or care about. Meh. Cleaning/Laundry Managing to mostly stay on top of it, and I've been making an effort to pick up a bit before bed every night, just to keep the areas that I cleaned cleaner. The new furniture arrangement is better too. Miserable Yoga This has been the highlight of my week. I've been trying to find time and a miserable setting for my next pose... Maybe surrounded by my students' annoying, incessantly beeping science projects? Could work. Samwise Gamgee - Planks and Pushups I've done a couple but not every day like I said I would. Give myself half a point for this. - Kitchen stuff Been staying mostly out of the kitchen... whoops. - Cleaning See above. - Hanging Strength I've been hanging here and there but nothing serious or committed; nothing that's going to make me make any progress. I could be working harder on this. Overall I'd give myself about 75% for this week, but that's not too bad considering I've been recovering from this sinus infection. It's mostly gone now. I just wish the pool was open on weekends. It's Friday!

Deep lunge/crescent. Clean all the things!

High five for a weekend off + cleaning - that's exactly what I did too. Sometimes it's nice to just do your thing without the extra pressure.

I've been a rockstar today. No, I didn't throw my TV out the window or do a lot of drugs. Quite the opposite, actually. I cleaned the living room, dining area, kitchen, our bedroom, my cosmetics sink area and rearranged some furniture. I also aced the Miserable Yoga PVP and conquered my Samwise Gamgee minis before lunch. Behold! Aaaaaaaah it does serious wonders for my mental health. So clean! So shiny! Much wow! Let's not talk about the laundry now, ok?

*obsessively refreshes so she can take her next turn*

She's beauty and she's grace She's yoga miserable face Surrounded by all the laundry she has to do Nothing from Lululemon Pure, oasis of calm Ha More like miserable pit of despair Here lies Gurdris Choked to death by her own boobs Ten second timer be damned Not all poetry Rhymes Feeble attempt at a lotus shoulder stand.

I'm feeling much better, so I killed two mini quests with one stone - started the deep clean of the apartment with the kitchen (combat + cooking). Switched the root veggie (potatoes, onions, ginger etc) cupboard with the assorted cooking pots/tupperware cupboard to make it easier to get to stuff, and realised I need some kind of shelving system to organise the pantry, the root veggies and the cooking implements. Time to take some measurements and scour the chinese online shopping sites... Before and after of the kitchen (I didn't do the dishes because that's one of the Texan's only chores and I couldn't be arsed). Before After: The fridge magnets are our mementos from all the places we've travelled to together: Malaysia (where we got engaged), Singapore, Japan (where we met), Korea (where we lived), Mauritius (where I'm from), Botswana & Zimbabwe (our first Christmas with my family), Texas (where he's from) and others. Epic quest tracking! Also did my plank this morning and it was double the time of yesterdays (60 count compared to 30 count). Got out my resistance band to try to work on pull up progressions but the resistance band I bought is incredibly dumb (cannot be tied to things and too short to loop around the bar) so I'll stick to hanging and standing on chairs for now. I feel like I'm winning at life today and it's only just gone noon.

With the heat and that wind it sounds like an awesome storm is brewing. I've been lurking along here but I'm so glad you found your forum friend. And I'm so sorry about Socks. Things will be crap for a while but then they will get better. Keep doing what you're doing - addressing your physical and emotional needs one day at a time. It will get better.

Welcome back! You've got this.

Oh yes! I rolled a 19. Child's pose surrounded by the tissues. I'm battling a sinus infection.

Had a conversation with my trainer to tell him I won't be coming in tomorrow. I told him how it feels like every time I'm ready to go back to the gym, something else goes wrong and I can't - my period, sinus infection, what's next? He asked if I'm thinking of giving up, to which I replied: