Jayniana Jones

Yeah! You're doing great. I'm super impressed with all your progress this round.

My hubby mentioned getting our passports for our anniversary present in July. That'll be another item to check off on my epic quest list. Then I'll have to decide where to go with it.

Checking in. Buddy and I are enrolled in the next class we need to do agility.

Overall it looks like you are doing well. You photo comparison had to be a great feeling for you to see. I can relate to the struggle of trying to keep up with everyone and your own thread. On a note with your scoliosis. I highly recommend going to a chiropractor. I spent years going to one doctor after another with each one having a different answer. One told me the pain was because I was female. Some told me back pain was hard to diagnose since there are so many variables. One told me there was nothing that could be done until it was time to fuse my spine together. Boo! I went to a chiropractor and learned parts of my spine and hips were out of alignment. It took a few months to get everything fixed so I didn't have pain. I was also shown a number of exercises that helped prevent the pain from coming back. The chiropractor will be able to explain what's going on and what you can do about it. Your troubles may not be related to your scoliosis but could be caused by some of the exercises you are doing. Especially if you jump into something too fast too soon. (This is often my downfall.) Inflexible/weak hamstrings and weak core muscles are a huge culprit to back pain because we all tend to slouch and not pay attention to how we move when we aren't working out. Here are some things I remember doing to rebuild the strength and flexibility and fix my back pain. Do a one leg hamstring stretch with a chair and hold for 30 seconds multiple times throughout the day. http://www.stretching-exercises-guide.com/images/hamstring_3.jpg Small leg raises. Lie on your back and raise one leg about six inches from the ground and hold for 10-15seconds. Repeat 5-10 times. Touch your toes. Do a bent legged boat pose. Do bridge pose and hold for 15-30 seconds. http://www.ahealthblog.com/wp-content/uploads/Bridge-Yoga-Pose.jpg Once you can do the bridge pose, lift one leg up so that it is in line with your body. Hold for 10 seconds and then lower it back down. Repeat for the other side. Do a few times. Those are the ones I remember off the top of my head. All the exercises worked towards the goal of being able to balance on a wobble board so that no side touched the floor. Wobble boards are a bit pricey, so at home, I balance on an exercise ball (sit on it with your feet off the ground) as a way to check my core strength.

Not sure if anyone answered your question. I have a mild case of scoliosis and can do most things. Twists have to be avoided completely. If your core strength isn't strong the arching of your back may not be the best (but the exercises can be done in the future with great care). Also, if you feel pain in your spine skip this one. However, if you have no discomfort, boat pose followed by a very gentle superman where only the upper half of your body is raised or your lower half of your body is raised may be an okay alternative if accepted by the Captain @Hazard.

Jerky is another handy standby. Your "hangriness" could be a sugar crash.

Hee hee.

Another handy resource that I use frequently for planning road trips is http://roadtrippers.com. You can filter by the type of things you want to see along the way. Some of the items that pull up are a hoot. I like your pretty graphs. From the looks of things, you're doing well considering all the juggling you're doing.

Hmm. I was thinking about this last night. Maybe you need a setup similar to the astronauts?

Catching up on my reading. It looks like you're having more wins this round. I hope the rest of your week got better.

Bummer about the weather. I hope it improves for you. I'm not a runner by trade but are there other exercises you can do that can train the endurance and muscles needed for running that could be done when the boat is rocking like crazy?

Weekly update: Hmm. I think this is one of those challenge rounds where I'm learning to go with the flow, pay attention to what I need, and pay attention to the calendar before getting too ambitious. This week I needed to breathe in between running everyone around (for some reason I thought this would be my slow week). I am fiddling with an art journal to help my mind cope with worry and such. That got more attention than my writing. I met with a podiatrist this week because I'm having severe ankle and foot pain (on the same leg with the knee issues) at the end of the day. It turns out I have plantar fascitis. I meet with a separate physical therapist this week to start fixing that because the concern is my foot pain will affect my knee rehab. I have a night brace that I'm supposed to wear to help stretch the tendon but I can't stand the pain so I wear it for as long as I can stand in the evening when sitting on the couch. Here's the status of my challenge: My yoga streak is still going. I'm on day 174. Rehab is going well. I'm cleared to ride my bike on hills. Our road happens to be one of the scenic routes mentioned in many biking guides. I couldn't go far but I was excited to feel the wind on my face. One lesson though don't grin when bugs are coming at you. My canvas got attention. I did some underpainting for rocks. The canvas is looking messy but I'm still getting shapes in place. I'll post a pic this week of my progress. I'm waiting for it to dry at the moment. Writing - This one I got about 3 1/2 hours in this week. Not as much as usual. I spent time reading my manuscript, scribbling notes, and making tweaks to existing things. I wrote the story out of order (usually I write start to finish). I have a few transition scenes to write to make everything flow. I'm thinking I'll make up some of the words I'm behind this week. If I'm super crazy and want to catch up I need to write about 16,000 words. We'll see. Eating was better. Not perfect but I won't stress about it. I did 4 out of 7 days of resisting temptation. As promised last week, here are the pictures. I thought it'd be fun to show a before picture and then an after. I didn't realize it until I took the photos, but my new brace is almost the same color as my bedroom wall. It's almost double the thickness of Ed. I haven't named it yet because my teens said it has to be a positive name. (The black one in the before picture was named CRAP.) I suggested Kablooey but it didn't meet approval. This week will be smooth climbing. I just know it.

Sounds like a fun weekend. And, just think, getting woke up at 2am adds more flare to your story.

Not sure if your westerly trek takes you through Wisconsin, but if you are camping and going along highway 94 towards St. Paul, there's a state park in Wisconsin called Willow River that has a pretty waterfall and some trails with great views. Also, if you end up near northern Indiana and love gummy candies, the Albanese Candy Factory in Merrillville, Indiana has fresh made gummy candies. They give free samples. Not exactly health food but it's a nice stretch break. Also, the super huge chocolate fountain is fun to see as well. I have a weakness for gummies and we frequently stop there on our way to Ohio to visit family. Your car setup sounds cozy. I'm sure you'll have fun. There is so much to see along the way.

I've never heard of that before. I can only imagine the chilliness. At the moment, I have to ice my knee and ankle with a cryo cuff. On bare skin, I don't last long.

You know, I've seen that look before. My hubby usually wants me to hug him after a run like that. It makes me want to run away. I did a happy dance for you on sending out your query letter. That, my friend, is progress in the right direction. Now, I challenge you... you did it once, how about you try it again? Think of it as trying to do a pull-up for the first time ever. Obviously, you didn't stop or you wouldn't have graduated to the rings. A rejection is just like not being able to do a pull-up... hmm. I'll have to think about whether I truly believe that or not. However! In this case, let's pretend it's true. The more you try, the closer you'll get your chin over that writing bar. Your mentioning of the age of your kids and your vacation made me smile. We had taken our kids to Disney World when they were 5 and 6. The plan was to stay for a week in a condo about ten minutes from Disney. Of course, since Orlando is just about the same distance from each coast we also visited both coasts. After the first day at Disney our kids only wanted to play in the fountains that were part of the town of Disney (you don't have to pay to shop in the town), swim in the pool outside of our condo, and build sand castles on the coastal beaches. They didn't care about Disney World too much. We were probably the first parents who actually had to negotiate with our kids to go to Disney just so we could see the fireworks. Unfortunately, as teens, they have no memory of this nor our other trips when they were so young. We don't regret the trips, but we frequently tease them that my hubby and I could've had some really nice vacations just the two of us.

Haha. You're welcome. Nice job for not breaking the streak. As a warning, as the number gets bigger it's harder to justify breaking it. It looks like you are doing some amazing things. I hope the market went well yesterday.

I just finished reading that book. My hubby and I are planning to tackle it with the intention of having a few garage sales along the way. Our garage is the most intimidating. However, I have a feeling it may not be as bad as it looks.

Those are beautiful!

Woohoo! I'm cheering on a fellow writer! It's a quieter week for me this week, so I'll read more later.

Not a bad week considering your sick day. I'm happy to read that you're gaining superhero strength by destroying a pull-up bar. Too bad your new found strength didn't help you beat Ms. Rogue (us ladies are tough).

Whew! I thought I lost you and now I found you. I'll catch up on reading your plans soon.

I'm in now that I discovered the challenge continues. I like the twist. I have two things. My first one is to finish my first draft of my novel by July 15. The second one is to enroll Buddy in a training class by the end of the month to refresh his skills for agility training.

Weekend recap. My yoga streak is still going. I managed to end last week with 2,432 words written. My canvas got some attention on Saturday. Here are my progress pictures: Week 0 was an underpainting. Oddly, my wall is a bright yellow and, on my end, in this photo the wall looks green. Anyways, I call this canvas "An Ode to Chocolate" Week 1 - I chalked in the shapes and got some water in place. I'm a bit surprised on how much paint I'm going through, which is fine because it means more trips to the art store. My brace pics will be coming soon. I thought of an idea for a before and after type shot and need my hubby's help. Today I wrote 2,132 words, completed day 168 of my yoga streak, finished my rehab, homeschooled and enjoyed spending almost my entire day outside. It was a high of 78 degrees F. The only thing I didn't do outside was my writing session because I haven't figured out how to comfortably see my screen in the sun.

Thanks for the encouragement. The timing when I read it on Saturday was good because I almost ditched writing for the day. Thanks. Thanks.