Muir

Week 2 Thursday Ugh. Motivation, will power, and the joy of doing things is pretty much gone right now. I don't think I'm burned out, because I still want to do the things, but "ugh" is my first reaction when I even think about doing any of the things. This even includes watching Netflix, playing games, and reading, which are three things that I enjoy the most. 1. Crochet I'm halfway through the third square. Should be able to get this done tonight. Squares: 2/3 2. Cook I used a pack of microwave rice and some dry rice, a leftover chicken breast (I bought some ready to eat chicken poppers so that everyone would get a full portion of protein), some fresh salad veggies (cucumber, tomatoes, onions), spices, and a bag o' salad to make a really nice and healthy chicken rice salad meal last night. It didn't go over too well though. P said he liked the rice and the salad was good but it wasn't very filling, Paul didn't comment on it at all other than commenting on the "pop corn chicken" (he ate everything including the salad though). T was the worst, saying "Why don't you just tailor the recipes you're cooking so we'll all eat them?". He also said it wasn't filling at all and made it clear that he was going to bed feeling hungry. Just ugh. The thing is, I already tailor the recipe so that he'll eat it. I've been fixing two different meals each night - one for me and P with lots of herbs, seasoning, and spices, and a super bland version for T. (Paul sometimes eats what P and I eat and sometimes eats what T eats, depending on what I cook each night) If I only fixed the bland version, supper last night would have been plain white rice with unseasoned chicken and sliced cucumber. And that's no fun at all. T is upset because he "can't eat anything" that I've been cooking. He can, he just won't, because he doesn't like food with herbs and spices and only likes a fraction of the food that P and I eat. Sod it. Tonight I'm fixing slow cooked pot roast in a gravy made from oxtail soup. It will be tasty and I will completely enjoy it. 3. Clean My and P's bedroom is almost done! Just need to vacuum the floor and put the laundry that I put in there this morning away. 4. Class Started working on a previous class project (Lesson 2, Game Scorer app). I completed the app to rubric specifications back when I was working on the second lesson, but I didn't 100% complete the app itself. It was an overly ambitious project that I was not ready to tackle back then, so instead of coding in the score cards for all 4 table top games, I left it with just one completed. Now I'm going back and slowly getting the other four working, starting with Caverna. The score card design is now in the app, but none of the buttons actually do anything yet. I'll get that done over the weekend, most likely. 5. Exercise Isles I have 13.4 miles left of the cycle challenge. Getting done by Sunday is totally doable. I just need to cycle on the floor pedals for at least 80 minutes today and tomorrow or get out and do some real cycling for about two hours total. It looks pretty good outside today; cloudy and chances of rain, but relatively warm, so I should be able to get out on my bike today hopefully. Miles Cycled: 18/31.4

That is a beautiful pattern!

Johnny 5 is alive! Classic film. Come back in week 3, @Jarric and beat the pants off of it!

I've been feeling a bit out of sorts as well lately. Just have very little motivation to do anything and when a thing does get done, something happens to bring my sense of accomplishment down, which leads back to having a lack of motivation. Stupid vicious cycles. Let's yell at them together. Maybe they'll go away.

Very quick update for Week 2 Wednesday because I'm super busy today. 1. Crochet I finished a second square Tuesday night. One more square and this C will be sailed! Squares: 2/3 2. Cook Last night was games night, so was my day off cooking. 3. Clean I organised the desk, the storage on top of the dresser, and all of the shelves. It looks so much better in there now! I'll have to take a picture Saturday after I've made the bed. 4. Class I got zero work done, but that's pretty normal for games night. 5. Exercise Isles. I didn't do as much cycling as I wanted to, but I did get 40 minutes on the floor pedals before I headed into Leeds. Miles Cycled: 12/31.4 I was a derp yesterday and misread the hospital appointment letter. It said Wednesday, 26th April, which for some reason I thought was yesterday. Stupid brain. So I travelled all the way there only to find out my mistake. Since I had to be in Leeds by 17:30 to catch my ride to games night, I decided to stay in the centre, have lunch (Philly cheese steak sandwich), get my hair cut, and get Easter chocolates. Also walked about 4 miles, so yay for exercise!

I've found so many good recipes by doing this! I'm going to have to make up a recipe book next! Yesterday it was warm, but rainy, and today looks about the same. (And by rainy I mean just heavy enough that I can't cycle safely due to not being able to see well. *sigh* I just can't seem to win this week. Think I'm going to end up doing the challenge with the floor pedals exclusively. I'll have to redo the challenge in another month or two once the summer weather gets here. (What a hardship. /sarcasm)

Yay for new crochet projects! Also, yay for crochet puns!

There are so many dragon hoard pictures!

Week 2 Tuesday The weather fairies hate me, I swear. 1. Crochet. I crocheted part of another square last night, but didn't get it finished yet. It can't be counted until it's finished, so for now it's on my desk taunting me. Squares: 1/3 2. Cook Supper tonight was Salsa Chicken. I took two chicken breasts, seared them in a frying pan, then baked them on a grill tray for 30 minutes. Then I transferred them to a ceramic dish lined with Chinese cabbage, covered them in chunky tomato salsa, and put a slice of chilli cheddar cheese on top. After garnishing them with a few cherry tomatoes, I put them back in the oven for another 30 minutes. Once they were done, they were served on a bed of Mexican rice and surrounded by steamed peas and broccoli. I also went shopping today and got the majority of the ingredients needed for the rest of the week. Still need to get some mashed potatoes (frozen or instant) and a bag o' salad. Shopping cost for the week: less than £30. 3. Clean. I didn't get any cleaning done today, but I'm still on schedule thanks to doing two days worth of jobs on Monday. I just have to remember to do the shelves tomorrow before I leave for my hospital appointment. 4. Class. All 3 of the suggestions made by the mentors were implemented today. I had a bit of trouble getting my head around saving and retrieving data by using Intents, but I got there in the end. If anyone is interested in taking a look at my code, you can find it over here. 5. Exercise Isles. I got quite a bit of walking in today, but no cycling. It was quite chilly again today; I actually needed my winter coat when I went shopping this morning. By the time I got home, I had just enough time to work on my course project before having to start fixing supper. Tomorrow I'll do as much floor cycling as I can before I need to leave to catch up. 8/31.4 miles

Win! Good job! Also, the burrito bowls sound yummy

The balance must be restored!

Love it!

That is such beautiful scenery!

As usual, I've changed things up a bit. I just can't resist moving schedules around for some reason. Week 2 Monday 1. Crochet. I finished one square last night. Squares: 1/3 2. Cook. One of the things I changed was making the rice pudding tonight instead of Saturday. The reason is because T bought a bunch of bananas last week and hasn't eaten hardly any of them. They need to be eaten before they go bad and he won't eat them because they're "too ripe". Another change is moving everything on the menu up a day because tomorrow I'm fixing Salsa chicken. So now, Thursday will be the Kachumber Salad, Friday will be Pot Roast, and so on. 3. Clean I actually did today's and Wednesday's chores today. The drawers look so much better than they did before I started. Now if only they'd stay that way. I have an appointment at the hospital Wednesday for some blood tests, so I might have to move things around a bit, but we'll see. 4. Class I talked with people on Slack and took on board some suggestions by the course mentors. No actual programming got done, but that's OK as I needed the day off. I'll start implementing the mentor's suggestions tomorrow. 5. Exercise Isles I started the yes.fit New Year race today by doing indoor cycling. I did two lengths of 40 minutes each, both of which were non-stop. As I said above, it takes me about 30 minutes to cycle 4 miles on my outdoor bike, so 40 minutes on my indoor pedals should work out to be about the same distance. You can follow along with me by accessing this map, which shows the starting point and my current location on the route. 8/31.4 miles.

A very noticeable difference between the two photos. Well done!

I'm making a slight adjustment to my virtual cycling race. I went outside this morning and it was too cold for my hands to handle, so I'm going to allow the use of my floor bike on days like this. Normally, when I go cycling, I go into Leeds centre, which is about 4 miles from home. It takes me around 30 minutes to cycle, so for every 40 minutes of non-stop cycling on my floor bike, I'll count that as the equivalent of cycling 4 miles on my actual bike. Hopefully tomorrow will be warm and dry so I can actually get out on the proper bike.

I've looked in the pantry and have found some recipes to help get rid of more food. Tuesday: Kachumber Salad with Pilau Rice and Dump Cake Wednesday: (games night, no cooking) Thursday: Pot Roast made with a tin of oxtail soup, carrots, and peas, served on mashed potatoes. Friday: Home made Calzones Saturday: Meatloaf Muffins, using a box of stuffing as the binding agent and a cheating version of Coconut Raisin Rice Pudding (it's cheating because I'm going to be using a tin of rice pudding instead of making it from scratch) The puddings are optional, but if I do fix them, I'll consider this goal to be exceeded.

Yay! That's really good, Def!

Saturday is totally understandable. I mean, if you can't eat hot cross buns two weeks on either side of Easter, then what's the point of Easter? Well done on bouncing back. You had a few bad days, but you rallied yourself and had a really good day on Sunday. That, my friend, is the way to do it! Wow! That's fantastic!

Week 2 Sunday Two goals out of 5 exceeded for last week. What will this week hold? There's only one way to find out! FIGHT!!! 1. Crochet As usual, 3 squares is my goal this week. Squares: 0/3 2. Cook Again, one meal per day that I'm home. Still working on the pantry. Will look up recipes tomorrow and do any needed shopping on Tuesday. Tomorrow though I'm going to be cooking up the Creamy Ham and Potato Bake that I was supposed to cook yesterday. 3. Clean This week I'm going to work on cleaning my and P's bedroom. It's small, so I should easily be able to clean it in a week. Monday: Go through dressers, getting rid of any clothes which are ripped, torn, missing buttons, etc. Tuesday: Organise shelves. Wednesday: Further organise dressers by moving the clothing that isn't worn often into the main bedroom dressers. Thursday: Bring down any dirty laundry to be cleaned and vacuum floor. Friday: Dust Saturday: Wash bedding. 4. Class This week I'll make any improvements to my app and code that the mentors suggest and work on improving/completing my overly ambitious project from lesson 2. I'll consider this goal to be met if I include suggestions made by the mentors in the quiz app and exceeded if I do that and get the score keeper app working for all four games. 5. Exercise Isles This week is a cycling challenge. It's been around 5 months since I've been able to cycle and I need to get back into it. Last week I walked 15k (~ 9 miles), this week I'm upping the ante by signing up to a 31 mile virtual race which will be done during the week. Only cycling counts, so any walking I get in will be considered extra exercise.

Week 1 Review This goal went well. Paul's blanket is now two rows closer to being finished! I didn't exceed the goal, but that's ok - this was a really busy week. There are 4 rows of 8 squares each left before the main part of the blanket is done. At my current speed of ~3 squares per week, the blanket should be done in time for Paul's birthday in August! I didn't cook one meal per day as P went to visit a friend on Friday and Saturday. Those two days I had leftovers from meals I cooked throughout the week. I'm still counting this goal as being met because I ate what I cooked throughout the week instead of opting for takeaway or frozen pizzas. Plus all the cooking I did put a small dent in the pantry, which is the main part of the goal - to eat all the food that's been sitting around for the last year. Paul's room got done during the week even though I had to double up one day. Yesterday he helped me with the final couple of things (vacuuming and handing up laundry). The kid really enjoys using the hoover; I must remember to let him do it more often! I actually exceeded this goal. The "prototype" is actually a complete app which satisfies all of the project rubrik. It was posted on the forums today and I'm awaiting feedback from the course mentors. That means I get to add £5 to the Loot Box! Yeah, this goal was definitely exceeded. Not only did I do an extra race during the week, but I also walked several times during the week, including 8 miles yesterday and 4 miles today, AND went to circuit training. New Loot Box Total: £20

Depends on if you're going for hygiene or environmental. It depends on how old your DW is. If you have a modern (i.e. 1-3 years old) DW, then it's more economical to not rinse (and saves water). If you have an older DW, then it might be best to give the dishes a quick rinse or soak before putting them in the DW. The reason is because the older DWs weren't engineered to be able to filter out food particles, whereas modern machines are equipped with sensors, super strong jets, and really good filters. Sorry if I'm feeding your weirdnesses. I saw these questions and couldn't resist talking about them. :3

That sounds like an awesome way to throw a party!

These are all good points. Thank you both for weighing in on it. You've both helped me come to my decision which is to count the goal as complete because I ate the leftovers instead of leaving them to go off which would have created waste. @Yasha92, my app is nowhere near as polished and well performing as other apps out there, but it does work and everyone has to start somewhere, right?

Week 1 Friday Another drive by late update. Sorry. 1. Crochet. This "C" has been sailed for this week, but I started on another square last night. Rows: 2/2 2. Cook. Question for you all! Since I'm not cooking until Sunday (because P isn't home to help me eat everything), should I count this week as a goal reached or goal failed? The goal was to cook one dish 6 days this week (sunday-saturday) but with all the leftovers in the fridge, I really can't justify cooking a large meal just for me. I did make a good sized dent in the pantry foods though, which is the whole reason for the goal. *sigh* I just don't know how to call this one. In any event, I had leftover vegetarian pasta sauce with a toasted pitta bread last night. 3. Clean. I organised Paul's stuffed toys, took his TV and DVD player out of his room, and transferred the majority of his clothes to the large dresser. Today (Saturday) I'm going to help him hang up his jeans, school uniforms, and collared shirts and supervise while he vacuums the floor. 4. Class. I spent so much time programming, trying to finish the app. Had to quit around 8pm as I was too mentally tired to be able to do any more. The good news is I only have the last screen (the results page) to do. It's going to have the score and a button which takes the user back to the first question so they can try to beat their score. Eventually I want to show a personal best score as well, but I'm going to keep the app nice and simple for now; I can always add more in later. 5. Exercise Isle. I went into Leeds to meet P for lunch yesterday and got about 3 miles of walking in.