Rebel Pilot Gar

Our plans for the week got a bit chaotic. Came home from my doctors appoint Monday only for a delivery truck to shortly after take some wires down. No power lines luckily but the cable and internet were out for 2 days and my partner works from home. Finally got that resolved last night, without being mean to any of the cable phone help desk operators. Though I may have spent 40

+ mins fighting with the phone AI trying to get to a human. (Until I figured out that I had to pretend to have a billing issue to get through and then transferred to the right support team from there)

Adding give the dog a bath to the list. He seems to be licking his left front leg quite a bit. Not sure if some pollen at our new place is aggravating his skin but he is overdue for a bath anyway. We haven’t made any changes to his food in years but you never know. Also gives me incentive to get his annual checkups scheduled sooner than later so the vet can take a look if it’s still an issue. 
 

Hope everyone is doing well and having a less chaotic week than I did. 

I have only completed Nano two years when I was at university. I usually make an attempt and stop by November 15th…. It has been a while since I seriously attempted it.

Also I love your journals! The cousin book layout looks especially great, love all the stickers and washi tape.

Following! I tried the battle log life and it’s not quite as motivating as challenges are for me either. Seems like you have a good set of goals, cheering for you!

On 9/16/2023 at 11:26 PM, Sovalis said:

Popping in to say hi and see how it's going! 

On 9/17/2023 at 1:44 PM, Kalitraz said:

Congrats on the new house! Hope the move continues to go well.

Thanks both! 
 

We are living in the new place now for the past week. I really like the area - today we found a little hiking trail about a mile walk from the house which is awesome and may become our new weekend routine. But at the same time we are only 5-10 minutes drive from grocery store so we aren’t too remote, it’s almost a perfect balance. Everyone we have met seems really nice too.

I do still feel a bit overwhelmed by the amount of boxes to unpack. There’s a LOT of little stuff at the old house still to bring - my partner has one trip left and I have two for our “3 car loads” limit. We originally planned to get a dumpster this past weekend but decided to hold off on that for another week and instead focus on sorting through and unpacking what we already brought over. I think it was a good call. 

Tasks for the week:

* Buy and refill water softener salt 
* Doctor’s appt Monday 

* Schedule our dog’s annual checkup and specialist visits (all due in October)

* Unpack and put away at least 1 box daily

* Call plumber to help replace broken valves to refrigerator ice maker and washing machine. (Nothing like going to turn off a valve and having it snap instead. And the replacement part needs to be soldered on. (My partner is debating diy fix but I’m on team call a professional bc we have enough to deal with already)
* Pay utilities for old place

On 9/11/2023 at 12:57 PM, starpuck said:

One is a rendition of the photo I took in Nevada from our Airbnb of a beautiful mountain sunset.    The other was a 'Spoopy Season Forest' request from my friend.

Beautiful paintings! Not going to lie at first glance I thought the sunset picture was a photograph at first glance. 
 

I hope you rest well and feel better!

7 hours ago, Sovalis said:

Also, I missed telling you, but Saxon turned 6 this week! He's such a good pupper. A picture for tax: 

Awww happy birthday Saxon! Isn’t he a handsome boy? Especially those beautiful eyes (can you tell I’m a dog person? lol)

I know it’s almost over, but maybe your participation in the walking challenge can be the exercises that help your feet recover? It is kind of walking adjacent in that it supports you being able to continue developing walking / steps habits long after the challenge ends but without adding stress to what work is already providing for your daily activity levels.

On 9/9/2023 at 11:40 AM, Sovalis said:

Good luck! We are rooting for you!!! 

On 9/11/2023 at 2:49 PM, starpuck said:

Man this is all so exciting.

Also, I am taking notes.... for my eventual day!

 

Sounds like you guys are tackling it all really well though!

 

Thank you both! We successfully moved the big stuff without majorly hurting ourselves or pulling muscles, getting into an accident with the rented truck, or getting into a terrible argument. Though there was lots of teasing and a well placed thunderstorm gave us the incentive to move the last three items into the house very quickly. 
 

The following day we had some friends over to watch the first Sunday of American football. Our friends also helped us with house stuff including installing a new ceiling light without electrocuting ourselves (friend did the work, we held the tools and learned things), hanging the TV and troubleshooting Wi-Fi signal throughout the house so my partner could log into his work on Monday. 
 

It has been quite busy, we still have many small things to move from the old house before the end of the month. We decided that after 3 more trips anything left in the old house will be tossed /sold / donated because we had way too much clutter after 10+ years. (Will see how that statement goes lol) 

Thinking about the challenge, I believe a formal challenge with measured goals will be too much for me this round. I am going to change what success looks like this challenge by:

• Check-in and post on the forums at least 3 days / week ( rooting for others on their threads counts!)
• Post 1 picture of local flora or fauna from our new place per week OR 1 photo of a local adventure taken

I knew packing was a lot of work. Especially after spending 10 years in our current place. But it just seems increasingly daunting as we prep for the moving truck tomorrow. We are also maximizing difficulty by renting a truck and moving ourselves. Though it does in some ways minimize pressure be cause we won’t have movers we are paying waiting for us to pack up the thing so we are on our own timeline. 
 

We are also doing the steps in reverse, well if there are official “rules” for how to move. We plan to get a dumpster for anything we are disposing for next weekend, even though I think usually that is the first step? Idk last time I moved was from college and I could fit everything in a couple trips of my little hatchback. Now we have real furniture and things. 
 

I feel like a lot of the decluttering will occur at the new house while we are unpacking. It will be important to set limits there… while cleaning up here I unearthed some boxes buried at the bottom of a closet brought into the house 10 years ago and just sat…. Want to avoid that as much as possible this time around. 
 

Wish me luck for tomorrow, friends

Amazing rest day! I absolutely love fall/autumn and the cozy vibes as the seasons change! Hope the game went well and that you had a ton of fun with your friends

Following! Glad to hear your new job is going well and that your feet are holding up to the challenge! 
 

Ahh I’m lucky it’s zero week. Getting back to work after a bit of a break has been rough (there’s a lot of drama with another department right now). Between house and work it’s been tough to focus on my health goals or sitting down and budgeting. I have however been making the attempt to box up books and clothes to empty out furniture we will be moving on Saturday. 
 

Between today and tomorrow I also need to clean upholstery on the couch. One seat in particular is currently in front of a window and absolutely saturated with dog dander. Might as well deep clean it even though the dog is coming with us and will happily refill the couch with his fluff. 
 

We have been reaching out to contractors for quotes and are getting intermittent responses. Will divide and conquer (who reaches out to electrician, plumber, etc) and get the priority work organized. There is also currently a debate whether we need to install real fence (me) or half ass something with posts and chicken wire (partner). Septic tank needs some TLC (and would border fenced area) so the half assed is probably best until we get that done. Plus our senior dog isn’t an immediate flight risk to burst through as long as we monitor him while outside.…. 
 

All goes well by Saturday night we will be sleeping in the new place 

Fair, clean drinking water and not getting sick is important. Enjoy the concert! I’ll have to check his stuff out. I’m a big rock/metal person and my partner is more rock/pop/country so he might be a good combination of our tastes. 

On 9/5/2023 at 10:54 PM, starpuck said:

Played a bunch of Palia and watched more LA By Night.

Oooh how are you liking Palia so far? I have played a bit but my computer time is quite interrupted by house stuff currently. It seemed pretty chill and beautiful graphics (though the typical beta bugs) from the time I did get to check it out.

23 hours ago, starpuck said:

I was working on Linus and Lucy, then shifted the set list hard, grabbed the guitar and did some Metallica Nothing Else Matters and fussed on the strings for another 15-20.   Today's music was all zen and enjoyable.

Ahhhh nothing else matters is one of my favorites ❤️ those guitar notes just get me every time. Glad your music time was good and that you are feeling better. 
 

also following - good to see you and wish you a productively restful (restfully productive?) challenge!

Following! Best of luck with a fix soon for your water heater!

7 hours ago, Darciana said:

We will be going to a concert on Saturday so I'll need to temper my spending at that. I've seen this band several times so there's no need to buy any kind of merch or items such as that. It will simply be food and drink. We'll be driving the hour-hour and a half home from the concert after so I won't be drinking much (maybe a drink at dinner and maybe one at the show itself early on, maybe only one all night to ensure I'm good to drive) but waters still add up at those types of events.

Enjoy your concert! Merch is sooo expensive.

I recently survived a concert of my favorite band without buying merch by telling myself that all the shirts were ugly and resisted buying long enough to just enjoy the music lol. But food and drinks (even water!) are still stupidly expensive. For saving on water it could be worth seeing if the venue lets you bring in an empty reusable water bottle that you can fill up at the tap for free. Some of the ones I've been to have started doing that. (But it also depends on if you are concerned about the cleanliness / hygiene of the drinking water fountains. Sometimes it's just worth the overpriced plastic water bottle....)

On 9/5/2023 at 10:03 AM, starpuck said:

Oh hey you!!  I've been taking a forums break but back now, and what exciting news!

I am so thrilled for you!!!!

 

I hope we get to see pics as you turn new place into HOME.

 

Hey Puck, good to see you!! This will be my 3rd challenge back after taking a bit of a break myself.

And thank you it’s been a long road but excited to finally have our new place. Feels like we have been looking for a while.

15 hours ago, Sovalis said:

Yay new house! Here to cheer you on as you settle in!

Thanks Sovalis, glad to have you here  

On 9/5/2023 at 8:48 AM, Darciana said:

Here's to delightful new homes! 🍾

On 9/5/2023 at 8:55 AM, Heidi said:

Congratulations!

Thank you!!!
 

22 hours ago, Heidi said:

One of the first things I did was get a finite number of hangers for my closet (I think it was 50 or whatever, but the number didn't matter as much as the limitation.) I could only hang one item on a hanger, and when they were full everything else had to go.

Oh I really love this idea, especially now that we are in process of moving and making decisions on what to keep.

Hello all. My partner and I just bought our first house. We will be both adapting to a new monthly budget and (since we previously rented from family and are leaving many basics behind with them) will have to buy some stuff to set up the new place. 
 

We  took advantage of some US Labor Day sales but now it’s time to buckle down and focus on necessities for a bit. Goal for this week is to narrow down a number for monthly spending - especially groceries - and finalize costs for any required contractor work (electric/plumbing mostly) for the new place vs what we estimated after home inspection results.

10 hours ago, Loveable_Bouncer said:

Stopping by to let you know we have a small group of peeps that are working on our budget/spending habits in our own unique ways if you want to join us!

 

Also congrats on your first house! That is huge!

Also here to chear you on to stick to all the goals!

Thank you! I will check the group out for sure. Always helps to have a group with similar goals to help support when the motivation tank runs empty.
 

5 hours ago, XBlackWidowX said:

Organizing a new house is definitely challenging and takes lots of energy, but I think it'll make you very happy and satisfied when you're done. Good luck! 

Thank you! Agreed that it is both exciting and tiring to coordinate everything. Especially while trying not to stress out our senior dog too much with all the changes!
 

We had some friends over today to visit the new place. One friend gave us the tip of marking out floor plan with tape of furniture we consider buying to see if it fits the new space (which I thought was quite brilliant and a good way to be mindful of any items we choose to bring into our new space). Their little one (3 years old) also gave us the high five of approval - we’re not sure how the grading system worked other than some toy race cars and running were involved but I’m happy to take the compliment 😉

Rented a small box truck to move our furniture next weekend. This week will be sent prepping (emptying drawers and bookshelves, figuring out how to make it the least stressful for our dog, etc).

new challenge is posted

After a few years of trying, my partner and I just bought our first house. “Just” meaning that at the time of posting this we have owned it for less than a week. 
 

Spent the last week setting up utilities, cleaning, touching up the walls, painting, measuring rooms and talking about what we want to do with our new space. 
 

So during this challenge we will be juggling - moving, organizing our new space, donating/selling/disposing of items that we choose not to keep (which after 10-12 years in the same space junk adds up).
 

I also want to keep the good habits I’ve been building over the last challenge and a half. Though I won’t be expanding on them too much because we have quite enough going on, lol)

Challenge goals Placeholder (to be further developed)

• Continue: Track water, steps, alcohol
• Make and stick to a budget
• include alcohol as part of budget limit?? TBD
• Make some time for adventure - Visit at least 2 parks near our new place during the challenge

Quote

 

Thinking about the challenge, I believe a formal challenge with measured goals will be too much for me this round. I am going to change what success looks like this challenge by:

• Check-in and post on the forums at least 3 days / week ( rooting for others on their threads counts!)
• Post 1 picture of local flora or fauna from our new place per week OR 1 photo of a local adventure taken

 

On 8/28/2023 at 8:48 PM, Sovalis said:

Crossing my fingers that it all goes super smoothly from here out!!!

Thanks! We successfully closed and are officially homeowners, which is still setting in.

Trying to spend the rest of the week sorting out utilities, painting and moving some of our stuff in without burning ourselves out or stressing the dog too much.

Doing pretty good with drinking in moderation (mostly because we’re driving back and forth doing stuff and then get home late). Though we are drinking less water and eating less healthy stuff than usual.

House close is tomorrow. 

I succumbed a bit to the stress. Mostly because we were having some issues tying up the final things (stuff sellers needed to close out, finalizing times for walkthrough and closing, figuring out details for who and how we pay). This is our first time buying a home so not sure if it's always like this or if we just happen to have some unresponsive realtors/lawyers but it is immensely frustrating. 

Going to say I fell of tracking (true). My partner and I both took off this week to settle everything with the new house. Focus is to keep alcohol to at least a yellow (no more than 3-4 drinks on any given day). Stay hydrated. And stay C A L M. I will say I've been reading a lot of stoicism/mindfulness stuff and it's kind of been helping. That and video games lol. 

Hope everyone is doing well. I'll probably continue to be pretty quiet this week. 

On 7/27/2023 at 6:37 AM, Rebel Pilot Gar said:

8/21-8/27

Water: 🟩🟩🟩⬜⬜⬜⬜

Alcohol:  ⭐🟨🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜

Steps:  🟨🟩🟩⬜⬜⬜⬜ 

The house stress has been getting to me hard this week. Fingers crossed please for a smooth closing next week.
 

Theme song for my mental health:

On 7/27/2023 at 6:37 AM, Rebel Pilot Gar said:

8/14-8/20

Water: 🟩🟩🟩🟨🟨🟩🟨

Alcohol:  ⭐⭐⭐🟥🟥🟨🟥

Steps:  🟨🟩🟨🟥🟨🟩🟩 

Hi all, hope everyone had a good weekend. 
 

I did really well with avoiding alcohol the first 3 days last week and then indulged more heavily through the weekend. I can use the excuse of celebrating my birthday, but honestly that was the level I was indulging every day a few months back before my partner and I started focusing on being healthier together. It’s also obvious how tied into each other the water and alcohol goals are…
 

For once steps were stronger on weekends rather than weekdays. Which makes sense because I worked from home most of the week, so the steps I usually get at work weren’t a thing and one morning walk wasn’t enough to get me to 10K steps. My partner and I took our dog  hiking Saturday and swung by to explore the area near new house on Sunday and had brunch at a little cafe in the area.  Saturday I also went into the city with a friend for another concert which I had been really looking forward to and enjoyed a lot (18K steps on Saturday and I’m still in good enough shape to jog a few blocks to catch the train).

Focus for this week is no drinking Mon-Wed. And we close on the house next week so also continuing the decluttering/packing attempts