Holda

Great quests..hope you have lots of fun/meaningful activities planned for your fast. I'll bet your kiddos are going to love your commitment to playing on the weekends! Make great memories :-)

Thanks folks. Update is I am finishing up my check-in tonight and I used my 20 sock to book the solo horseback riding adventure. Suitcases are out, planning on packing this weekend. Ordered a new kindle since I broke mine this week. I find audiobooks great for falling asleep in strange places/dealing with jet lag. Still need to confirm pet sitter!

Hi Alessa, TL;DR: Take a padded self defense class and study tai chi! My two cents are that the first self-defense class you should take is a padded attacker class. Another good thing to study is "cocktail holds" (meaning something you could do to a lech at a cocktail party and not severely injure him or her)..thumb holds are a great example. If you want more classes, go for weapon class, both gun and knife...for the mental preparation (and some physics lessons)... Here's why I prefer padded attacker classes: 1) I feel most men are taught from watching movies that one solid punch will knock a bad guy out..they then have time to sweep up the damsel and possibly shoot out a witty one-liner before casually strolling away as the credits roll; 2) Women, on the other hand, are taught that wriggling and screaming, "help" are their only options and that they should avoid "angering" their attacker by any means necessary. 3) Martial artists know that they can give, and take, quite a bit of punishment before a fight has a clear ending..but a lot are taught tournament style...For instance, my initial style didn't allow contact to the face until you were a brown belt...that's about five years of gleefully punching 1 inch from the face and getting cheered on for a solid point. It was hard when I moved to a style that allowed heavier contact to not use the exact same force I had used 3x week for 5 years...lots of muscle memory to overcome. 4) Self defense classes teach you ugly, yet effective techniques. You learn to not hold back from committing serious mayhem. There is a lot of mental support if issues come up, because they do... Now, none of this means you shouldn't take tai chi, or chi gung, or whatever other art you desire...you will find the beauty in your chosen art and gain strength, commraderie, knowledge, and discipline. But you won't learn how to bite someones nose off and yell, "Fire, fire, fire" as you book yourself out of there. (You also won't learn distraction/intervention techniques, what it feels like to be sprayed with pepper spray, how many lbs of pressure break a knee cap, how to automatically assess an area for effective weapons and escape routes, or gain the confidence that if you are cut by an assailant's knife, you will continue to fight until they stop moving...all things you could learn in a self-defense class.

Telethot, It's definitely worth brewing your own if you have an adventurous palette. SCOOBYs can be ordered online and then, once you've gotten the hang of a couple batches you can double ferment your kombucha by adding..pretty much anything to it...herbs, fruit (think mint blackberry!). I've never really watered it down, but that sounds like a great way to make plain water more fun. My SCOOBY molded recently (they don't like cold weather and I didn't give it a heating pad or anything)...so for know I am sticking to shrubs until the Spring when I can order another one.

Nice to meet you Catbells, I think I saw your post in the FA forums and that someone directed you to a group, if not, I'll try to find that info for you. Love your long term goal. Your future patients are lucky to have someone so committed looking out for them!

Nice to meet you Acebox!

Thanks so much, Hazard!

Hi all, Ready to start my first challenge. As luck (and planning) would have it, I will be taking a cruise later this month, so my four goals are cruise related. 1. Ride a horse/pet a monkey in Roatan. (Used my 20 SOC to book the horse riding on the beach, but haven't heard back yet if they will accept a solo traveler. If not, I will book the monkey sanctuary trip...although I think monkeys are a bit creepy! 2. Take the stairs! No elevator on the cruise ship. Last time I only broke down once, when I had on 4 in heels and the water was a bit rough :-) 3. One-plate buffet...One plate for all meals for the next four weeks. 4. fruit or veg at every meal for the next four weeks. (trying to be a bit flexible since I won't be preparing my meals on vacation) That's it...pretty simple. I plan to update once per week but won't be online the last two weeks of the year.

Congrats Dr. Cat! Excelsior!

I grew up in Sterling Heights :-)

I know Alpena (points to pointer finger on L hand!) Ever been to Thunder Bay Lodge to see the Elks? Novi area btw. (Between Detroit and Lansing)

Alessa, Nice to meet a fellow newbie. My daughter (I'm a single mom too) loves anime. Here's to energetic and awesome moms!

Nice to meet you! Can't wait to hear updates on your trailrunning! Oh the Places you'll go (LoTR, P......oh wait..that's Suess!)

Hi Thom! Nice to meet a fellow Newbie. Congrats on getting started! *cheering you on. Learn one; do one; teach one! Thanks for sharing your knowledge!

Hi WitchyWoman, Nice to meet a fellow Newbie. Have you ever heard the acronym Woman In Total Control of Herself? Betcha it applies to you!

Hi All, Le me introduce myself. I am from Michigan and my workout buddies are an Arabian gelding and a standard poodle. Last year I decided to Level Up my Life and bought a business and started traveling solo. Last year was Croatia, Italy, and Greece. Next month is Belize, Roatan, and Mexico. Unfortunately, working more has led to tighter clothes and less energy than I am used to (probably from all the client contact...introverts unite!) As far as geekdom, I love most everything, but I have a special soft spot for sword and board, space operas, and urban fantasy, Conan and the Wheadonverse. I used to game a lot but now I just armchair quarterback for my kids. Our dinner table discussions tend to revolve around One Piece and Will it Waffle? In my former lives, I have studied several martial arts: shotokan, poekaelan, arnis. I was a vegetarian for a decade; I was a SAHM for a decade, I have studied German and Spanish. I taught myself to sew and am pretty crafty..but not very artsy. I was also a lawyer..but don't hold it against me...you can hold against me baton twirler/poi spinner, cheerleader, hooper, Rage player, Vanilla WOW raider, and/or Middle Eastern dancer/drummer... Recently I've been listening to Kate Rudd read Jeff Wheeler at night and working on my Academy and Rising Heroes quests. Favorite authors are Robin Hobb, MZB, Simon R Green, and Brian Wood. I'm hoping to increase my endurance and get back into all my favorite clothes...also to be more organized and have more energy!