Jiigigaw

Ok, so... For the meetup, where and when? Should I bring some dead animal flesh that had some heat applied to it?

Oh, I'm not lost, just got really frakking busy. Next weekend is absolutely possible. It depends on the situation around a 4 year old's birthday party that I have to co-host that day. What was the time frame of events?

I live in Lansing, have for 15 years. I'd happily do a Lansing meet up. Job, family, farm, etc keep me pretty swamped, but I can always do local stuff.

Hey folk! Most of you may not recognise me, but I started frequently these forums back in August. I fell off the face of the earth for the last 6 months due to career changes, home moving, and... heck... you name it. So anyways, I'm starting to pop my head back in here and wanted to say "hey". So... hey! Edit: I apologize for the old sig not being formatted right. As I said, it has been a while.

I hit 7 pull ups today. I did a 6 day rest after doing my last pull-up focused work out that primarily focus on the twitch muscles. I did that by doing a few sets normal, then getting on a chair and doing reversed-assisted pull-ups. I took 15 seconds to drop from bar height to full extension. I repeated till I could no longer drop slowly with any level of assisted. I was at it for a while. I then found my appetite for the next 2 days at a 3500 calorie level. I went back to my standarad 2500-2800 calories after that. I waited till I felt completely recovered, waited one more day, then hit the bar again a little bit ago. I hit the seventh and then went through the whole reverse thing again. So close! One more to go!

Even in the crazy mad chaos of work this last week, I have managed to get to sleep, wake up well, and hit all my work outs energized. THe weekends here and I intend to recover and rest as much as I can before my next work week starts.

Boy! Life has been nuts! I work for a public school district in the IT department, and this is my 12 new-school year with them. This has been, BY FAR, the craziest... EVAH! I could go into the why, but I'm a bit sick of work at the moment. Anyway, at this time, the dairy challenge (even with the alcohol extra credit) is TOAST! I'm still trying to limit it, but boy... in a frustrated pinch, a good 6 year cheddar or a smoked gouda is just... sigh. I'm still at 6 pull ups, I'm pushing to get to 8. I think I can still do it. The blog has been quiet, but I hope to remedy that this weekend. I'm home alone for the weekend, and I tend to get reflective at such times. AS for the martial Arts focus, I've thoroughly explored the options for JKD and and Silat and will likely pass on both. Not necessarily because I didn't find them intriguing or compelling, but mostly due to cost and scheduling. SUCH IS LIFE!

Wow, Flux is awesome! I'm looking forward to using the app.

I'm looking forward to this challenge in a few minutes. ::yawn:: ::stretch::

This is something I constantly struggle with. Some simple tips. -Hold off on caffeine in all forms after the 7-8 hour point before you need to go to sleep. -Blue light is a stimulant. Blue light is the primary light of the sun during the middle of the day. It is also the primarily light source of monitors, florescent bulbs, and tvs. Avoid this for a couple hours before bed. -REd-orange light is a relaxing light that can trigger essential sleep hormones. This is the light of a setting sun. it is also the light of a camp fire, candle, or incandescent bulb. Some claim that staring into a candle can help prepare you for sleep. Well, here goes!

Queue the crickets! ... that is all

Thanks for the encouragement! I did my workout last night, and I managed to do 6 consecutive pull ups. WOOT!

Well, THe last week has been a mixed bag of success. My job-front explodes this time of year every year, so this has kept me supremely busy. In the last week, I Have not... -done any further research or visits on martial art classes. -increased my pull ups beyond 5 -made a blog post But no worries, because I enjoyed both cheese and alcohol this last weekend! /facepalm New week, here I come!

THe deep deep down buried pervert in me wants to ask..."wha?"

Week 2 update... ****** Ok, the yum... I'm FAILING HORRIBLY. I have had 5 servings of dairy int he last week, bringing the total to 6 servings. Woh boy! So, 4 weeks left and one more serving pushes me to failure, so I think that I will sneak in some extra credit! Ok, first, If I eat another serving of dairy inthe next 4 weeks, I'm done. E for me. Right now I'm sitting at a D. I was saving this for the next challenge, but I'm bring it up now. I will also give up alcohol for the next 4 weeks. Each week with NO alcohol will bring up my grade by one level. Here goes! ****** AS for the martial art exploration, the Silat class I was going to attend today was cancelled. This also meant the JKD instructor (he takes the Silat class) I was going to talk to also fell through. I'm working on rescheduling with the Silat instructor. In the mean time, I took a very important step towards actualizing whatever class I choose. I went over my budget! I have settled on how much I can afford a month now, and this will give me a context in which to decide from. ****** I am clearing 5 pull ups easily at this point. I increased my caloric intake SIGNIFICANTLY and I'm seeing huge progress in my work out routine. Almost a 50% increase in each exercise I use in my routine. ****** Blog is going well. I still intend to format it better, get some tags going, network, etc. At this point, the content is coming along. I have some stock photos ready for my next post already and I have to canned posts that will get posted over the next few weeks. Thanks for the encouragement on the blog Spauracchio and Chickenstich. While I'm failing on the dairy challenge miserably, this is definitely the hardest of the four challenges. I really really appreciate the encouragement.

I'm flattered. Thank you!

This video helped me squeeze another 2 seconds into my crow stand. http://www.howcast.com/videos/394-How-to-Do-the-Crow-Pose Though I was NO WHERE near being able to plant my knees into my armpits!

I'll be teaming up with Elastigirl over in the Assassin guild with her personal challenge to do a 30 second crow stand. I have never attempted one, and am now 2nd guessing doing this with her. Here goes nothing!

Partnering it is then! My first evening of trying, with no prep, has me at a 6 second crow stand. It was my first attempt ever, so I think I'll be more prepared the next attempt. Only a little more than 4 weeks to go! I bet you can do it with no problem!

Great progress so far! grats! Over in the monk guild, our second week challenge is to partner up with someone from a different guild on their personal challenges. Would you like some partnering on your crow stand challenge? And I agree... the singing tip is brilliant. So, would you like to partner up with this little anthropomorphic rock with your crow stand challenge?

Well then, consider Dandelionlady signed up! I've sent her the text and she's on it.

Dandelionlady was on the road when this was posted for a camping trip and won't be back till monday. Can I forward this to her via text and sign her up with my postings?

Well, I will be checking out a Silat Penkak school next. THat same afternoon, I'll be meeting with a JKD teacher. I'm digging out more info all the time as well. Unfortunately, I'm quickly approaching my busiest time of the year at work, so very soon, my time will be tight till October-November. So I need to get stuff in now!

Ok, week 1 update. Well, I feel that the blog is on its way, I got two posts up on the blog this week. My pull-up progress has gone from barely doing 4, to solidly doing 4. On my way towards 8. I had one occurrence of the yum, so the A on the dairy project is gone. AS for finding a martial arts class, I have visited one dojo in town and participated in a class and spoke with the instructors. This one was based in an Okinawa Karate tradition. Found here. http://www.ihadojo.com/

Ok, HAven't done anything in the work shop, but... -------At the office------- -Had some 7+ year old files and notes that were now irrelevant, all shredded (4 file cabinet drawers worth) -4 pallets worth of old equipment prepared for recyclers. -Motivated all of the department to do the same -dusted, removed ancient family picks, etc --------At Home------- -Front store room (aka guest room) addressed, included 3 vans packed of stuff for good will -Front store room once again a guest bed -Library sorted and 3 large boxes of books ready for library donations -Closet sorted of all clothes that no longer fit me. Delivered to good will. That is all I can get in this weekend. I'm sure I will continue on the sorting and tossing journey for a couple weeks.