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Hello all! Sliding into the challenge a week late, again. A lot has happened in the past 3 weeks: between going to a wedding, packing up, moving, buying and building furniture, work, and all sorts of stuff, I didn't really plan out a challenge until like... yesterday. The good: I am about 95% moved into my new apartment! There are some small things that I need to get from my parents' house still, kitchen stuff, mostly. (My roommate and I don't have a microwave, so I'm bringing my old university one back with me!) I'm keeping up with my mobility training as well as my Polish practice. The bad: My knee is still painful at times and because running and even walking for extended periods of time still hurts, I haven't been able to run anymore. I still need to get to the doctor's-- I just need to fill out the paperwork. Work has also been stressing me out lately, because I have so much to do and almost no time to do it! Because I'm the "pretrial and arraignments" attorney, I'm in court basically from 9-4:00. Not counting the hour lunch where I get some much-needed socialization with my coworkers (and even then, there are days where I do work at lunch), I get maybe an hour of desk time a day. I've actually started taking work home with me so I can do legal stuff in comfy sweats on my couch or at the kitchen counter. I actually wrote an 17.5 page motion and memorandum over the weekend. 7 pages Friday night, 7 pages Saturday morning, and another 4 over the course of Sunday evening and Monday evening. I need to figure out how to find the time to get things done so I'm not at work from 7:30 a.m. until at least 5:30 each night! It probably won't happen, but it's stressing me out that I have so much to do and no time to do it all. And that brings us to this challenge. Despite my knee being injured, there's still plenty of things I can do! Perhaps this challenge would have been better off in the Rebels' territory, rather than here in Ranger land, but I like y'all too much to want to leave! My overall focus is "recovery." Hence the title of the challenge! I need to do recovery work-- not just my knee, but also in other aspects of my life! I want to recover my workout habits that have basically dropped out of existence over the past month, and I want to do some emotional/mental/spiritual recovery as well. I'm trying to split this into 3 parts: Mind, Body, Soul. We'll see how it goes! Mind: - Keep practicing Polish every day-- either Duolingo or Rosetta Stone Mini Task: redeem that Rosetta Stone groupon I got for my birthday! - Read at least one book this challenge. I just started reading Never Have Your Dog Stuffed by Alan Alda, so that's going to be my book to finish this challenge Body Just because I can't run right now doesn't mean I can't do things! I can still do upper body stuff. I let depression and a bad mindset set me back with push-ups and pull-ups, and while I can't do pull-ups right now (a hex bolt for my pull-up bar got lost in the move! And I don't want to use it until it's 100% secured because I don't want to risk it, and me, falling), there are other things I can do! - Do push-ups training 3 x a week. My goal is to get back to 5 sets of 15-20 knee push-ups by the end of the challenge. Today's sets were 7-10-10 - Do handstand training at least 2x a week. Didn't do any today or yesterday, but I will try to do some tonight! - Keep up mobility training every day. I'm hoping to make mobility training a more regular thing in my life. I like doing it in the morning as a good start to my day! - Mini task: Fill out the new patient paperwork and drop it off at the doctor's office so I can go get examined and get a referral to get my knee looked at! Soul Work has been getting overwhelming and stressful, so we're going to do some self-care work this challenge! - Journal: yes, I keep saying it, but it's actually helpful when I actually do it. The goal: journal 2x a week - Knit: it's something relaxing to do that's not work, and I can sit and watch TV while I do it. That totally counts as me time, right? - Cleaning: a clean home is a happy home! Spend 5-10 minutes a day tidying up somewhere in the house. - Find a place: I'm hoping to start regularly attending services at my local Universalist Unitarian Church! I was raised Catholic, but somewhere along the way, I realized Catholicism just... isn't a good fit for me. Because of that, I've really struggled to find a home for my spiritual practice, and I think it's been leaving a hole in my life. Praying at home is one thing, but... having a place of worship with other people is something that I did love about Catholicism. I just don't feel at home in the church anymore, though, so that's why I want to find a new space! And after doing some research, I think UU might be a good fit-- I agree with their basic tenets and principles, and I like the mindset that some aspect of truth can be found in every religion. Unfortunately, can't go this weekend because I'll be going home to visit my family (where I will inevitably be dragged to Catholic church for Sunday, or maybe Saturday, services despite the fact that I do NOT want to go!!). But hopefully starting soon I can make this a regular habit and join in the community there. Okay, that's all for now, folks! I'll check in soon.