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Last challenge was a hot mess. I tried! but things came up. I think I did reasonably well considering: * a week 1 emergency health thing (not me) and a trip to florida to mug with my sick daddy-o (still doing awesome, by the way) * a week 2 presidential election that resulted in me being actually depressed for the first time in literally forever, and requiring lots of quiet self care * a week 3 where we had the kids every day b/c of their mom's work travel, impinging on our planned gym time for goals, and * a week 4 with a planned and much enjoyed visit to iceland and england instead of american thanksgiving. and then I wrapped it up with * a week 0 that was all about me traveling to houston for training - which meant wednesday I left the house at 3AM and I returned at 1AM on Sat. ZOMG TIRED. So ima just gonna do that last challenge all over again. additional bonus facts/exciting conditions: my husband lost his job last week, it's the holidays, we have the kids all during Week 1. (sidebar: losing the job is not terrible. We are going to evaluate our ability to send him to school full time spring semester to continue working towards his goal of shifting careers into shoe design and shoe manufacture.) * go to the gym. schedule it in for at least 2x a week at the gym. My husband is in still, and maybe this will be doable even when we have the kids all the time in the mornings, because he can just go home to make sure that Thirteen has managed to get out the door in good time. I had said that next challenge I want to start the dojo weight lifting, but I'm going to give myself until january. Even though it will make me look like that january gym starter guy. but whatever. * learn the pull-ups. I'll be 40 in April. KEEP PRACTICING. this looks like: hanging from a bar and pulling in my shoulders every day I'm home. move on to negatives. pull-up assist machine / bands are available but for now I need to focus on grip strength and getting a little movement in from hanging. the key is REGULAR. * track my food more carefully. extra double important during the holidays! track every day. Don't ever have to catch up the next day. * check in on my goals! hard learned obvious lesson of the summer/fall: if you don't check your goals, you won't actually do anything to achieve them. DO THE THING WITH THE GOALS. get something written down every day, if you can. regular stuff will occur, that being: running outside when I can, doing tkd 2-3x a week, dojo saturdays etc. Ideally I'm active 5-6 days a week. I picked up a discounted hulahoop class on cyber monday, and it would be amazing if I worked in more stretching/yoga. OK, got it? SECOND VERSE JUST LIKE THE FIRST A LITTLE BIT LOUDER AND A LITTLE BIT WORSE.

Lucky Fire Dragon Goes for Gold even as temptation is high, there is no time for any half-assing over the next weeks, so I might as well go for it all 1. Golden body what better way to get golden than using GMB (Gold Medal Bodies) programs so of course I will stick to Integral Strength with all the given workouts, if I manage I will finish the program within the challenge, yay keep up pole training 3x/week get that core fire burning by hula hooping 5 min daily make it all sparkle by drinking 2 liters of water daily and no alcohol on 6 days / week 2. Golden Wisdom in the brilliant story of Jim Button the evil dragon that is defeated but not killed falls into a year long magical sleep and awakens as a golden dragon of wisdom... maybe my less glorious traits could sleep like that too and more wisdom awaken with them getting out of the way... write diary dialogue with my own Larger Presence daily, time to tap into the wisdom within even if it sounds like nothing special at that moment and might not be valuable to anyone else, it makes me feel happy, open, relaxed and gives me perspective meditate early morning, tapping into that Larger Presence and setting constructive focus for each day (will get ultimate accountability on this one as I am offering my clients to join me via webinar in this they love stuff like that and I will benefit as well) keep up room wisdom with T by helping her and/or playing with her after checking her room thoroughly once a week read English with A 4x a week keep up checking A and T's homework daily 3. Golden Moments look for happy, fun, inspiring, grateful or otherwise valuable moments and treasure them. Soak them up, include in write up here or daily diary... squeeze them 1 point for each moment captured, let's see how many I can get over the challenge... Life Quest: Golden Treasures I'll be part of the Monkey Tamers United and tackle some work stuff that I still promised for my former partner and teacher plus some creative work for us that will hopefully open up new sources of income to balance what fell away when I stopped working for said teacher. It's a tricky balance here for me, I want to find my own footing, yet not be competition to her or step on her toes and I am still floating about on all of it. Therefor I am not surprised at having less client sessions at the moment - they always sense how clear I am - and know the journaling and meditation will bring me back into my creative, happy space. The walks I've done recently already got me closer to some of this, they were really happy things. Also unfulfilled promises weigh heavy on me and slow me down, so it will be good to get the updates I had still promised done and that too will open up a lot of joy. I haven't gotten to much yet, because I felt bad not working for our own income during the minutes I have free, but then the guilty feeling weighs me down and I end up doing nothing at all... new tactic: splitting up time equally on both tasks and getting them done brick by golden brick These are my main goals and I'll fill in some last details later, right now I gotta dash to pole class

During my last challenge I established some strong workout habits by giving them major priority and it was awesome. Daily exercise is truly magic for me Working out a lot took lots of time, but I got confirmed again that where there is a will there is a way.... Now there is a lot of things I'd like to get done with and for my family, some of them uncomfortable, some of them urgent and important, all of them would improve life quality for us, lots of things I'd like to get done for our house and garden and last but not least again for the most important home I have - my body, so this challenge will hopefully see me do it all: Lucky fire dragon takes good care of her lair and family 1. Taking good care of my dear ones Not sure yet how to structure this best, was thinking of points but ended up with a list instead, will include the regular things in my weekly spreadsheets and cross out on the list right here Regular tough and tender love: - check both A's and T's homework every single school day (total of 10 due to holidays) - make sure T practices her drums and recorder daily (total 28) - read a short section in diary of a whimpy kid with A daily to improve his English skills (total 28) - tidy up T's room with her once every week (which is a major adventure for both of us and I am hoping doing it more often will improve that. I told her I will give her an hour for that every weekend - more tomorrow as we will have to sort through a lot of things then - and if we don't need the full hour because she kept it neat herself we can play a game instead or go roller blading hope that helps as incentive) total of 4 - study with A for his school 2x 30 minutes every week (total of 8) List of other goodies and/or necessities to be taken care of this challenge: - get R good sun glasses - take R to skin doctor for funny toe nail - sign R up for driving lessons - cancel the saving contract we have running for her in order to fund said driving lessons - take R shopping for clothes - look through A's clothes and take him shopping - look through T's clothes, hand on what's too small, try out waiting things, shop if need be - get A's bike lights fixed - get T's bike lights fixed plus new bell for bike (don't what it is about those lights, ugh) - go roller blading with T (at least 3x throughout challenge) 3/3 - play with A on trampoline or go roller blading and him on waveboard (at least 2x throughout the challenge) 2. Taking good care of house and garden - Tend garden and/or unclutter something in the house for 100 min / week (which one it is will be depending on weather and urgency) - plant strawberries on balcony with T - wash and clean car inside and out - get summer wheels on - sort through own clothes and hand on things not worn any more 3. Taking good care of my body and mind Adapted Goal - Continue daily exercise first thing in the morning, for week 1 I will do: - follow Integral Strength Training by GMB (currently 3 sessions per week) - Ring workout is optional whenever I want to (and have strength left from IS and pole ) Continue pole training 4x / week Add rope skipping 3x/ week Add 5 min hula hoop every day (only when the mood strikes) Walk at least 3000 steps every day (I know that is ridiculously little for most of you here, but for me it can be challenging on many days as I work from home and spend most of my time in the house) Journal or meditate 10 min/ day Keep up French lessons with Memrise, Duolingo and/or other means - no time goal here, as mini challenges pushes me plenty as is 4. Taking good care of my skin and nails These usually get so neglected with and it's time for them to get spoiled a bit more and shine so they get their own goal... 5 minutes/day taking care of either nails or calluses (can even be just one or two nails as long as something gets tended) For most of my life I used to bite my nails super short and while I don't do that anymore, they don't get much care yet either. I cut them short now and don't smoothen them afterwards, the nail polish I put on my toes in February is still on in remnants... you get the picture. It won't take that much time to do better here and a little bit every day will go a long way. My hands have developed some calluses from the hoop and ring training (funny enough pole doesn't create any) and one tore open a few days ago. Fortunately I discovered that I had bought one of those rough stones to use on callused skin a long time ago (when I intended better skin care as well lol) and found out that smoothed all the rough edges on the torn callus perfectly so now it won't rip any further, yay. So treating the calluses from time to time with that stone will probably prevent them from getting ripped in the first place, or at least I hope it might. 4 peeling massages over course of challenge This will be a whole new experience, I have never ever done any peelings before Somehow turning 40 made me think of all kinds of new stuff, like I gotta turn into a classy lady or something lol, but I think it will be real nice for my dear skin 4 salt baths over course of challenge 4 nights with wet socks (socks soaked in warm salt water, dry woolen socks over plus towel and wham comfy detox cleanses overnight ) can also be replaced by a salted 15 min foot bath Spending at least 10 minutes / day outdoors Come rain or shine, I have to get out there. Am pale like a sheet at the moment and won't wait for perfect weather to change that. Plus oxygen... never to be underestimated!! This can happily be combined with goal nr 2 (gardening time) What else is new? Oh yes, I got a fitbit charge hr for my birthday so I am now all distracted by checking how my heart rate is doing, how many steps I've taken, what it counts as exercise and can't wait to see what it thinks of pole training (have slacked this week zero, but Sunday will tell!!) and I guess it would give plenty material for more challenges.... but considering how full this one is right now (and believe me there was more that could have come in lol, but I'm shshing it ) I decided to wait on that... As is I'd be one suuuuuuuuuper proud fire dragon if when I managed all of the above this coming challenge!! Won't beat myself up if for some reason I don't but boy would it be cool if I did it, squeeeeeeee What helped me last time tremendously was @mr_willes pushing me on in a PvP that had us report on each other's threads how far we were along with our workouts. So if anybody would like to try that out, I'd love to do that again! But be warned, I might not be as nice to you as you know me I can be quite competitive when it comes to it. In the end I'd love to see both of us have straight A weeks though, of course. That is the very best feeling for sure. Let's do this thing For tracking: homework check T 10/10 homework check A 10/10 music training check T 11/28 get room shiny T 4/4 study with A 6/8 read dwk with A 5/28 roller blading fun T 3/3 waveboard fun A 3/2 tend garden (or unclutter house) 100/100 100/100 100/100 100/100 meditation 20/28 Integral Strength 10/10 pole training 12/16 > 3000 steps 27/28 nail / skin care 23/28 peeling massage 4/4 salt bath 5/4 > 10 minutes outdoors 24/28

(TL;DR in second post) Previously on Apfelstrudi’s journey: I set out to become the very best. Like no one ever was. I got 4 pokémon from Professor Oak, kicked Gary in the nuts, and set out to defeat Brock. On my way, I encountered lots of trainers and wild pokemon that challenged me every 5 steps. And they helped me level up so I could win the boss battle. But what’s even better: They showed me what I’m passionate about, and made my path forwards much, much clearer. Once Brock had been defeated, I continued wandering, once again being challenged, but now I had a deathly weapon with me, even deathlier than my pokemon: My hoop. It worked better than repel, better than strength and cut together. It made my way easier and much more entertaining, and showed me what to focus on. But now I face a new battle, and I must use what I’ve learned, and become a better trainer and hooper, in order to defeat Misty and not become Misty-fied. Let’s start this off by looking at the dictionary: In other words: Misty is a minx. Now that I know what to focus on, Misty the little punk will certainly try to lead me astray. And she’ll have an easy job, too! Not only does she have boobs, she also has junior trainers in speedos surrounding her! How is that fair? I must focus on happiness, but not the kind of happiness that speedos bring. Instead, I’ll concentrate on something that brings me even more happiness: My hula hoops. As I said in the recap - I want to be the very best. And now I’ve finally found something that I feel like I can progress steadily, with lots of effort, but not effort that leaves me frustrated and demotivated. To be the very best hooper, there are many things I must work on. Main Goal: Become the very best! - Defeat Misty Battle 1: Horsea HP Horsea: 50 HP Pikachu: 50 Defeating Horsea will be relatively simple. Hoop it up! 5 times a week. Can be anything from 5 minute waist-hooping to skill-work to hoop-workouts to stretches. But the hoop must be used. Every time I hoop, I’ll take 1 HP off Horsea. Working on a new skill every week gives me an added bonus of 5 HP off. If I don’t work on a skill, those 5 HP will be taken away from my Pikachu. If I don’t defeat Horsea within 5 weeks (to allow for fail), I can either use the 6th week normally, or go into boss battle mode. (stop being cute, you're gonna die D: ) Battle 2: Shellder HP Shellder: 50 HP Charmander: 50 In order to defeat Shellder, my weakest Pokémon must come forth. Fire against water usually doesn’t end well for fire, but I can’t let that happen to my poor Charmander. On my way to become the very best, I must do things that aren’t directly related to hooping, but that offer assistance. This can be anything. I must do 5 of those things a week. Each workout (using the term loosely) will take 1 HP off Shellder. An additional HP can be taken off for reflecting and naming how I’m helping my hooping by doing said workout. Example: Chest/shoulder openers - help prepare chest/shoulder hooping. If I don’t manage to defeat in the first 5 weeks, I can use the sixth or go into boss battle mode. Battle 3: Goldeen HP Goldeen: 50 HP Squirtle: 50 Pikachu needs to adhere to a schedule in order to defeat Goldeen! Because the only way to get past her is to dance. But not just any dance! A different dance must be tried every week. This includes listening to fitting music, watching videos of pros dancing, and doing a tutorial. All this tied together will take 10 HP off Goldeen. If I do more than one tutorial, or do some freestyle dance in the “style of the weekâ€, it counts towards Charmander’s battle against Shellder. If I don’t manage to defeat in the first 5 weeks, I can use the sixth or go into boss battle mode. Dance styles: (don't want that happening!) Battle 4: Staryu (diet quest) HP Staryu: 50 HP Bulbasaur: 50 Bulbasaur likes his food - and he’s gotten quite chubby lately. So he must plan his meals better, in order to stay away from evil foods. One meal plan a week = 10 HP off Staryu. If I stray from the meal plan, that’s 1 HP off Bulbasaur per day that had wrong food. If I don’t manage to defeat in the first 5 weeks, I can use the sixth or go into boss battle mode. Battle 5: Starmie (life quest) HP Starmie: 50 HP Magikarp: 50 That’s right. I’ve caught myself the lamest pokemon ever. But in this case, it’ll be worth it. Because I’ll fight those boobs and speedos with my own boobs and speedos - kinda! In order to feel better about dancing, hooping in front of the camera, and general movement, I must feel better about the way I look. They’re trying to divert me with their beauty? I’ll find a way to use mine. I recently (at the end of last challenge) started a new skin care regime. My skin has never been exactly great, but it's starting to annoy me like crazy. So when I read this article about Asian actresses and their masterful skin care, I decided to just give it a try, even though I haaaate spending lots of time in the bathroom. Ah well - if done properly it's like 5 more minutes a day. What I'm doing shall be in the third post to counter information-overload. I want to stick with it a minimum of 5 days a week. Each day gives me 1 HP off Starmie. Additionally, every week, I have to do something that makes me feel pretty. It doesn’t matter what it is, but can’t be something as simple as ‘take a shower’, obviously. For every project, I take 5 HP off Starmie. If I don’t manage to defeat in the first 5 weeks, I can use the sixth or go into boss battle mode. Week 6 / Boss Battle / Evolving I’ve specifically assigned points so that I can have a successful challenge even if I don’t do every single workout, every single day and week. If all goes perfectly, I can defeat pokémon in 5 weeks. If not, I can continue normally in week 6. OR I can do a boss battle. A boss battle will be done in case I’ve failed miserably and need more points than I can possibly gain through normal battle. I will only determine what a boss battle is if necessary though. If by the end of week 6, I’ve not defeated a pokémon, I can use up the remaining HP of my pokémon. Example: End of challenge stats Battle 1: HP Horsea: 10 HP Squirtle: 40 -> Horsea: 0; Squirtle: 30 If I manage to keep my pokémon’s HP at 25 or above, they will evolve. Which would be particularly important for Magikarp, obviously.

I have traveled from my previous guild, The Adventurers, to join the mysterious Assassins. I've been lured over by circus tricks and hula hoops. My main quest is the same as last time, however my goals are drastically different. I've also taken walking out of my goals this challenge but it is a habit that I have kept up these past two weeks so I will continue walking. It feels good to be out in the sun during the day. Main Quest To love myself for who I am and gain my confidence back. Getting healthy will be a bonus to feeling confident again. Goal 1: Daily hooping practice (+3 STR) I really want to get this down. Hooping is a lot of fun and I enjoy the time spent outside. I want to aim for at least 5 minutes of waist hooping each day. This way I can actually waist hoop. I've been avoiding waist hooping because I haven’t figured it out yet. After the five minutes of mandatory waist hooping, I can move on to hand hooping and other trick learning. I’m also going to try and record at least one session a week, to track progress and correct my form. Goal 2: Focus on the movements (+2 DEX) Once a week, on Saturdays, I want to learn how to belly dance. This will help me with my hooping goal since you need to know how to move your body. I’m not very coordinated when it comes to dancing so this should definitely help. Goal 3: Focus on the positive things. (+1 WIS & +1 CHA) I’m doing a repeat of this one. Spend five minutes each day to write down the positive thoughts. I have a journal this time around so I feel this will be better than my last challenge. I may post some of these thoughts up here. That way I’m more active on my own thread. Life Quest: Put aside $1000 (+2 WIS) This is something that I need to do. I have a ‘bill’ that needs to be paid in July and I rather not deplete my savings account by taking care of it. I’m putting it here so that I keep myself aware of it. I have a tendency to forget about things I don’t already pay on a monthly basis. Diet Quest: Avoid Eating Out (+2 CON) This is partly to help save money and partly to eat better. My husband is on board with idea. Actually, it was his idea. Limit eating out to once a week. We were able to do it this week. Let’s give 6 weeks a try! Here's to an exciting challenge with my new guild!! Tracker Goal 1: 6/7 5/7 5/7 2/7 0/7 1/7 | 19/42 Goal 2: 1/1 1/1 0/1 0/1 0/1 0/1 | 2/6 Goal 3: 7/7 7/7 6/7 3/7 2/7 1/7 | 26/42 Life Quest: 92.5%92.5% Diet Quest: Week 1 1/1/1/1/1/1/1 7 Week 2 1/1/1/1/0/1/0 5 Week 3 1/1/1/1/0/1/0 5 Week 4 0/1/1/0/1/1/0 4 Week 5 0/1/1/1/1/1/0 5 Week 6 0/1/1/1/0/0/0 3 Total = 29/36