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I love the idea of a villain era: the swagger, the dedication, the authentic self. But I've always been the good one, the quiet one, the people-pleaser. I need a complete education in villainy. To that end, I have enrolled in Villain Academy. My classes for this term: Reclaiming Your Wings with Maleficent Maleficent know like no one else what it is to lose your wings. In this course, I will be working on strengthening my shoulder wing after injury so I can get back in the air. The class will also include a small amount of stability training for the hips and ankles to support hard landings after flight. Goal: Daily mobility and stabilization training for shoulders, hips, and ankles The Price of Magic with Rumplestiltskin But Once Upon A Time's Rumplestiltskin knows that no price is too high to pay for one's son. My son leaves for the army in a few months, and we need a couple major workings around this event: 1) he needs to continue to lose weight and 2) we need to save money to travel to his graduation. Big magic means a big price, and I am preparing to pay it. Goal: 1) Support my son by doing the most evil thing I can think of: counting calories. 2) Reduce spending to save up for the trip. Yes. Reduce spending during holiday season. Fashion for Nevers with Sophie of Gavaldon The School for Good and Evil's Sophie is the authority on evil swagger. She turned the School for Evil upside-down with her reimagining what it means to be a villain. In this course, I will be learning to be authentically me. Goal: Every day, I will do one thing to express my authentic self and build my self-confidence. This could be trying a new hairstyle, adding accessories to my outfits, painting my nails, trying a new makeup look, etc. There are some budget constraints because of my other coursework, but I can be creative with what I have. Portraiture with Dorian Gray Professor Gray believes one's power can be developed through portraits. Lots and lots of portraits.* Goal: Daily art practice. I don't have to finish a work in a day, but some arting needs to happen. 10 minute minimum * A story from the book Art and Fear illustrates the point that quantity leads to quality. Students in a ceramics class were divided into 2 sections and told that one section would be graded on pure volume of work --weighed on a bathroom scale --while the other group would be graded solely on the quality of a single ceramic piece. Guess who produced the highest quality pieces? The quantity group. Let's find out

The Veridian Forest - Ranger Level 1 Hal paused at the edge of the Veridian Forest. If the rumors she’d heard in the nearby town of Kelton Junction were true, something had caused an infestation of Needle Blights to take up residence deep in the wood. The townsfolk wouldn’t trust a wandering ranger, of course. They’d barely tolerated her presence in the tavern last night. But something had to be done about the Blights. If they weren’t dealt with, the infestation would spread and attract other dangerous creatures. With a sigh, Hal shouldered her pack and stepped into forest. Welcome everyone! I’m Ranger Hal. Normally I would say that I hike, snowshoe, scramble, climb, and do search and rescue, but aside from the occasional hike and SAR, I haven't been doing much of that for most of a year and I'm still working on how to get myself in good enough shape to feel comfortable joining more of those activities again, especially the ones that require being able to hike uphill at a decent pace, because I feel pretty slow right now (slow being relative, but a lot of climbers tend to be fast hikers). My current nerdy thing is Critical Role (as in, I pretty much quit watching all other TV shows shortly after discovering it last year). I'm at about Campaign 2, Episode 108. Also, anything by Brandon Sanderson. I don't have much actual RPG experience (only a couple of short one-shots at comic con), but thanks to @Artemis Prime's awesome recent challenges (which I've borrowed from extensively), I've decided to try a DnD challenge! Starting Out I'm starting as a Level 1 Human Ranger. My favored enemy is Plants (due to the blackberries currently trying to swallow one corner of my house) and my favored terrain is the Forest. I have leather armor, two short swords, an explorer's pack, and a longbow. I decided to roll for stats and they are Strength 12, Dexterity 17, Constitution 13, Intelligence 12, Wisdom 17, Charisma 11 (filling out a character sheet from scratch by yourself is kind of confusing, y'all, but I think I made something that should work). My AC is 14 and I have 11 hit points. Combat Combat consists of workouts. I get 10 xp per workout and get to attack an enemy. If I skip a workout, the enemy gets to attack me. If I skip a workout due to SAR and do some exercise, it counts as a workout. If I skip a workout due to SAR and don't get any exercise, the enemy gets to attack, but I get to dodge. I plan to do 3-4 workouts per week. Maybe I'll look at my schedule at the beginning of the week and determine which days get workouts. If it's a gym cardio workout, I get a ranged attack. For a pack workout (hiking, stairs, step-ups), I get a melee attack. If the pack workout is an hour or more, I can do a two-weapon attack (using my bonus action, see I'm learning DnD stuff!). In my favored terrain (forest), i.e. hiking, I get an extra 5 xp per workout. Exploration I get 1 xp for each mile I walk outdoors (so gym cardio doesn't count). If the distance is part of a workout, this is in addition to the workout xp. In my favored terrain (forest), I get 2 xp per mile. For each bouldering session I do, I get 3 xp and for each new V3 or higher route that I complete (or V2 that I've really struggled with), I get another 2 xp. Also, as Plants are my favored enemy, I get 10 xp if I remove some of the blackberries around my house. Social Encounters Because I've been feeling out of shape and unable to keep up, I've been a lot less social in my outdoor (for fun) activities, so I get 20 xp per outing I plan or go on with other people. Long Rest Long rests occur at the end of every week, so on Monday morning my hit points reset to full. If I die during the week, I regenerate on Monday morning, but earn no experience points for the week in which I died. Short Rest I will have taken a short rest and can roll hit dice if I have done candles for morning and evening prayers and brushed my teeth. (Yes, I know, I technically only have one hit die right now to use between long rests, but I'm going to allow myself to roll it every day if necessary if it gets me to do candles and brush teeth.) Enemies As implied in the story, I'm fighting Needle Blights. I thought it would be nice to start out with one of my favored enemies. There don't seem to be too many options for plants, so maybe in future challenges I'll go for some other types of creatures, but this seemed like a nice 1/4 CR enemy to start with. I get 50 xp for each one I kill (this seems like a lot at Level 1, but maybe it will work out better at higher levels). They have an AC of 12 and I think I'll give them the max hit points instead of average, so that's 18 hit points. Their attacks will depend on which type of workout I missed. Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, 2d4+1 piercing damage Needles. Ranged Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, 2d6+1 piercing damage Finishing Notes and XP Cap I will level up at the end of the challenge if I have gained more than 300 xp. I don't think I've really balanced my challenge and expect that I have too much possible xp for the lower levels, so I'm putting a weekly cap of 100 xp so that I can't entirely bypass Level 2 (and I also don't want to deal with leveling up in the middle of a challenge). I will still tally up the total xp for the week because I want to see how much I'm getting, but I will only carry 100 xp over to the next week. Well, here goes!

Greetings, all. Much has changed for me recently. Switched assignments. New assignment is in Japan. Family stayed home in the states (this is a pretty common military thing known as 'geo-bachelor' -- not a dissolution of the family but an extended period of working away from home). Read Body by Science and a bunch of other stuff that convinced me that I really can't avoid strength training any longer. I also decided to ditch the idea of a car altogether and ride to and from work, so I bought a mid-grade hybrid bike and have started that adventure. It's perfect timing for a new challenge! 1. Use the F=ma. Strength training using HIT or HIIT principles at least once per week. I met a training buddy shortly after arriving. He loves HIIT, and I wanted to try HIT after reading about it. We decided to combine our passions for a HIIT workout on Monday, a core-focused HIT session on Wednesday, and a Big 5 HIT session on Friday. We made this plan knowing that a Monday or Friday is inevitably going to drop out on occasion and we wanted to ensure at least a couple of workouts per week. We're also monitoring ourselves for signs of overtraining, and are willing to cut this back as necessary since we're both fift-ish. Thus, once per week is meeting goal. Twice per week is awesome. Thrice per week and I'm drinking a celebratory beverage. 2. Ride my bike to work at least three times per week. I made the decision to bike even though the train is extremely cheap and convenient because before coming to Japan I had fallen in hate with my commute. It was 30 to 40 minutes of sitting twice a day, and even though I have to walk ten minutes on either side of the train ride I still want to avoid sitting. I live almost exactly 5k from work, and it's about a 20-minute ride taking traffic into consideration. Doing that at least 3 times weekly will give me 120 minutes of riding, which is decent and allows for the occasional rain and/or recovery day. Four times in a week is awesome. Five times is ideal. If I ride four or five times and also complete a weekend ride, then I'm drinking a celebratory beverage. 3. Learn at least three new Japanese phrases and five words per week. I got an apartment off base in a fully Japanese neighborhood where store clerks and restauranteurs don't speak a ton of English. The learning curve is steep and ubiquitous. Want a pizza? Amazon delivery? Ask for directions? Good luck, yank. Learning at least three common phrases and five words that I could swap into those phrases is the goal. If I double it, I'm drinking a celebratory beverage. 4. Do something social at least once per week. I've been away from home for almost two months now, and I'm not going to lie -- it gets lonely. In order to keep myself from going stir crazy in my tiny little monk cell of an apartment, I need to do something with other people at least once a week. There's an opportunity to play bass with a little practice group, and there's a weekly dinner hosted by a group off base, and there are friends to ask out to lunch. If I do one thing per week, goal. Besides, I need some company for all these celebratory beverages. Kanpai!

The previous challenge included a post-vacation respawn. That has mostly been successful. The parts where I struggled most were doing a (mini-)workout daily, and respecting my sleep curfew as to not be too tired throughout the day. So I'm keeping what works, and I'm adjusting what doesn't (or at least needs improvement). The logging remains the same, but the sleep curfew gets tightened a little. The number of days with a (mini-)workout get an increase too, as does the workout count. Log: Bad Poor Ok Good Excellent Frequency Notes Intermittent fasting < 14 hours ≥ 14 hours ≥ 16 hours ≥ 17 hours ≥ 20 hours Daily Calorie intake > 4000 kcal > 3000 kcal ≤ 3000 kcal ≤ 2400 kcal ≤ 2000 kcal Daily Ballpark figures are good enough Calories spent < 2750 kcal ≥ 2750 kcal ≥ 3000 kcal ≥ 3500 kcal ≥ 4000 kcal Daily Fitbit numbers Calories in/out deficit < 500 kcal < 0 kcal ≥ 0 kcal ≥ 500 kcal ≥ 1000 kcal Daily Curfew ≥ 1.00 am ≥ 0.45 am < 0.45 am < 0.30 am < 0.15 am Daily Add 2 hours before non-working days Sleep < 5h 30m < 6 hours ≥ 6 hours ≥ 6h 30m ≥ 7 hours Daily Fitbit numbers Avg. sleep < 6 hours < 6h 15m ≥ 6h 15m ≥ 6h 30m ≥ 6h 45m Weekly Fitbit numbers Steps < 6.000 ≥ 6.000 ≥ 8.000 ≥ 10.000 ≥ 12.000 Daily Fitbit numbers Avg. steps < 9.000 ≥ 9.000 ≥ 10.000 ≥ 11.000 ≥ 12.000 Weekly Fitbit numbers Distance < 15 km ≥ 15 km ≥ 20 km ≥ 25 km ≥ 30 km Weekly Walk to Mordor distance Workouts < 1.0 ≥ 1.0 ≥ 2.0 ≥ 3.0 ≥ 4.0 Weekly Mini-workouts: 1/10 per exercise Days with (mini-)workouts < 4 4 5 6 7 Weekly The plan of attack centers around my 23:45 workout alarm. Once that rings, I will finish whatever it is that I was doing, actually do a mini-workout*, and then go to bed. I will force myself to do this. Enforce it until it becomes habit! * Mini-workout (for now) consists of the DailyDare exercise, "burpee replacement" exercises (squat jumps, knuckle push-ups and elbow plank mountain climbers), and a 5-minute breathing exercise to calm down again, since the workout is done so close to bed time. Update: Addition as of week 2 for left wrist mobility exercises and caffeine logging. Bad Poor Ok Good Excellent Frequency Notes Coffee consumption 4+ cups 3 cups 2 cups 1 cup None Daily Wrist mobility < 1x5 1x5 1x5 + 1x3 2x5 > 2x5 Daily 3 "free" exercises, 2 surface exercises

Last challenge I did a pretty good job on my two goals, which were all about discipline. I'd like to continue and improve on that for this challenge. Goal the First: Weight Lifting - The goal last challenge was to make 95% of my planned lifting session, and I did that. I think it was challenging but achievable, and I'm going to keep the same goal this time, with a little bit of clarification. My target is to lift 4 times per week, staying mainly with BP and DL. I won't count myself having missed a session unless I get to Saturday and haven't got 4 in. My goal will again be to make 95% of my sessions. Goal B: Calorie Target - I have a daily calorie target supplied to me by MacroFactor. The objective is to not be more than 100 calories over or under this target. Last challenge I ended up at about 70% compliance I think. This challenge, I would like to reach 80%. Just to be clear - there are no excused days for this. It doesn't matter if I go to a cookout or it's DnD night or we end up at a fancy restaurant. The body fat does not care, it only responds to intake and output. Goal Thirdly: Kneehab - I waited a very long time to get a PT to tell me what I need to do to strengthen my knees, and in the month since I received my protocols, I have done an abysmal job of actually completing them. This must improve. I really want to be able to do squats, and the way to get there is to do the rehab. Consistency in this is just as important as the other two, if not more so. The prescription is Minimum 4 x/wk, up to every day. I'm going to commit to 5x/wk, and I want to complete 95% of that. As with the lifting, I won't count a miss until I get to the end of the week and haven't got 5 sessions done. I think that's it. Happy Challenge everyone!

I’m starting this challenge in what feels like the dawn of a new era. And whilst inevitably the shine will fade, the shadows will lengthen and I will again need to rally my strength and punch anxiety in the dick, along with the confidence stealing fear and lack of self-belief, I think this really will be different. Never before have I managed to not only survive my anxiety spiral but actively stop it and say, out loud, enough is enough. That I am enough. That I have worth, independent of any achievement. And believe it. Finally. Something deep down inside of me feels like it’s healing. Not all the way there, perhaps, but its healing. Which leads me to a sudden realisation I had soaking up late summer sunshine, walking through a field a couple of mornings ago. Thinking about wanting to go on adventures, feeling frustrated about my weight and not doing much about it in the last two weeks (see previous challenge). And I kind of realised that mindset is everything when a thought came to me. My body is an amazing thing. The absurdity of hating it finally seems to have hit home. I've been so focused on dislike, of my belly. My thighs. My face, even. It's fuller than it used to be. But I could be angry at myself and berating myself, or I can reframe it and acknowledge that I was just in the preparation phase for a magnificent adventure. I didn’t just ‘gain weight’. I had an epic bulk. It's like a heavy backpack full of food, filled in preparation for a long adventure. That pack will change shape and size as I use the food and turn it to energy, to fuel the adventure. Like Frodo and the setting out from Hobbiton lightly moaning about the weight of his pack and later finding himself and Sam down to a few precious wafers of Lembas on the long, perilous journey to Mordor. I am that pack of food. I don't hate the full pack for being big, bulky and heavy. Well, I might grumble with the effort of carrying it. But I also know it's everything I need to sustain me for the weeks and months ahead, on a journey where food will be scarce, where the bulky pack means life, and continuing the adventure rather than turning back, and missing out on the things that make life beautiful and fun for me. Reframing it has made all the difference. Sure, I weigh more than I want to weigh, and more than is healthy for me. But that just means that I have a heavy, bulky pack full of energy I can use. I'm all stocked up now. So, let's go have that adventure. To where? Well, to the Mountain of Knowledge! (Which I will put in a separate post so I can pin it to the start of future challenges. If you stay to read, and I hope you do, it's a bit of a long one. Bring water and snacks

This challenge will end a day after I return from my week-long vacation out of the country. This will be my first time ever leaving the country and is my birthday gift from the Man, T, and Kers (T and Kers visited Tobago for their honeymoon and have gone twice more since they love it so much). I have my coaching pre-paid through Oct 22nd to get me through the return from vacation and back into the groove of things so this challenge is, once again, focused on meeting all the goals I have with Coach and seeing good progress/learning new things about myself so I can continue this journey on my own after Coach and I part ways (I'll always have her around, just not in a paid professional type manner). Unless, of course, I decide I need to extend again. That's Future Me's decision to make on the next challenge. My Goals as I know them right now: Nutrition: Hit my macros as set by Coach. We are in a slight deficit, but nothing too hectic. She did drop me slightly right before I got sick and we've maintained here for a couple of week as I recovered and she traveled. I'm not sure if we'll change again come Monday but, as of typing this on 9/04, I am at: Protein: 150g (this likely won't change at all) Carbs: 160g Fats: 70g Fiber: 30-35g Water: 1 gallon (128oz) I aim to track 5-6 days a week. Of those 5-6 days, I'm to select 2 meals which I intuitively eat. This is an exercise in letting go and taking what I've learned from these months of tracking to eat with my goals/macros in mind but without having to weigh/measure everything so meticulously. Movement: Daily walks - if weather doesn't cooperate, I have a walking pad (sorry doggos). I've been horribly slacking on hitting 8-10k steps so I want to re-introduce that goal back into my life. Gym 4-5 days a week. Right now I'm set up for: Monday: Legs/quads Tuesday: Back (mainly upper such as lats), Biceps, shoulders (part 1) Wednesday: Chest, Triceps, shoulders (part 2) Thursday: Cardio/Class (Melissa and I have been going to this Les Mills class they hold on Thursdays and so far we like it. If we don't do that, she'll do weights and I'll do cardio such as walk/run and rowing) Friday: Booty (hammies, hips, glutes) and back (low back) The week we leave for vacation we will be leaving before the gym opens on Friday so I'll skip my cardio/class day and move Booty up from Friday to Thursday. This gives me 4 more days of legs, 4 more days of back, 4 days of chest, 4 days (including tomorrow's workout) of cardio/class, and 5 (including this week) more days of Booty before we leave. Spiritual: My New Moon tarot informed me that having a daily ritual/practice is paramount right now. It has been something I've been slowly working to cultivate, but I suppose it's coming down to the "now or never" and I need to really take that deep dive and be consistent. I've built up many consistent practices over my time being here with these challenges but I need to put things together to form something truly helpful for me moving forward. Starting off, I want to keep my daily coffee intentions, my outside Greet the Day, and my daily journaling (in which I write a mantra/intention and then reflect on the previous day. I also check off my to-do, check in emotionally, and see what I have on my daily planner). I have a daily Gua Sha as well and now I have a dry brush I really need to incorporate. I've absolutely fallen off the wagon when it comes to making my daily Gua Sha routine something intentional/spiritual. Now that I want to add in dry brushing, I need to figure out the best way to stick to the goal without taking up too much time as I often will step away on a short work/mental break to do my Gua Sha. Maybe I'll need to divide dry brushing and Gua Sha into two different mental breaks. It'll definitely help with my step goal by forcing me out of my chair! I want to get a bit more intentional about Sabbats as well. Autumn Equinox/Mabon is coming this month (Sept 22nd I believe) and we have a Full Moon the 17th. The New Moon already occurred on the 2nd, hence my New Moon tarot reading about consistent practice. These events will give me a bit of practice with actually sticking to something, I think. Education: The Man's current semester ends October 6th (2 days after we leave for vacation) so we'll be aiming to finish his last week's homework prior to our departure Friday. This weekend is the big midterm paper and also likely a large final paper as well. The stuff in between is equally as challenging, but shorter and a bit less time consuming. For this challenge, I'll be enjoying my birthday week traveling abroad with no concern of homework! Until then, we will stay dedicated to getting it done (and by we, I mean he will grovel at my feet to review his papers). I have pulled out my PE Practice Exams as a reminder I need to start reviewing. I won't worry too much about doing anything with them prior to vacation and instead, push that until we return. I don't have a dedicated timeline other than "I need to get this done sooner rather than later" so I can wait until the stress of travel is gone. Debt: Not too much here as I'm not going to put large chunks towards debt until after vacation. It seems inevitable that every time I put something large towards paying down debt, something happens and I need to gather extra cash. I'd rather be home and not about to leave for or be on vacation and needing said cash. The debt will be there no matter what (because I don't have enough to pay it off in full yet). There are plenty of opportunities for me to work OT so I may take advantage of a few of those days to earn some extra money before vacation. Currently, I have money set aside for the HOA dues (Due Oct 1st) and all my bills will be covered with a little leftover for fun. The Man has money for vacation set aside already so we shouldn't need anything additional, but it's always good to be prepared with extra. Plus, if I don't spend that extra cash, I'll have that extra money to go towards Christmas presents (it's almost that time!) and additional debt payoff. With that said, it looks like there's going to be work-related travel for me in a week and a half. There's a proposal site walkdown visit on the 17th (Tuesday) which will require me to fly out Monday and likely fly home Wednesday (don't think the flight out Tuesday night is late enough as the airport is nearly 3 hours away). There is a direct flight, at least, so I can make that happen and not waste time/energy with layovers. In addition, we have a concert out of town the 21st (Saturday), a concern in town (if we choose to go to it) the 27th (Friday), a parade and event in which the Man and I will be taking one of our fire trucks to the next town over on the 28th (Saturday). Then we then leave for vacation the following Friday. Busy busy second half of the month! I'm not sure of any plans this weekend (the 7th/8th) but we do have our monthly Fire Dept meeting the morning of the 7th. I'm also not sure any plans the following weekend (14th/15th) but I would imagine they'll be filled with something, even if it's just homework and household tasks (like the lawn desperately needing mowed but it's so rainy we can't). All in all, this challenge will focus on me preparing for my first time leaving the country, a nice week-long vacation, and trying to be mentally prepared for letting go of my goals a bit to truly enjoy life and not worry too much about workouts or eating. But sticking to those goals on the lead up so I can feel a bit better about where I am in my adventure as well as let a little loose guilt-free. If you've read through that, wow. Here's pet-tax of both Smoke and Harley being parrots on the back of the couch! Thanks for being here 💜

Jarric: The 'C' Team Each challenge, I theme my goals around roles within an adventuring party. Not character classes, but roles, like the cartographer that maps out the dungeons, or the hoardsperson that keeps track of the party loot. I got the idea from Acquisitions Incorporated: The 'C' Team, and it just so happens that this challenge my goals match up perfectly with the C Team members. If you've never seen it, The 'C' Team is an excellent D&D actual play show, with a very narrative style and an incredibly loose grip on the rules. It's nothing like most D&D I've played or seen, but I fell in love with it a few years ago and although they've now finished their 4 seasons and aren't making any more I still thoroughly recommend it. The decisionist [+2 CON] Track food food every day, using My Fitness Pal. I start bulking from October, so September is about establishing what my maintenance calories are so I can then set my bulking calories for the next 3 months. The hoardsperson [+2 SAN] Spend no money all challenge. This is what I've recently seen described on the forums as a SMRT goal. Specific, Measurable, Relevant, Time-defined, and very much not Achievable. Obviously I won't get through the whole challenge without spending any money, but I want to have as many zero-spend days as possible. This is a bit of a compound goal. For one thing, I'm skint, so it'll obviously help with that. But it'll also stop me drinking as much, particularly when it comes to drinking at home, and that's going to be good for me physically, mentally, and calorie-wise. And it should stop me from buying endless bottles of fizzy drinks, which don't feel good for me when I'm drinking them every day. The documancer [+1 SAN] Check in here every day. I do better at my goals when I'm here talking to y'all, it keeps me on track. Plus, I like being here and seeing what everyone else is up to too. The cartographer [+2 CHA] Paint one mini every week. I've been getting a monthly box with 3 D&D minis in it to paint, but I've fallen behind with it and now I just have a load of grey plastic sat in my kitchen. I do enjoy painting them though, and I'm excited to get through a few. For the purposes of this challenge I'll be grading at the end on whether I got through all 6, so whilst the aim is one per week it's ok to work ahead or fall behind as life demands. There were some other things I was thinking about for this challenge, which haven't quite made it in. I was planning to do pistol squats every day in September, and I might still try and bring that back but so far I'm failing miserably at it. I also thought about a todo list for all of the stuff in my house I'm ignoring, but I can't quite pull it together right now. And I was also thinking about @titsworth's prompt in the tavern thread and how I should do a bit less sitting on the sofa, but that's probably a bigger challenge than I want to fit in this time around and requires a bit more thought and unpacking. Although I'm not actively doing these things I may well talk about them as I wrap my mind around them, or they might become relevant in the West Marches PvP or the Wicked PvP, both of which I'm thinking of how to work with. Well, without further ado, let's do this!

Welcome to my challenge. As always, I've set up a Roadmap for what I want to accomplish in 2024. Mine is posted here in my battle log. Every challenge is aimed at accomplishing some part of the roadmap or furthering my adventure towards this year's goals. I am really not feeling it right now. I had a hard time keeping up with the last challenge. I rarely posted to my own challenge and didn't put in as much time following everyone else like I would like to. I did a poor job of tracking on my own personal spreadsheet and for those of you who know me well, you know I really like my data. I just can't be arsed. Could be due to the fact that most of my tracking is already done on apps and are now more autopiloted and it's just a question of transferring to my spreadsheet. Or maybe I just need a break. Plus just about every weekend during this challenge is busy with hosting company at the house or for brunch or a party. I don't want those to feel stressful so I'm going to work around them. I don't want to completely abandon my goals but just want to keep things as easy as possible. Looking around the forums it's evident that fall is in the air. Fall vibes are cozy and have the perfect chill vibe I need right now. So let's embrace it. Chill Fall Vibe Goal Modifications Daily goals - autopilot. Tracking water is the only one not already tracked on the Lose it app but I've got that habit locked down. Fitness (cardio) - Daily 20 minute walks. By daily I certainly don't mean every day. Let's say every day that the conditions are favorable. Probably 3 times a week but we'll see. Fitness (strength) - I decided to stop seeing the trainer. But then my trainer gave his notice so another trainer offered me 2 free sessions to get to know him. I plan to use those 2 free sessions during this challenge. No promises beyond that. Nutrition - Home cooked meals. I'm not sure why but it feels like I haven't really cooked much. We ate freezer food before the move and then ate a bunch of pizza and easy stuff while we unpacked. I HAVE cooked in my new kitchen (love it) but it just doesn't feel routine yet. It doesn't really feel like my kitchen yet. Time to break it in. Home cooked meals will be the norm, barring evenings when there are games and we eat concessions or have some social engagement. That should be around 5 weekly batched cooked meals. Tracking - This one is tricky. I can't bear having incomplete data for my roadmap so not tracking is not a thing. But if I log all my food in Lose it and track all my works on my Fitbit then I'll have it all to enter whenever I feel like it. I make no promises to check in daily. I'll check in at least weekly but try to check in with everyone else more frequently.

Last month Towards the end of the last challenge, I spent my 66th birthday in airports and on a plane to Asheville North Carolina for a three-day retreat put on by Mindform, a self-mastery group I belong to. I had a great time hiking, kayaking, experimenting with neurofeedback devices for brain training, and having deep discussions with a bunch of cool people I had previously only interacted with virtually. Wonderful time! I came back to a mad scramble to kick off the fall session of my basic AI course and complete my nature journaling educator curriculum and practicum, before launching into a new marketing initiative for my drone-based wildfire risk management startup. This month, I'll be giving a talk on navigating our AI future, participating in a number of events with the Flagstaff Festival of Science–from doing a demo of how drones are used in the environmental sciences to putting my new nature journal educator training to use at the "Science in the Park" event. And, keeping up with my "day job" business doing web development to keep food on the table. With all of that going on, I'm only about halfway done moving into my office space at the business incubator. Things have been at a higher level of craziness than usual! OBJECTIVES Challenge 7: September 9th - October 13th, 2024 Get outside and enjoy the fall weather; do some sketching, take photos, and make some drone video of the fall colors! Focus on trails with hills, of a moderate or higher level of difficulty, to continue building lung capacity, endurance, and leg strength for longer, more strenuous hikes to come Do at least 2 day hikes (6 - 10 miles) on portions of the AZT or other trails on the Coconino and Kaibab National Forests during the challenge to start increasing mileage Keep doing strength, endurance, balance and flexibility training Keep decluttering and downsizing household stuff Keep the plates spinning on my business. Finish moving into the office. Go big on Festival of Science events, AI initiatives, and fire agency networking. That's where I seem to be picking up some momentum. I've identified a number of long range objectives and goals (listed at the bottom of this post so as to not clutter up the main portion of my challenge) that informed the above goals and will help me in planning challenge goals through the end of this year. Chief among them is to start preparing now for spring section hikes of the Arizona Trail (an 800 mile trail that runs north/south along the length of Arizona). GOALS 1. Keep on Hikin'... My feet are doing well and I'm building some leg muscle! My endurance is improving. My hiking buddy has been giving me grief that I'm walking faster and going up hills better, making it harder to keep up...yeah, right. This from the person who takes a 10 - 12 mile solo hike once a week, beyond the hiking we've already been doing together. Hike more challenging trails in the area, whether in the Flagstaff Urban Trails System, Forest Service trails, or small portions of the Arizona Trail, 3 - 4 x per week, 2 - 4 miles per hike Increase about 20% over last challenge's mileage to around 50 miles total, and increase difficulty level on all hikes to at least moderate, working in difficult trails for about 10-15% of hikes. Add in a light pack (keep it under 12 pounds for now) on familiar, moderate hikes. 2. Condition with the Future in Mind Staying steady with the schedule, but changing up the weight. Moving to heavy weights, low reps. I experimented with that the last week and a half and it's working better for me: Strength: 2x per week (full body, body weight exercises and light heavy weights, high low reps) Endurance: 2x per week on exercise bike, easy to moderate, for non-hike recovery days Flexibility and Balance: 6-7x per week (foot rolling, massage, flex and strengthening for feet; stretching for feet, legs, hips; stretching and strengthening for torso, neck and arms; posture work) 3. Cut the Clutter and Disorganization I'm doing a big push to finish up my home organization and house cleaning by the 21st. I have friends coming up from Phoenix to help me with the Science in the Park booth my company is sponsoring and that gives me a real deadline to have the place presentable. After that, I'll move on to culling stuff from my 8 x 10 storage unit to reduce excess stuff and organize. I have way too many interests, hobbies, and business ventures going on to live in a 400 sq. ft. apartment. Thank goodness for 140 sq. feet of office space - just getting half the drones and other equipment in there has helped a lot already! Finish the office move by the middle of next week This week and next: Keep to my minimum of 30 minutes a day on the household, though with visitors coming, it likely will be more realistic to do an hour or two per day, so I don't go crazy at the last minute cleaning for company Rest of the challenge: Shift to at least 2x per week working on the storage unit for a 90 minutes to 2 hours at a time, while MAINTAINING the apartment 4. Create the Future I Want to See I finished my Nature Journaling Educator workshop and practicum on September 7 - woohoo! I'll be applying that at the Science in the Park event, where my friends and I will be doing environmental science and fire prevention education for the kids and families that will be attending. Really looking forward to that! Do first five weeks of the 90 day Mindform Growth Accelerator challenge Do Science in the Park education event (Flagstaff Festival of Science) Present Drones in Environmental Science Demo (Flagstaff Festival of Science) Give my talk on navigating our AI future Wrap up teaching the AI intro course that ends during the challenge bye week Have everything ready to start teaching my new course–"Advancing Your AI Skills"–that starts the first week of the next challenge Post more frequently–updating my own challenge regularly, and comment on and support other people's challenges ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ I've listed my long range objectives below so as to not clutter up the main portion of my challenge. They're nearly all hiking related right now. Having those set will help me in choosing challenge goals through the end of this year.

I’m Ranger Hal. I hike, snowshoe, scramble, climb, and do search and rescue. And over the last couple of weeks, I came to the realization that I'm a little screwed up and probably have been to one degree or another for like 15 years. Spoiler for stuff I guess I knew for a while that I wasn't doing really well, but it really hit home when I was taking a Mental Health and SAR required video training and had to take a break partway through because I was crying and I'm obviously not okay. The video had some suggestions to help (some of which kind of don't apply because the main issue isn't SAR related mental trauma, but some of them are pretty general). So, here's my challenge: 1. Light a candle for morning prayers 2. Walk - regular walk (1.3 mi) if I'm not feeling rushed to leave for work, short walk (0.4 or 0.6 mi) if I am feeling rushed Bonus 1. Do some exercises in the evening. I'd like to attempt pull-ups again. The best I ever got to was about half of one, but that was a while back and I'm nowhere close to that right now. I'm starting with bodyweight rows. I can also explore the stairs in my new office building. It's a 20+ story building, so that's lots of stairs (although I don't think I can get back to my floor without going to the bottom and taking the elevator back up. Stupid fire safety stairs). Bonus 2. Do something bigger (like hike) on the weekends.

Welcome to my challenge. As always, I've set up a Roadmap for what I want to accomplish in 2024. Mine is posted here in my battle log. Every challenge is aimed at accomplishing some part of the roadmap or furthering my adventure towards this year's goals. I'm all moved into my new home. The main unpacking is done but there is so much more to do. But other things have been put on hold that need my attention too. Like Fitness. This has taken a back seat and I can feel the difference. With all the stuff piling up and all the unpacking left to do, I need something easy to get back into fitnessing; something easy like a walk in the part, or at a lake, maybe with a sunset. Our new home just happens to be adjacent to a walking path that goes down to the nearby lake. We no longer need to set aside time to drive to the lake and make a big thing of it. We can now just pop out for a quick walk daily. Since it's later in the summer, our dinner just happens to be a little before sunset usually. So why not enjoy our new surroundings and plan for after dinner walks down by the lake around sunset. Sunsets are not promised but the goal is to walk 20 minutes most days, a longer walk on the weekend if we're lucky. That should equal somewhere between 120-150 minutes of walking a week. That's it. That's the only goal. I would also like to get more sessions in at the gym. Hopefully it'll happen at least once a week but it's not my main focus. I want to take advantage of what remains of summer and build this new habit.

I saw this post recently, and it stopped me in my tracks. My body, my inseparable best friend. I don't think I have ever looked at my body that way. At best, we were frenemies. At worst, well... I had been ruminating on the best friend quote for a day or two when I had a crazy dream in which Scarlett Johansson (aka Avenger's Black Widow) in a wheelchair was my best friend. As metaphors go, my brain did a damn good job. Scarlett and I are similar enough in age, height, and coloring that she could play me on the made-for-tv movie about my life. We even have the same prominent cheekbones. I don't have her figure, of course, but figures can change. And in a wheelchair...I feel like I am always broken. Mu current shoulder injury is just one in a long line of rehabs I have had to go through. My body is a beautiful, broken badass, and it's time we became besties. How to become BFFs: Be a good listener My body is kind of quiet and I haven't been very good at hearing what it actually needs. Whenever it starts talking, I just give it a cookie and assume that covers it. But, if hunger is not the problem, then food is not the solution. I am sure my body wants less food, more water, more movement, and more sleep. And maybe some other things I haven't thought of. The goal here is to pause frequently and listen to what my body is actually calling for (and then do that as often as possible). This leads into the next goal, which is Have your bestie's back I need to be a better advocate for myself. As a wife, a mom, a daughter, there are so many people who need me to be there for them in various capacities. I tend toward martyrdom, and don't ask for help or even time to take care of myself, but I should. I need to speak up when my body needs something that conflicts with what everyone else is wanting (within reasonable limits). I get that both of these goals are a little bit intangible, so as a way to measure progress and motivate myself, I will award 5 points for each instance of listening and/or advocacy. For every 250 points accumulated, I get to do something nice for myself (and my body), like get some new clothes, a pedicure, a spa day, whatever. I don't often spend on myself this way, so it will be special and reinforcing my body relationship goals. They may be spent during the challenge if I earn them; I don't have to wait to the end. Let's go!

I'm back from vacation, so it's time to put up the new challenge thread. It'll be simple this challenge: Week 0-2 are vacation damage control - where I try not to go overboard but which will contain plenty of eating out and ice cream and other sweet / carby stuff. The 3-day Alcatraz Metal Festival is at the end of this, at which point my music posting will probably get decidedly less metal again... Week 3-5 are the post-vacation respawn - where I get back to logging things like I used to, and where I generally try to get my weight to pre-vacation levels again. The respawn logging will start on Monday, August 12th, and will be my usual colour-coded log: Bad Poor Ok Good Excellent Frequency Notes Intermittent fasting < 14 hours ≥ 14 hours ≥ 16 hours ≥ 17 hours ≥ 20 hours Daily Calorie intake > 4000 kcal > 3000 kcal ≤ 3000 kcal ≤ 2400 kcal ≤ 2000 kcal Daily Ballpark figures are good enough Calories spent < 2750 kcal ≥ 2750 kcal ≥ 3000 kcal ≥ 3500 kcal ≥ 4000 kcal Daily Fitbit numbers Calories in/out deficit < 500 kcal < 0 kcal ≥ 0 kcal ≥ 500 kcal ≥ 1000 kcal Daily Curfew ≥ 1.30 am ≥ 1.00 am < 1.00 am < 0.30 am < 0.00 am Daily Add 2 hours before non-working days Sleep < 5h 30m < 6 hours ≥ 6 hours ≥ 6h 30m ≥ 7 hours Daily Fitbit numbers Avg. sleep < 6 hours ≥ 6 hours ≥ 6h 15m ≥ 6h 30m ≥ 6h 45m Weekly Fitbit numbers Steps < 6.000 ≥ 6.000 ≥ 8.000 ≥ 10.000 ≥ 12.000 Daily Fitbit numbers Avg. steps < 9.000 ≥ 9.000 ≥ 10.000 ≥ 11.000 ≥ 12.000 Weekly Fitbit numbers Distance < 15 km ≥ 15 km ≥ 20 km ≥ 25 km ≥ 30 km Weekly Walk to Mordor distance Workouts < 0.8 ≥ 0.8 ≥ 1.6 ≥ 2.4 ≥ 3.2 Weekly Mini-workouts: 1/10 per exercise Days with (mini)-workouts < 3 3 4 5 ≥ 6 Weekly And in the meantime, I'll be chatting about what happens at Casa di Movieman, posting songs, and commenting on my many hobbies and whatever else caught my attention. You know, the usual... 😇

Hello summer challenge II! I spent zero week on a bike camping trip, but I'm ready for the next five weeks! This challenge is about continuing to take care of my finances and leaning into abundance in other areas (social, hobby) to bolster my emotional resources for the beginning of the school year next challenge. This challenge will see me through 2.5 weeks of Actual Vacation as well as one more road trip (I'm really looking forward to it but also omg I'm so done travelling). That means lots of time for fun stuff, but less money, especially since I haven't even got my record of employment from the school board to apply for summer EI. Some co-workers who are more on the ball than me were saying that because of where the Canada Day stat fell, our last pay was pushed 2 weeks later and so our eligibility for EI gets pushed later too, which is a real piss-off considering the last paycheque was literally just the stat, so around a hundred bucks. Anyway, we have a cushion in the joint account so I'm safe whatever, but I would really like to keep those funds for emergencies, rather than drawing on them regularly in summer and tax season. This challenge's goals are going to look pretty similar to the last couple, because they seem to be working pretty well! One thing that hasn't been working great is meditation. I was thinking about it the other day, and recognizing that part of what's going on is, I'm not sure if I should be striving for a more traditional meditation experience (eyes closed, focus is internal, thoughts and feelings come and you try to step back and watch them float away like bubbles) or if leaning in to something more intuitive is still valuable (eyes open, ideally outside or with a view of a living natural scene, observing sights/sounds/sensations, thoughts and feelings may come but my main focus is on noticing sensory input without attempting to label or interpret it). The latter is a lot easier, so I feel like I'd be more successful if that's where I put my effort, but also easier = less challenging = less potential for growth. I don't know. I think I will lean into intuitive/mindful time for this challenge, since summer is perfect for outside time. Goals this challenge: 40 stars: A! Prize will be a party where I bake a cake and everyone in the house has to say “good job, you met your goals!” or they don’t get any cake. If I manage my budgeting challenge I will decorate the cake with fancy gold sprinkles and paint. 25 stars: B! No prize but the satisfaction of knowing I “passed” my challenge! Main goals 🌟 Exercise every week. The expectation is 2/week of run, bike, hike, yoga, or strength 🌟 Meditate 10 mins every week 🌟 Fun money <$75/week 🌟 Unloved Hobbies/Home Projects (gardening, painting, sewing, unfucking, decorating) 1 hour per week 🌟 Post more than weekly and in other threads (this has been going well! And I like it!) 🌟 Photos Bonus 🌟 Additional effort on weekly goals meditation - 1 session: 🌟 2-4 sessions: 🌟🌟 5+ sessions 🌟🌟🌟 exercise - 1-2 sessions 🌟 3+ sessions 🌟 🌟 hobbies/home projects - + 🌟 for each hour spent on a different task (i.e. 3 hours of gardening is just 🌟 , 2 hours of gardening + 1 hour of ukulele is 🌟 🌟 ) 🌟 Mini-adventure (anything out of the house while on vacation, max 3/week) 🌟 🌟 Adventure (out of town or adventuresome exercise) One offs 🌟🌟🌟 Tab Clearing (at least 20) (yes, this is still hanging around) 🌟 🌟 If I do strength training every week 🌟 Unfuck the doll collection 🌟 Unfuck craft caddies 🌟 Unfuck dresser tops 🌟 Get Sibling B's shelf set up upstairs 🌟 Order a cushion for upstairs armchair 🌟 If I beat the stupid grandma level on We ❤️ Katamari

Building on last challenge where I blew past my original hiking goals, then paid the price for it when I needed to take some extra rest days due to sore arches in my feet... I made progress on a new foot regimen to deal with the beginnings of plantar fasciitis over the bye week and will be modifying distance and difficulty of my hikes accordingly this challenge and focusing on sustainable efforts. I have some big plans for next spring, so don't want to jeopardize those by any more over-enthusiasm! GOALS 1. Hike the Forest Trails What: Get outdoors and enjoy nature Build stamina in preparation for longer, more strenuous hikes. Walk 34 - 45 miles on moderate difficulty trails in my local area Challenge 6 Objectives: Hike the Flagstaff Urban Trails system and the surrounding Forest Service trails, 3 - 4x week Focus on trails with a moderate level of difficulty to build lung capacity and endurance Cover only about half to two-thirds the mileage of last challenge (67 miles), so I don't stress my feet too much! Stretch Goal: Add in a light pack (6 - 7 pounds) once my feet can handle it (I added a 12 pound pack about halfway through last challenge, which was way too soon for my feet) Preparing for Challenge 7 Objectives Day hike short portions of the Arizona Trail (800 mile trail that runs north/south along the length of Arizona) that cross FUTS trails and other moderate difficulty trails on the Coconino and Kaibab National Forests Improve my conditioning to the point I can pass a Moderate level "pack test" which would qualify me to do fire agency drone jobs, or fire prevention teams or support roles in fire camp. Timeline - October 15, 2024. (2-mile walk with a 25-pound pack in 30 minutes or less) 2. Conditioning with the Future in Mind What: Increase core strength, balance and flexibility Prepare feet for increasing mileage and loads over next couple of challenges Change body composition through increased muscle mass, decreased body fat Objectives: Support 1. Hike the Forest Trails by building a foundation of core strength, flexibility, and balance, utilizing a mix of kettlebells, Indo board, yoga, and bodyweight exercises. Focus on increasing foot flexibility, alignment, stability, and endurance utilizing massage, therapeutic exercises, and assistive gear: wobble boards, rollers, and various other exercise aids. Utilize exercise bike on days I don't hike to increase endurance Consider swimming for non-impact cardio Schedule Strength: 2 - 3x per week Endurance: 1 - 3x per week (depending on how many hikes I do in a particular week) Flexibility: At least 5x per week 3. Cut the Clutter and Disorganization What: Declutter and do remedial house cleaning to get to the point where I'm caught up and just need to do basic, daily maintenance. I get busy and things slide, but I made considerable progress last challenge! Objective: Keep going based on last challenge progress. I need to reorganize my kitchen for greater efficiency and set up better systems for meal prep. Also, purge my closet of old, baggy clothes–I lost more weight over the last couple of years and also toned up over the last couple of months. I'm within 20 pounds of my ideal weight; I need to dump the frump. Schedule: Daily, 30 minutes minimum. More whenever time allows. 4. Create the Future I Want to See What: I'm wrapping up hosting a month-long reading/study group on the book "Active Hope (revised) : How to Face the Mess We're in with Unexpected Resilience and Creative Power" by Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone. An awesome book about constructive, creative change-making, both personal and collective. I'm doing two things during the challenge to go to the next level in my commitments that 1) arose from reading this book a couple of years ago and 2) hosting this latest group session. Work Related: Pursuing certification as a Wildfire Mitigation Specialist through the NFPA (National Fire Protection Association), which is a leading life safety codes and standards organization. I sit for the 3 hour exam on August 12th. More than a little bit nervous about it as it supposed to be a tough test, but going to give it my best...if I can pass it, I'll be one of just 150 people in the US with that certification. (Fingers crossed!) Passion Project: Taking a course through wildwonder.org to become a "Nature Journaling Educator," as a way to inspire people to understand, respect and enjoy the natural world more effectively. Get people out in nature and sharpen their powers of observation, empathy, and play–triple win! Objectives: NFPA certification Complete studying for the NFPA certification and do comprehensive review Prepare the 4 final reports for the practicum Pass the exam and submit my practicum materials - August 12 Nature Journaling course Watch all the preparation videos (about 17 hours) and do the exercises to be ready for the workshop and practicum on September 7. Schedule: NFPA Certification July 30 to August 11 - For NFPA Cert, Daily, 4+ hours. Mix of study, review and practicum work. August 12th - NFPA Exam and submit practicum materials August 13th to 15th - Break to do office move Nature Journaling course August 16th to August 30 - Nature Journaling course: Daily, 90 minutes watch videos and work on exercises August 30 to September 2nd - Hike and nature journal for fun! September 3rd to 6th - Start blog and making materials for local Flagstaff Festival of Science's "Science in the Park" event where I'll start putting my training to use! September 7th - Take workshop and practicum So, a pretty packed challenge, as per usual! I'm also considering what to do with my habitual postings about fire trucks and fire aviation. I've gotten kind of bored with that. Once I get rolling on the nature journaling, I may post that here. Otherwise, maybe just post occasional things I see that are cool. Like this:

This challenge will encompass so many different situations, I feel like it's hard to make one set of goals that'll make sense for the whole thing! The first week is 100% still summer vacation - yay! The second week is partly back at work - I work Monday through Wednesday only, and it's very nearly 100% classroom time. The third week is a step further yet - I work Tuesday through Friday, with a huge majority of that being pointless meetings 🙄 The fourth week is another step forward - Monday and Tuesday are a mix of meetings and classroom time, then student return full-time starting that Wednesday. The final week is full blown school year - 5 days of full-time teaching! Also somewhere in there I need to figure out what's going on with my grad classes, as I need to take another class this fall semester but honestly haven't even looked at their calendar or course offerings yet. But that'll probably start somewhere in there too. Family-wise, my husband doesn't work at all until Monday of that 3rd week, but my son doesn't go back to his school until Tuesday of the 4th week, so we'll need to figure out how that'll work. There's a good chance I'm going to be begging my principal to let him hang out in my classroom with his books and some coloring supplies for a few of those meetings. Baby Girl's daycare opens back up on that 3rd week Tuesday, since it's part of the district I teach in, but I am concerned because her separation anxiety, while entirely developmentally appropriate, is getting worse. (It is not open yet for that second challenge week, as not all teachers go back that week, but my husband will be home, so the only thing I need to worry about is getting enough pumped milk in the fridge for her for those 3 days) So here are my main ideas for this challenge, though it will almost certainly change as we go! Quest 1: Stamina/Movement Last challenge was my most successful one for this in a long while, even if I did fall a tiny bit short still in the end! So let's repeat that exactly and maybe this time I'll make it? So the rules are simple: 1 point per mile walked, 2 points per mile run, with a goal of 10 points or more by the end of the challenge. I can count in 0.1 mile increments and try my best not to round too much, but basic math rules apply (aka 1.31 miles would be 1.3 but 1.38 miles would count as 1.4) Quest 2: Nutrition and Water This is a bit of a mixed bag. At least during spring semester, I did way better at getting enough water but way worse at getting nutritious meals in my belly. The school routine tends to break me that way (bells and the need to cling to a mug like an adult safety blanket make drinking water easier, but being super tired and only getting a 20 minute lunch break pushes me to a lot of super processed convenience foods). So I'm going back to my 96 ounces of water a day goal but going to start my food goal once I go back to work with at least 2/3 days of healthy lunches packed the night before. Probably a lot of dinner leftovers, depending on what we ate, or maybe I'll try the Greek yogurt + add-in thing again. Sandwiches could even be a decent "I have no other ideas and want to go to bed" option - it's still healthier than microwave mac and cheese, which is my most common last resort! Quest 3: Personal Goals My weird catch-all category this time around, with goals that can possibly be best summed up as "you have a lot of cool stuff on your plate to work on but please don't forget you're an actual human being at the same time". I can make this about a trillion goals long but here's where I'm going to start (broken down into 3 categories): I fell pretty short on my Japanese goals last challenge and also realized it was really hard to track that way, so this time I'm just going to set an end goal: "chapters" 10 and 11 on my Busuu app! That's 20 lessons from where I am right now. I also still want to take on El misterio del águila chapter 1 though I may do so without the intensive reading notes at first and go back through for those later to save myself the immediate headache. Immediate work goals, outside of curriculum and school year prep, would include 9 extensive reading quizzes to finish off the Magic Treehouse book I started writing quizzes for back at the beginning of the last challenge, oops, and also finishing and presenting my Seal of Biliteracy proposal to my principal so we can get that underway already! I also want to sew Baby Girl's dress and I started a kinda tailoring-dish project of my own - I have this really nice, gray, faux-wrap skirt that is simply too small in the waist unless I'm severely underweight, so I started taking it apart to widen the waist. Of course, it's not that simple...as a faux wrap, they cut out a good chunk of the gray that would have gone underneath, so I need to worry about opening up an accidental hole in the side/hem where that cut bit could be exposed. Of course it's fully lined, and the seams in the lining and the outer skirt don't match up at all, so that's fun. There's a pocket sewn directly into the best outer seam to open which I'd rather not lose, so that's a mess. Oh and of course I don't own any matching gray fabric, so I get to tackle the challenge of adding width without having the actual fabric to do so (current thought: patterned stripe from the heaviest quilting cotton I can find?)

Ok, it's been a long time since I successfully finished a challenge. For this challenge I want to do 4 things daily. 10k steps Eat whole foods, no fried or processed crap. There is an exception for Aurelios pizza that is being brought from Chicago to the lake house in Wisconsin. I will eat the pizza there but be reasonable with the amount. Also no alcohol, NA beer is ok. One intentional workout a day. No saying well I worked hard in the yard or I really walked a lot today. If I am sore I can ride my bike or do an intentional walk. Post on NF daily. That's it. I am at work now and can not upload photos of some of the food I made but will be posting a lot of food pics.

TimovieMan does ALL THE THINGS! During the previous challenge, I tried "taking back my evenings" - which mainly involved reducing the number of daily chess games I play, and getting some more video gaming time in. Of course, gaming is always at odds with my sleep schedule, which is why I'll make sleep a more important point this time - I had a challenge last year that was "TimovieMan balances sleep and gaming". This one will be similar. I want to indulge in all my hobbies, as often as I can, while still getting to bed at an appropriate time. All my hobbies, within reason, of course. The idea is not to go full hedonist here. Family outings, activities with the kids and the missus and so on, still take precedence. I mainly want to attempt to get the most out of my "me-time". And still get to bed on time. For this reason, I'm creating a new "ALL THE THINGS!" category in my log. How will this work? I will assign a score to how many "things" I did, and to my bed curfew. The curfew is already part of my log. How many "things" I did will be harder to measure, especially if I want to account for activities I did with the family, so I'll go by perception. How much do I perceive I did, based on the amount of me-time I had. Curfew: dark green = 4 points, green = 3 points, yellow = 2 points, orange = 1 point, red = 0 points. Things: "ALL THE THINGS!" = 3 points, "most of the things" = 2 points, "the basics" = 1 point, "less than the basics" = 0 points. The full log is then as follows: Bad Poor Ok Good Excellent Frequency Notes Intermittent fasting < 14 hours ≥ 14 hours ≥ 16 hours ≥ 17 hours ≥ 20 hours Daily Calorie intake > 4000 cal > 3000 cal ≤ 3000 cal ≤ 2400 cal ≤ 2000 cal Daily Ballpark figures are good enough Calories spent < 2750 cal ≥ 2750 cal ≥ 3000 cal ≥ 3500 cal ≥ 4000 cal Daily Fitbit numbers Calories in/out deficit < 500 cal < 0 cal ≥ 0 cal ≥ 500 cal ≥ 1000 cal Daily Curfew ≥ 1.30 am ≥ 1.00 am < 1.00 am < 0.30 am < 0.00 am Daily Add 2 hours before non-working days Sleep < 5h 30m < 6 hours ≥ 6 hours ≥ 6h 30m ≥ 7 hours Daily Fitbit numbers Avg. sleep < 6 hours ≥ 6 hours ≥ 6h 15m ≥ 6h 30m ≥ 6h 45m Weekly Fitbit numbers Steps < 6.000 ≥ 6.000 ≥ 8.000 ≥ 10.000 ≥ 12.000 Daily Fitbit numbers Avg. steps < 9.000 ≥ 9.000 ≥ 10.000 ≥ 11.000 ≥ 12.000 Weekly Fitbit numbers Distance < 15 km ≥ 15 km ≥ 20 km ≥ 25 km ≥ 30 km Weekly Walk to Mordor distance Workouts < 0.8 ≥ 0.8 ≥ 1.6 ≥ 2.4 ≥ 3.2 Weekly Mini-workouts: 1/10 per exercise Days with (mini)-workouts < 3 3 4 5 ≥ 6 Weekly ALL THE THINGS! < 3 3 4 5 ≥ 6 Daily Sleep curfew and "things" score And what do I mean with "ALL THE THINGS"? Well, buckle up, because this will take a while... 😅 - Forum posting There's often a gap in my posts between Friday-Monday. I'll try to remedy this by making it part of the challenge. I will attempt to post *every day*. Even if it's just a copy-paste of my log and a quick summation of all the things I did. And a song, of course. In this thread. The DailyDare and weight loss PVP threads don't count... 😁 - Sports watching There's going to be a LOT of sports on TV the coming summer, and I follow most of it. So the idea is to keep current with *everything*. For this challenge that means the European Athletics Championship this week, the European Championship football as of Friday, the Tour de France cycling race as of June 29th, and the Wimbledon Grand Slam tennis as of July 1st. And when most of that is all over, we have the Olympics starting on July 26th, but that will be for the challenge after this. I'll settle for highlights on busy days, of course. - Alcatraz preparation I've made a note of all the bands that I would like to see at the Alcatraz festival, and am listening to a bunch of their songs. I haven't yet made my "proper" preparation list, because that depends in part on the festival's timetable, and they haven't released that yet. But the idea is to listen to a lot of stuff that I suspect I'll hear at the festival. And to listen to it as often as I can. The good part is that I can do this while at work as well... 🤘 - Darts practice This is something that I've been slacking on a bit in recent weeks. I only threw some darts on Saturday last week. Once a week is not enough, I'd like to do this multiple times per week, time permitting. I usually throw 6 darts at a time, to maximise the time spent throwing compared to the time spent retrieving darts. 3 darts at T20, 3 darts at T19. This allows for competition against myself. A minimal session is just 15-20 minutes of throwing darts. A normal session would include a "best of 5" "highest score in 10 rounds" vs. myself, and a "best of 5" match of 501 games. Long sessions would also include "Round the world" scoring and a "420 game" for check-out practice. Even longer sessions can contain a variety of other training exercises as well. Maybe I need to assign scores to this as well? No darts = 0, minimal session = 1, normal = 2, long = 3, more = 4. With the idea of accumulating 10 points each week? Something to ponder on. I'll keep it out of the normal log for now. - Chess I started to obsessively play chess back in October/November. This culminated in me starting WAY too many daily chess matches simultaneously back in February. Since my hobbies tend to cycle regularly - I'm a serial obsessor 😇 - the chess thing has run its course for me. The chess frenzy is coming to an end, and I'm now just finishing up what I've started. I got the number of team vote chess matches down from 100+ to 36 now. And the number of daily chess games I'm playing is down from 150+ to 63. These numbers will continue to dwindle. But I refuse to purposely throw any matches, or to time out on any of them, so I'll see the matches through to the end. To avoid timing out, I should finish each day with over 24 hours on the clock in *every* match. The fewer matches there are, the easier - and less time-consuming - this gets. As an addendum: I still want to solve the daily puzzles - there's a daily limit of three for a "free" chess.com membership. Easy enough. - Words of Wonders This is a time-waster app on my phone. A wordplay game where you get a bunch of letters and use them to make anagrams that fit into a grid. Something Mrs. Movieman started playing several months ago, got the kids interested, and consequently got me into it as well back in March. Although I'm still going at it every day, Mrs. Movieman has stopped playing in the meantime... 🙃 Basic idea here is to do the daily puzzle, and to play a number of other quick puzzles. Enough to maximize the in-game currency gains each day. Since this is a time-waster, this can pretty much be done whenever. Even during walks. - Tennis Elbow 4 The Roland Garros grand slam has got me into Tennis Elbow 4 again. This is an annual thing, and usually lasts several months. The idea here is to continue my in-game career as "young me" and to get as far as possible. It's a time-consuming game, of course, because my OCD doesn't allow me to "cut corners" by playing one-set games or by playing shorter sets. No, I play *full* matches. That means an easy 6-0 6-0 victory will still take me about 20 minutes, and a 3-set slog will take about an hour. Good thing I just restarted a career as a 13-year-old, and am still a long way away from grand slam matches... 😅 I might go overboard a little with posting about this, though, going into detail about which tournaments I played and who my opponents were... 😇 - The Crew 2 TimovieSon has installed this on the PS5 and has started playing again, which means that I'm now compelled to do the game's weekly "summit" races as well. Even if my heart's not really into it. The advantage compared to last year is this: "The Crew: Motorfest" has been released in the meantime - basically "The Crew 3" - and some (if not most) of the best players have switched to the latest game. The weekly "summits" have become far easier because of that. That mainly means that I won't have to retry some races again and again just to get the best result that I possibly can. As long as my performance was "okay", it's likely going to be good enough to obtain the highest in-game category (and thus the highest in-game rewards). - Stray This is a game that I got last year, that I only started playing a very short while. The idea now is to restart and to actually finish it. Since it's an adventure game, it's not going to be a 100+ hour game, so I should be able to complete it (and maybe even platinum it) in the course of this challenge. And if I can do that, then there are other games waiting in line on my Playstation backlog: The Last of Us 2, Hogwarts Legacy, Marvel's Avengers and Spider-Man 2. All of these will take far longer, though... 😇 Wish me luck... 😅

I'm back. Still getting my challenge together, but wanted to commit to it in the midst of all the other things I am juggling. GOALS 1. Walk What: Walk the Flagstaff Urban Trail System’s (FUTS) easy to moderate trails. Currently about 56 total miles in the system, out of a planned 130 miles. I want to do at least 50 miles of 56 this challenge. Stretch goal do all 56. Limit elevation gain the first couple weeks. This is my primary fitness goal for this challenge. Objective: Get outdoors, enjoy nature, and rack up some miles. Build stamina in preparation for longer, more strenuous walks. Ultimately, walk the whole FUTS and the extended trail system that includes parts of the Arizona Trail, an 800 mile trail that runs the length of Arizona, from the border with Mexico to Utah. I want to get into good enough shape to start doing section hikes of the Arizona Trail with my friend Trudi starting in 2025. Schedule Daily mileages will vary according to difficulty of that week’s trails Wk 1 - 3 times a week, Total miles 6, average miles 2.0; T, Th, Sa Wk 2 - 4 times a week, Total miles 8, average miles 2.0; M, W, Th, Sa Wk 3 - 4 times a week, Total miles 10, average miles 2.5; T, Th, F, Su Wk 4 - 4 times a week, Total miles 12, average miles 3; M, W, Th, Sa Wk 5 - 5 times a week, Total miles 14, average miles 2.8; Su, T, W, F, Sa 50 miles 2. Strength Training What: Use a mix of kettlebell and bodyweight exercises 2 - 3 x per week. I have a number of basic kettlebell and bodyweight workouts bookmarked. Will start easy and adjust the level of difficulty as I see how my body responds. Objective: Increase muscle mass, strength; evaluate my current level of strength in preparation for greater focus on training for body composition change next challenge. A very basic program designed to establish good habits in preparation for greater focus on strength training for body composition change next challenge. I’m flabby. Schedule Wk 1 - 2 times a week, W, Su Wk 2 - 2 times a week, T, F Wk 3 - 3 times a week, M, W, Sa Wk 4 - 3 times a week, T, F, Su Wk 5 - 3 times a week, M, Th, Su 3. Cut the Clutter and Disorganization I've been so busy getting two different businesses off the ground that my living environment has suffered. Which in turn makes it more difficult to achieve my entrepreneurial goals. Vicious cycle ensues... What: Have a set amount of time to do remedial house cleaning to get to the point where I'm caught up and just need to do basic, daily maintenance. Objective: Track my daily amount of time spent and use that data to set future goals. First, get the apartment in order, then work to get storage unit cleaned out and cut that cost out of my budget. Schedule: Daily, 30 minutes minimum. More whenever time allows. Expect some surprises - in the last few years the puzzle pieces have finally fit together, and in a rather unexpected way. I'm back doing wildland fire, but from a different angle. An AI character to give you an only somewhat misleading hint–besides the fact that she is considerably younger and better looking than I am! Oh! And, Tuesday Truck Porn will be back, as will Friday Fire Aviation...

Welcome to my challenge. As always, I've set up a Roadmap for what I want to accomplish in 2024. Mine is posted here in my battle log. Every challenge is aimed at accomplishing some part of the roadmap or furthering my adventure towards this year's goals. Last challenge was a very busy and exciting time but I had to put some things on hold. My challenge was a bare minimum kind of challenge. Things have calmed down for the time being. I do have a long weekend trip to Seattle during this challenge. We should be moving into our new house just as this challenge ends so that means some packing needs to get done! But for all the times in between it is time to get back to doing all the things I should be doing. Thinking of the mini challenge and our future selves, I have time to work on all the things so my future self can enjoy being a strong and healthy retired MILF! The Things to be Doing Get back to going for walks consistently. DDG and I went for a short walk over the weekend. It had been 8 weeks! And boy could I feel the difference. At least one walk a week, maybe a bonus walk. Any distant counts just so I can get the consistency back. Get back to going to the gym. I've pushed off my trainer twice and haven't had time to hit the gym on my own. It's been 2 months and now it feels weird and awkward to go to the gym. I can't visualize it so it's hard to manifest. I just need to get back in there and do it. I have an appointment with my trainer on week 1 and I told him I was NOT pushing it out again. At least one workout at the gym a week, maybe a bonus session. Get back to stretching and mobility work. I built this habit by tying it to going to the gym so this habit fell by the wayside too. This should be a no brainer if I'm going to the gym. At least 1 day a week doing the stretchies, includes back and posterior chain, shoulder, and some primal squatting. Get back to consistent calorie deficits. This habit didn't take as big of a hit but these coming weeks are likely to be challenging. We've got some summer engagements with family where I have little control over food, brunches with the kids, the kitchen will get packed up at some point, and we have to eat through the food in the freezer. Log food on Lose It and eat at a deficit every single day. I always utilize the high calorie day feature on the Lose it app. I'll use these accordingly to accommodate brunches and nights out. As always, I'll also be tracking my 2024 Roadmap goals, some of which are already included in the challenge goals. Additional daily goals include, Fast 15 hours Start the day with water Eat a flippin' freggy

Detail from Fallow Field by Julie Ann Nagle Fallow is a farming term for fields left un-worked during the growing season. It allows the land to replenish crucial nutrients and disrupts the life cycle of pests and pathogens. The image of a fallow field is barren, devoid of productive crops, but the reality is that plants still grow, animals still live. They were not placed by humans, they may not serve our purposes, but the ground is busy nonetheless. The word “fallow” struck me for this challenge for a few reasons. One, it’s getting hot and I soon won’t be able to run happily, which means I need to switch to an alternate way to care for my body and the part of my brain that Wants To Go. Two, school will be out on June 28 and the family I do out of school care for needs me less in the summers nowadays, between them taking time off and the kids being 12/13 so they don’t need much care anymore. Less work, more rest! Finally, and related to #2, my finances are in bad shape and I need a major cut month there. Let the soil of my bank account recover a little. I don’t know how well this will go, I have not been successful at keeping my spending down for a while now. A bunch of impulse purchases that I probably should have said no to over the past 3-4 years have put me in a position where, in order to get my feet under me, I’m putting off purchases that are in the “necessary zone,” albeit not high in it. For example, my computer is unusable, I need a new sports bra or two, it’s birthday season and I need to show the fam some love. Obviously if I had zero disposable income these would go by the wayside, but also they’re really not in the same category as puzzle games or minis or sewing fabric or chocolate. I’m also giving myself a one-time possible bonus for clearing some browser tabs on my phone. I have a lot of “musicians I said I’d listen to” and “recipes I should add to my recipe box” and I could cut my open tabs by 20, easy, if I just did those things. Goals this challenge: 40 stars: A! Prize will be a party where I bake a cake and everyone in the house has to say “good job, you met your goals!” or they don’t get any cake. If I manage my budgeting challenge I will decorate the cake with fancy gold sprinkles and paint. 25 stars: B! No prize but the satisfaction of knowing I “passed” my challenge! Main goals 🌟 Exercise every week. The expectation is 2/week of run, bike, hike, yoga, or strength 🌟 Meditate 10 mins every week 🌟 Fun money <$80/week 🌟 Unloved Hobbies/Home Projects (gardening, painting, sewing, unfucking, decorating) 1 hour per week Bonus 🌟 Additional instance of a weekly goal (except meditation - 1 session: 🌟 2-4 sessions: 🌟🌟 5+ sessions 🌟🌟🌟) 🌟 Adventure (getting out of my neighbourhood) 🌟 Post more than weekly and in other threads (HYPE! HYPE!) 🌟 Photos 🌟🌟🌟 Tab Clearing (at least 20)

Wandering into the Giant's Joint Inn, Elastigirl notices the bright shiny mirrors. She peers into the mirror, and is surprised to see her future self. Some of what she sees makes her happy; she still is the person who values her friends and family, she loves exercising and just being active, most of the time she eats to nourish her body. She consistently still reads her Bible and spends time in prayer. Some things bother her; the things she was procrastinating five years ago and promising herself she would do some day, still have not been accomplished, she is still wasting too much time on the internet instead of pursuing other more worthwhile task. Stepping back from the mirror, Elastigirl ponders what she saw. She wants to continue her habits that keep her on the path she wants to go. But, she also wants to change her future path toward being more creative and using her time with more wisdom. She quietly walks back to her room to ponder these things. I like the concept of the Dayyear mirror, and pondering what my future self will look like. And realizing that it is about the small steps that either take us in the direction we want to go, or away from it. So, this challenge is about those small habits and steps I want to take. Goal #1 Track calories: Right now I'm in maintenance mode. I may switch to deficit before challenge end, I'm still deciding. But, I will decide, and keep to that goal. Exceptions: Saturday was my birthday, and there is still some cake, if I go over calories (somewhat, not crazy)the next few days, that's fine, it's birthday magic, but I will track the calories. Also, we are going to church family camp 4th of July weekend and I won't track calories then. Also: I will keep practicing the skills that help me; delay before seconds and unplanned snacks walking working out noticing when full being thankful for my food, and eating with joy eating slowly Goal #2 Drink water, at least 50 oz I tracked last challenge, and did fairly well. I wasn't going to track this challenge, but the weeks I didn't track, I didn't drink water as much. I've lowered the goal from last challenge. Sometimes, I felt like I was drinking beyond what was necessary, and I didn't see any real tangible beniifts. Obviously, it its' hot and I need more, I will drink more. Goal #3 Delay before picking up my phone I have the habit of picking up my phone whenever I have a moment of down time. I'm going to delay by 2 minutes. Just enough time for me to actually stop and make a conscious decision about it. Same tactic that I used to cut down on the snacking Goal #4 Spend time being Creative This is the thing where I looked into the mirror , and really didn't see much improvement. Though, I may be being a bit tough on myself. There has been some improvement, but nothing consistent. I've struggled, because any time I make a goal on creativity, the fun project I was working on becomes a chore, but without a goal,I just choose screen time over being creative. Honestly, I'm not sure how to improve this. Right now, I think I will think about it, and try a few ideas and see what works. One thing is, I would like this to be a several challenges goal. I think part of the issue is that I make a goal. work on it for 4 weeks and then drop it. But, in order for it to be a consistent habit, I need to keep at it.

...well, tries to at least! This is my "open" challenge of the year in that the entire thing happens during my summer vacation from work, giving me more time to work on my goals! Usually. Not so much this year with a 6 month old in the house - I'm honestly barely keeping life together at this point and I'm kinda not sure how I did it in the spring semester already? But the camping trip went decently; honestly during the day it was pretty great, but at night Baby Girl decided that she hated the camping bassinet and would instantly start screaming and crying the second we put her in it, no matter if she was awake, drowsy, or already sleeping. Of course it's also wildly unsafe to let a 6 month old sleep on the tent floor with her 3 bigger family members, multiple pillows, sleeping bag, and blankets, so my husband and I took shifts sitting up with her all night long so she could sleep on our laps safely while we tried our best not to fall over in exhaustion. Three nights of that, with of course all the other physical activity of hiking and camping, plus the fact we are honestly still working on mastering campfire coffee and cooking...I felt like I needed a vacation from our camping vacation by the time we were done! During the trip my husband was ranting about how he'll never go camping with an infant again - though by the time we were on the road back home, he had decided that maaaaaaaybe a one or two night trip in the early fall would still be worth it 😆 I was a little disappointed in my strength and stamina on the trip though. I could do everything I needed to do, and I was trying to remember to be gentle with myself, I just gave birth in December and had major abdominal surgery in January and, well, at 37 it's reasonable to take longer to recover than I did back when I had my first surgery (at only 18!) or even my first baby (at 31). But I've definitely been much stronger in very recent memory, so I'd like to keep working to get back to that. Quest One: Stamina While I managed both of our hikes (about 3.5 miles), I was disappointed in how insanely quickly I got tired. So I want to do work on my stamina, but I'm also afraid of setting my goals too high - I struggle with getting out consistently as is, and I am very much the kind of person who says "oh, my goal was twice a week and I only went once in week one? The whole thing is destroyed, better not do anything at all until the next challenge starts!" So I'm going to try a point system instead this challenge: 1 point per walking mile and 2 points per running mile, measured in 0.1 increments, with an initial goal of 10 "points". Quest Two: Water Yeah, I'm still on this one. I've been doing better with an average of 80 ounces over the last few days, but I need to get back to pumping - Baby Girl got the go ahead to try solid foods with the doctor suggesting we start with smashing foods into breastmilk to make our own "purees" (which we have done with avocado (went okay) and sweet potato (major hit!) so far, but it does take about half an ounce per meal. Also we want to go on our first date night since I became pregnant, as it's been more than a year at this point, which will require pumped milk for the sitter to use. And I'm starting to worry about what pumping will look like when I return to work in August - I want to keep her on my milk until she's at least a year old, but I only have about 211 ounces in the freezer at the moment which simply won't stretch that far. So this is kind of a double hitter - I want to get back up to 96 ounces of water per day, and I'm going to try to pump AND freeze enough to add at least 6 ounces to the freezer every week (the max my storage bags will hold while frozen). That's honestly not enough, but 1) I'll need to pump a good bit more than that to meet current demand anyway and 2) slow stash growth is still better than no growth, right? Quest Three: Languages Cheating here a bit because I'm using this to mean both what I teach and what I study! I got the first week of both Spanish 1 and 2 done last challenge, so this challenge I'm going to tackle planning and prepping both weeks 2 and 3 (which is 9 days total thanks to Labor Day, since "week 1" of class is actually the 2nd week kids are in the building). I'm also tacking on another extensive reading challenge - adding at least 10 more quizzes to the Spanish library. For my own language study, I'm going to start this book I got on our first trip to Mexico...I have a sleeping baby on me right now so I'll have to get the title and page numbers later! But it is the first in a historical fiction series that sounded interesting to me at the time, so I bought it with the intention of studying enough to read it before our next trip so I could decide if I wanted to pick up book #2 then or not. Well I finally pulled it off my shelf the other day and was happy to realize it's now at the perfect challenge level for me - I can read about 80-90% of the page fairly easily but there's plenty of struggle and question marks to ensure I'm pushing myself to continue to improve! I want to say chapter 1 went to like...page 24? 27? Somewhere in there. So I'm going to read that. I'm also going to continue in the new app I've been using for Japanese called Busuu. Think I've finally gotten through all the boring "I definitely remember this despite not using my Japanese since 2006" lessons and am looking forward to getting some new ones under my belt! A lot of their lessons are short, like 10 minutes or less, so I'm going to try for 6 lessons/vaguely 1 hour a week, however that shakes out (1 per day? Great! All 6 crammed in on Sunday? Also valid!) Quest Four: Home/Leisure And then there's my random hobby odds and ends plus stuff to make the fall semester easier at home Big Brother is (like 90%) moved into his new big boy bedroom! But now the nursery needs work to get ready for Baby Girl to move in. For this challenge I'm going to tackle organizing the dresser (storing too-small clothes away, organizing drawers, etc.), preparing the crib the rest of the way (mostly prepping the mattress, as my husband already converted it back after our son got his new twin bed), and cleaning/organizing at least one shelf on the bookcase, which is a completely ridiculous mess of toys, books, and random objects. I also need to sew, of course - I'm nearly to the halfway point of the quilting block swap, and I also have Baby Girl's quilt to work on as well as a dress pattern for her (and that's only the stuff that's officially on the "to sew" list at the moment!) The block swap has to take priority until it's done and all sent out, since I have other people depending on that being completed on time, and then I'm probably actually going to tackle a dress for Baby Girl. She doesn't care if she has a finished quilt yet or not but the dress size will change much faster! Finally (for now), more kitchen projects! I've been baking cookies to freeze for school year desserts, plus I need to make more for my husband's brother Mike, who has been a huge help with my elderly mother-in-law (who isn't even his own mother, but he treats her like she is) but has been having health issues of his own lately, so we want to bring them a big roast and giant plate of cookies to help ease their recent burdens. Plus I'm debating making a batch of meatballs entirely to freeze for those "ugh it's late and we're stupid busy and tired but also hungry" evenings that happen in the fall semester especially, and I've been eyeballing some other random projects I just want to try, like lemon poppy seed scones. So I'll go with...4 more kitchen projects, whatever I feel like making them at the time - though at least one must be cookies for Mike as discussed, probably tomorrow or Thursday, so that'll definitely be project #1! ETA: Oh, I almost forgot! I also need to continue with our Mexico trip planning. I want to finish gathering information on places in Oaxaca state and then start gathering new ideas for Puebla (city OR state) and/or Chiapas. Turns out the hike we wanted to do in Puebla is way too hard for the kids but would also take basically all day - they suggest 7 to 8 hours, despite it only being 8 miles - so we've decided to shelf that goal until the kids are big enough to come with us and/or at least be less of a burden on the local family to watch that long, since many of them are elderly.

Why hello my fellow Earth-dwellers (part time Earth-dwellers count, too). It's been what feels like a very long while. I'm back now. I hope for the long haul. Well, at least October when I leave for another week-long vacation. Since I'm working with a Coach (AKA I spent money and want to get that money's worth) I've been working hard to stick to my goals. I'm waiting on my weekly check in follow-up from her (will my macros change? Are we adding or changing any other goals?) but until I hear from her this morning: [EDIT: somethings changed] -10k-12k steps [She removed this goal because I've been so good about hitting it - it's still there, just not a box to check] -120+ ounces water[Goal still exists, just is removed from app] -Daily walks (I aim for 15 minutes or more) [This hasn't been a 'check the box' goal with Coach since week 3 with her but it's a goal I'd like to maintain] -Marcos: 150P/180C/75F, a 10% deficit [Updated 7/08] -Fiber: 30-35g [She removed this for a couple weeks but it's back due to me struggling to hit the goal on vacay despite my best efforts] -Stress Management [I get to choose, just as long as I do something to help reduce stress] -Sleep 7 Hours [Removed, but still a goal. Need to be better about manually inputting it because it doesn't transfer from Withings or MFP] -Meditation [Added on my request. I'm more likely to do it if she can see whether I've done it or not] In addition, I'm focusing on reading every night before bed - I've maintained this streak for a couple months now, even on nights I can barely keep my eyes open. I actually fell asleep and dropped my Kindle on my face at the beach trying to keep my streak going. I didn't read a full chapter, but I did read and so it counts! Also daily journal check ins. I've also maintained this over vacation - in the mornings I write a daily intention, check my mood, check my habits (supplements, walks, logging macros, workout, etc), and then write a small bit in the space about the day before. Wins, losses, random rambles, whatever I feel like. To me, it helps to feel like I've closed out the day before by writing it out first thing. I want to continue this. I need to focus more on spirituality. Not having my normal routine has kicked me out of my stirring coffee intentions. I've maintained my Gua Sha routine but haven't made it intentional. I've barely meditated or Greeted the Day. So now I want to: -reestablish coffee intentions -add intention to my Gua Sha routine -Greet the Day. Outside. Grounded. -meditate for 5 minutes minimum -weekly tarot (this is part of my journal so I have a nice reminder every Monday when I open my journal) For my absence, I pay my Pettax: