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Welcome! I’m the married parent of 4 kids aged 0-7. I’m ultimately an adventurer at heart, though I train similar to a lot of Rangers (and I’m something of a Druid Paladin which is also something of an equivalent to a Ranger). I love hiking, exploring, traveling, and other fun things with the family. Since shortly before joining Nerdfitness, my physical training is typically built around injury rehabilitation (which happens a bit more often due to autoimmune arthritis) and training to be able to travel, explore, and play with my family. I have a pretty effective Disney World training system, and try to ensure that at any point I’m strong enough to carry my whole family somewhere. That has become more difficult as the years go on but I can still do it for the most part. I am also an enthusiastic suburban homesteader bent on establishing an orchard and vegetable garden, so things can get pretty out-doorsy depending on my goals. My needs mean I do a variety of types of training, and my earliest two physical training goals were “run fast” and “be able to competitively play any sport I come across.” I prefer to avoid gyms and do a lot of body weight training. At the beginning of the year, we welcomed baby 4 into the family, my cat was diagnosed with feline dementia a couple months ago, and I am still on parental leave though I return to work next week. I’m not particularly looking forward to it, but C’est la vie. A couple of months ago, we discovered some nearby bakeries for sale, a way to give a physical location to our small cottage bakery, and are intensely investigating those. Timing has taken longer than we hoped but we’ve also figured out what we’re definitely not doing. That’s the whole point of due diligence though. We have several new fruit trees, including a kumquat tree. I look forward to getting those planted and to finishing my fence, whose remaining pieces are currently being shipped. Healthwise, we’ve been living the keto lifestyle for a little over 2 months, and we’ve found it to be incredibly easy to stick to 99% of the time, meaning we’re seeing more success and I’m burning less willpower on food-related stuff. I am a pound away from my arbitrary goal weight, though I’m still far off of my goal composition. The last time I was this weight was before I met Jessie and when I was a middle and high school wrestling coach. That is, one of the best shapes of my life. I want to be lean and strong, not skinny and weak. (Tried that and hated it). I have not been as dedicated to my calisthenics the last couple of months, so I’ve gone a little backwards but a lot less than I was fearing. But I’m not doing too bad for a guy who is just starting to sleep through most of the night due to infant care and who hasn’t really had the opportunity to run alone. Goals: 1. Sleep. As best as possible. I’m a nonfunctional mess without sleep and can sacrifice it for a few days ok but then I have to make it a super high priority to regain it. With le bébé getting older this is easier but with work starting back up next week, that adds a complication. 2. My basic calisthenics routine with Woody and Rex and Bo Peep. I need to get back into this as a regular practice, which I think will be easier with a workday and the associated schedule. Currently I’m back down to 4 pull ups and 28 push ups but I’m not as concerned about being able to build back up since I’ve been off, and I hear keto can reduce general performance as well. 3. Take one concrete step forward per day- at least one tangible, visible thing to make life better. This ranges from things as small as “dig out the replacement toaster” to as big as “reorganize the playroom.” I don’t have to complete the bigger ones as long as I make progress. 4. Take one concrete step forward per day career-wise. I need my job but I’m not satisfied in it and otherwise need a change. I need to hone/adapt skills and look for other opportunities. -> Currently, this involves working towards dramatically expanding a part-time business into a full-time business, which would have Jessie running that business full-time and likely have me also working it full time within the next few years. 5. It’s planting time. I have a raised vegetable bed to dig in, (and the veggies are protected on the porch), drainage to install, and permanent cinderblock sides to install. I have anti-deer fences to put in around my fruit trees as well, and I started a bunch of seeds last challenge. Also, one of my experimental seed fruit trees actually survived but I’m growing it larger before installing it in the back yard. I also have my grandma’s Japanese yellow rose to place, and I am building a small, raised pot in the front next to the garage for it. I also want to finish off the fencing (connecting neighbor fences to our house and installing a gate) so I can let the dogs out/delegate that job to someone else. Half of this job is done. An error in parts ordering meant I had to return and replace several parts to enable the usage of two gates. In addition, the beds and yard all need to be weeded to keep said weeds from totally taking over. 6. Therapy. I have a new diagnoses and new medication that have been, it feels, pretty life changing. I finished intensive therapy that was also insanely helpful prior to that and I am continuing with less frequent sessions. My goal is to better learn how to manage ADHD and how to be a more connected, present, and supportive husband and father. I had some big conversations with other family members that I think have been really helpful with our relationships, too. There’s a lot going on. I’ve started a lot more regular D&D sessions with the kids. We had a few false starts and some practice sessions but they’re finally getting into the Lost Mine of Phandelver. I’m seriously considering a TikTok channel detailing their exploits because they’re a lot of fun- a regular human fighter (who will likely become a Paladin) played by Woody,, a Dragonborn Barbarian who will 100% be multiclassing Druid played by Rex, and a higher level Tibbit multiclassing Druid and Rogue played by Bo Peep, who is a volatile sometime-companion and sometime-ally who can also wild shape into a dog.

My wife, @otterbyte mentioned to me that the local NF Facebook group was having a conversation about people interested in playing some tabletop RPGs/D&D. I am not on FB, but I thought I'd post a thread here and have her link it. I am a longtime grognard gamer. I've been playing for about 35 years and have even published a few gaming products. I am happy to run or play a game if people are interested. I tend to favor fantasy games (as opposed to Sci-Fi or modern, but those can be fun too). I've a strong "old-school" background, so I favor systems and editions that trend that way. We can talk more about that if this thread goes anywhere. We are located in the MoCo area (Silver Spring) area, but some commuting is not a deal-breaker for me. I have a recommendation in fact. There is an excellent gaming store in Glen Burnie, MD called Games & Stuff . They have a big playing area in the back for all sorts of gaming (miniatures, cards, RPGs). If there is enough interest, we could set a date some weekend to meet there are try out a simple adventure as a test run. If people have fun, we can see about expanding things into a regular meetup or even a campaign.

Quest 0 - Hoard of the Dragon Queen I've been letting work get in the way of my workouts ... I'm frozen! (see how I made that work?) before week 1 I'm going to do at least 2 runs and a kettle bell workout! Quest 1 - The Rise of Tiamat Stretching! Everyday I'm going to do 10 minutes of stretching! A: 28 Days of stretching! (Wis +3) B: 20-27 Days of stretching! (Wis +2) F: <19 Days of stretching! Quest 2 - Princes of the Apocalypse Movement and mobility! 6 days a week I'm going to do some running/jogging. This could be long distance running + sprinting + hill work etc. A: 24 Days! (Dex +2, Con +2) B: 23-20 Days! (Dex+1 Con +1) F: <19 Days! Quest 3 - Out of the Abyss Tuesday+Thursday Kettlebell beast mode! A: 8 Days of Kettlebells (Str+3, Sta+2) B: 4-7 Days of Kettlebells (Str+2, Sta +2) F <3 Days of Kettlebells Quest 4 - Curse of Strahd I've been letting myself mope about and not be as social or out going as I should. Plus my photography has suffered from lack of doing it.

Hello fellow nerds! I've anxiously decided to put myself out there and see what happens! I've never been very good at talking to people on forums. Like most of you here, I'm a nerd of many stripes. My biggest nerdy areas are watching anime and playing lots of rpgs. And I'm a tumblr-user. I graduated from college in 2013, and magically managed to find a real adult job! But I had to move to a new place where I don't know many people, so I've been struggling on the social front. Working at a desk all day is starting to affect me physically too - so this seems like the perfect place for me to be! In terms of fitness, I have a bad habit of starting a new regime and then stopping after a month or so before I can really see results. If I'm not accountable to anyone, I have trouble continuing. When I first started college I lost weight very naturally because dining hall food limited my food options in a useful way and I was walking around a lot on my hilly campus. Once I started getting stronger/lighter that way, I started doing bodyweight and core exercises, and eventually, even running. It happened very naturally and without stress, so it's now my ideal of how to be healthy. But life caught up to me in later years and I've gained back the old weight and then some. I feel so stiff and old and I'm only 23! At one point I tried the 100 push ups challenge and got to the point where I could do 45 push ups in a row! But then I stopped and now I can barely do ten. My latest struggle is with my unstoppable sweet tooth. I love baking and cooking and everything to do with desserts, but it's dangerous when you bake 2 dozen cookies living alone! So, here I am, trying again. This time instead of trying to do everything at once, I'm trying to change things one habit at a time. And, by posting here, I'm hoping to do it alongside some likeminded nerds! So, hi! It's nice to meet you.