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I was on a bit of a roll with the previous challenge, but I had a random encounter with the depressions, and before I knew it, it's almost the end of the month. No training, no reading, no writing, no lifting, no hygiene. I even forgot what color my toothbrush is. Welp, reload and tackle this challenge again. I'll be seeing the doc this week to see if we can adjust anything. On a plus side, I've been getting a lot of training lately. Impostor syndrome is kicking in, insisting that this will not last. Whatever. I'll just provide the best service I can and worry about the future when the bills start to suffocate me again. I'll add training every day to the quest list, so it's three. ====================================================================================================================== MONDAY > laundry > grocery > meal prep TUESDAY > jiu-jitsu WEDNESDAY > VA appointment > jiu-jitsu THURSDAY > meal prep > dishes > Skyrim FRIDAY > wake up early > VA appt SATURDAY > jiu-jitsu > curriculum > snatch SUNDAY > early wake-up and work > shoot videos > oil change

I've found out from my previous challenge that my task list was quite difficult to accomplish due to factors that I was unable to take into account. I will be trying a different approach of habit-building rather than addressing specific targets one at a time. The Rule of Three Focusing on too many things is focusing on nothing. I end up looking for small fires to put out rather than addressing the huge ones right in front of me, burning my eyebrows off. Before bed I will write down three things I need done the following day--that's it. The three will be priorities that must be completed that day, and the other shit won't matter. A Morning Routine Unless I do something dumb, my wake-up routine is pretty much the same--check social media for more time than necessary, brew some coffee and Fallout Shelter, and check my HRV. Also pretty dumb. For the next four weeks I'm going to try a better 30-min routine. No social media until everything is done. HRV check, dogs taken out to pee, and 30 minutes of reading a book (which may later turn into writing). Nothing too crazy, but it's shit that has to be done, but I'm not prioritizing. (I will probably gradually add more things as we go.) The Dream Week I've found that if I don't schedule something, I will find a way to waste that time. The goal is to account for my time all week, and schedule all the important activities I need to do. I'm looking to download Google Calendar and allot time on Sundays to put down everything I will be doing that week. Let's see how concentrated efforts play out.

New challenge. Starting Early. 1. Part-time Wasteland Walker Limiting my Fallout time. Fallout ends at noon. Even on weekends. Can't be babysitting settlements all day. 2. Quest Log part 2 Now that the whiteboard has been established, I'm incorporating Sunday chores in there, to include assignment list, meal prepping, training updates, and FB scheduled posts. 3. Atos I pretty much put the minimum in the Program Minimum (Simple & Sinister). Now I'll add another day, following Atos kettlebell complex from Hector's Kettlebell Workout Snacks. It's a total of 12 sessions for 4 weeks, and I'm giving myself a week of a buffer zone. Onward...

Late to the party. So I disappeared for a little over a month. I fell into a Fallout black hole and I have no plans to get out of it. I'm thinking for the next 3 weeks I will work around this and integrate my life into this, rather than the other way around. At least for now. 1. Quest Log When I start the game, it's all over. I have no concept of time. The goal will be to make a list and rough schedule of things that need to be done that day (setting alarms on the phone) BEFORE starting to play. 2. Simple & Sinister The busy person's workout. And since I'm busy being a Commonwealth Minuteman, I'm going back to this program, attempting a minimum of 2 days a week. 3. Nourishment I'm forgetting to eat. This is not good for my plans to get yuge. The goal is to hit 2'500 calories a day. Hopefully this is enough to get me started in balancing my life. War never changes...

My hype meter has been at an all time low, and it's time to fix that. I also have been trapped in that cycle where I'm sitting at a computer too much, mindlessly eating and drinking like an asshole while there, and moving a whole lot less (in part from minor but recurring injuries). As a result, I've put on 10 lbs (and not the good kind ) over the last year. I've also been in a huge Harry Potter groove, since the family just returned from a trip to Harry Potter land in Orlando (which was awesome!!!), and we're currently introducing the kids to D&D with a Hogwarts setting. So, it's time to add more discipline and structure to my life by returning to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. 1. Transfiguration: I will learn spells to transform my unhealthy meals and snacks into healthy ones. I generally need to eat more veggies, more salad, more eggs, and more homemade stews. For tracking/goal purposes, I will limit myself to one small sugary snack per day, and I will eat at least one substantial serving of veggies with each meal. 2. Potions: I will drink only 3 calorie bearing drinks per week..... which means I will need to drink a lot more water. The goal for this is to find ways to make water more appealing. I will experiment at least once every week with making infused water. I will also try at least 4 new tea flavors, to see what might be appealing. 3. Defense Against the Dark Arts: I've been getting too wrapped up with regular life to set aside time to workout each day. That needs to change. So, I'm going to defend against the dark art of laziness with some constant vigilance. Every day, I need to do at least 30 minutes of exercise. It could just be yoga or even putting on the weight vest and walking laps inside my house. 4. Charms: Cast "Wingardium Leviosa" by lifting myself up in the air. I need something new and shiny in my workout routine. Right after my parkour class, I had been doing open gym, which largely has turned into teaching and directing traffic for all of the kids doing open gym. Instead, there's an adult aerial silks class happening at the same time. So, I'm going to re-take the silks intro (since I've already forgotten everything), and then start taking silks classes. The most convenient time to do the intro will be January 20, since there's already an instructor event at the parkour gym. The goal is to do that intro, and then after that, take silks rather than doing parkour open gym. 5. Stick to the Schedule: A large part of the problem is that I've been getting too wrapped up with life things to set aside time for working out, cooking, and all of the other things I need to be healthy. This will likely be even worse over the next few months, since my husband and I are studying for the OSCP exam. My goal is to set a fairly rigid schedule, just to make sure everything gets done. And that's it. Hopefully, I can get back on track and regain my hype.

My challenges will be themed on my own hybrid class (bardadin). What is a bardadin? Well, it's a hybrid class I worked up. You see, I was a soldier once. Though I've leveled up from paladin (U.S. Army, 6 years) to bard (instructor, 2 years) I still love the strength and surety of purpose of my original class. This combined with my current class's love of people means that I have some very interesting outlooks on life! My name is Vaereyes. I'm a half-orc. I am a bard. I am a paladin, even though I've taken another class I maintain my oath. For this challenge I am firing off some sweet spells! Heroism- Paladin Spells Row 2-3 times/week Weight lift 2 times/week Do Strongman specific workout 1 time/week Prestidigiation- Bard Spells Get to work by 9 a.m. Monday-Friday Do simple cleaning of the common room two nights a week Leave one night a week blank for my sanity

And in three gifs, I sum up how my life over the past two months. I decided to quit my job to help my mental health. I experienced a whole lot of chaos with last minute job interviews, a nail biting, down-to-the-wire job offer. A much needed vacation. More chaos as I watched the perils of small start ups interfere with if I had a job. And finally, a beginning to settle down into a new circumstance, at the core the same, but now with some definite new quirks to figure out. So clearly I regenerated, and I need to learn to live with a dislike of my kidney color. Added to this, I have three major physical activities coming up at the end of the year. Camp NF from September 21-25. My 30th birthday Ruck November 11th. And I plan on testing for first kyu in December. All of them are going to push me to my limits in some way, shape, or form. I want to up my strength and PR my big three lifts at Camp. The Ruck is going to involve me having to embrace the suck and work on my endurance. And the first kyu exam is going to require a build up of a good library of techniques reliably, including being healthy and mobile enough to perform them well. So, how's this challenge going to go? I'm thinking something like this: 1) Wibbly Wobbley Timey Wimey Stuff: Figure out a new work and exercise schedule. Aim for 5-6 classes aikido, Stairs on Wednesday, and two lifting sessions. So right now, my goal is to attend 5-6 aikido classes a week, plus Stairs on Wednesday, and I would like to lift twice a week. The complicating factor in this is I'm also taking public transit to get to work now, rather than my car. Which changes the dynamics of some things. Notably the "I need to have everything packed before I leave the house" part. Aikido is probably the easiest. I was given permission to park at the dojo during the day on Monday and Tuesday (not allowed usually), where I can then walk a mile to work, do what needs to be done, and then walk the mile back to the dojo to train. I then get to leave class with my car waiting for me, and not have to stress about trying to take make two buses to get home. Sunday and Tuesday are two classes, Monday and Saturday is one. The Saturday class I'm willing to skip, provided I'm doing something worthy in exchange. Mostly more workout things, sometimes social stuffs. Stairs just happens. It's ingrained at this point. If I can find a way to optimize my timetable getting to work this challenge, cool. At the moment, it's looking like I'll get to work at around 9:15 in the morning, which is practically on time for most scientists anyway. It's super late for me, but hey. Whatever. The lifting is the hardest for me to fit in right now. I have to take a different bus to my gym, work out quickly, shower, and then another bus closer to home. In nice weather, I could also walk home, but if I'm working out hard, that may not be something I want to deal with. Really I need to see how much I'm going to do the lifting, and how miserable I am trying to catch a bus that is different from my usual route. Also I need to figure out a new lifting program. Because I think I'll be lifting Wednesday and Friday, and I'll do an upper body workout on Wednesday and a lower body workout on Friday. Suggestions welcome. So yea. Figure out how to schedule all the things. 2) No Fish Fingers and Custard: Limit caloric intake to 2200 most days. A limit of 2500 on Stairs or lifting days. Limit snack foods taken from work. So, new job is going great so far. The building we are working out of has a lot of perks, including a LOT of free snacks. Most of the snacks are things I'm not sooo thrilled with, so I'm not too worried this time. The stuff I do like is also hidden in a giant cabinet, so one of my major problems (RP sees food. Suddenly food is gone because RP ate the food) is definitely curtailed. We do have some giant cereal containers, but even then most of the time I'm not thrilled with the choices. So the goal is to no eat like an asshole, do my best to pretend that the cereal things do not exist, and also limit my smartfood popcorn intake to only 3 bags a week, and we have string cheese that I want to limit to only 6 a week. Really, my vacation caused me to gain a few extra pounds, and I feel it on me. The difference I feel at 206 (where I current am) and 203/4 is amazingly large. I feel bloated, and I'm currently sitting at a point where previously I would be quite pleased. But I can do better and feel better at a weight around 200, even if my body loves the 206-208 range naturally. I want to see if I can train it to like the lower 200's more. 3) Universally Recognized Mature and Responsible Adult: Do the adulting list. Car oil change Car Inspection Figure out health insurance things (cheaper to buy own or get through the contract agency) Track all money using Mint to figure out how being an hourly worker influences me Input 4 book series into my library inventory Some other stuffs that I forgot? Just a general adulting list. Things to do. The car stuff should be easier since I don't need it ALL THE TIME any more. The health insurance I've already taken the first steps, I just need a bit more info. Mint I already use, but I need to try and pare down the extra purchases, or at least label them in Mint so that I know they are atypical. And I need to keep up with my library inventory. I was lazy about starting it. I'm sure I forgot some other things, so I am sure it'll get updated soon. But these things are the major goals over the next month. So lets get started, yea?

So, I'm going to keep this simple, for the time being. I quit my job. It was terrible and toxic for me, and since quitting, even with nothing lined up, I've had endless amounts of people comment oh how much happier I am. Clearly this was the correct life choice. So, since I don't have a job right now, I need to settle into a routine where I will have one soon. This means I need to set up a system, and more importantly, a place to do the hunt that won't kill my drive. Mainly because the last two times I did a job hunt I never had a desk or space to hunker down. I need to change that this time, I think. So, this challenge is less a bunch of discrete challenges, and more a massive list of adulting to help facilitate getting a new job. Also, I am going on vacation from the 6th to the 13th, and if my recruiter has his way I may actually have a job before I go on vacation. With my last day at my job being the 5th, I've had a crazy couple of weeks. So this entire challenge may up and change before it even begins. EDIT - I'm now making two challenges. "Unemployed RP" and "Employed RP" Challenge Lists. The Batcave/life theme still will apply to both, but with slight variances. Unemployed RP Challenge: As it is currently looking more and more likely I'll be employed sooner rather than later.... This isn't getting hidden behind a spoiler. Employed RP Challenge: Adulting Tasks (in order of PRIORITY): Do Taxes Figure out Health Insurance Get car oil changed Get car inspected Clean car out Clean Bedroom Sort and remove clothing that is over a size Large Organize Board game cabinet Use Google Calendar to track my new schedule of work, aikido, and workouts. Figure out optimal schedule. For Workouts: Aim for 4 Aikido Classes, and one Non-aikido workout (lifting or NP or yoga or Ruck). Ideally six aikido classes and two non-aikido workouts (NP and Lifting). Begin inventorying my library. Create Google Sheets logging at least one book a day (Title, author, publication date, genre) Read 3 books before the end of the challenge. So, this looks the more likely challenge at this point. Adult tasks are prioritized based on health and transportation. A nice clean bedroom before my job starts would be nice, as would the sorting out of clothing that's too large for me now. Board games need to get organized, as right now they are just tossed in a messy pile, so that's a bonus. A lot of the potential new jobs are in the Cambridge area, which means either crazy traffic or using the T to get to work, both of which are going to take time getting used to. Plus side is working in that area is that even at rush hour (4-6PM), it seems to have only taken me about 10 minutes to get to the dojo. WIN! So I should be able to squeeze my usual class schedule in, but who knows. I just know Tuesday is required for me. My reading has been lighter as of late, and I'm on an upswing overall. Which means I've been reading and adding books to my library pretty regularly, in both physical and ebook formats. I don't have too many books, but I probably have at least 200 or so hunkered down in my bedroom. I've never inventoried them, and I know I have books I haven't read. One of those eternal "Been meaning to get to that" piles. So I figure this helps me ID those books, as well as just figure out what I want to read next. And yea, just wanted to add more reading to my list because I could. I have my current book I'm reading (Casino Royale!), and then I'll probably read "The Long Utopia," and after that I'm not sure. Depends on my mood, I think. We shall see. But for now, this sounds like a plan.

So instead of starting up new goals, I'm largely sticking to previous ones as they're all still important and I want to focus on basics: Judo, scheduling, paying down debt. I'm still sorting out the last one. Either sleep, clothing or guitar. I'm using a Noragami theme as it is my current addiction. Train like Bishamon - Do not miss oportunities for Randori - Train last two sets of Nage No Kata - Start learning Goshin Jutsu (or another one if interesting?) - Work on a high belt technique with the others at least once per week Obey Tenjin's advice to spend more time in the real world While work and my social commitments are the real world, I also need to make more time for myself and I hope that this will allow me to do so without leaving any of my activities. - Try cycling one day off of an activity each week. That way I have another night off without leaving any activity. - Take a long weekend (at minimum) each month, longer when possible. I have 2.5 weeks of vacation time left from last year and this year's accumulating vacation time. Use it this year. Paying down the Goddess of Poverty (student loan/LOC) - Plan to cut down half of remaining debt this year - Check feasibility, calculate interest/month and amount to principle - restart budget (complete) - Add clothing budget category Goal 4: Step up my wardrobe game - Nicer outfit once per week - dress pants, a dress/skirt, shirt, something like that. - post a picture - Try to incorporate pieces I knit - Haircut - past due! - Clean out my current wardrobe of things that fit poorly or I never wear. Again. - Obtain an iron and ironing board.