Tei is a solitary Assassin, wandering lost on the prairie

[tei_]

Since I last walked these hallowed halls of Assassin's learning, the following things have happened:

 

- I made some really awesome adult gymnastics friends!

- I went to my second World Masters' Championships with my adult gymnastics friends!

- I went to Adult Gymnastics Camp with my adult gymnastics friends!

- I got married!

- I won a full-time bassoon playing job!

- I... moved away from my friends, my husband, my gym and my family to do the job...

- I had assumed this would be a "starter" job, and I would do it for a few years and then move back to Ontario, but I love it way more than I thought I would. It's a great job in unique ways that would be missing if I won a "better" job, and I love all of my colleagues to a statistically improbable extent. My husband dislikes his job enough that the possibility of him coming here instead has been raised.

-But...

- I hate all the gyms in my new city.

- There's one gymnastics club with an adult class, once a week, that I can go to about every other week. All of the other women in the class are beginners, which is fine, but the fun of training with other people is working on skills with them and being inspired by people who are better than you, so, not ideal for me.

- There are some cheerleading gyms with open gym sessions that I go to and invariably leave angry and sad because seriously, do these parents actively hate their children and want them to die????

- I miss my gymnastics friends

- I miss my husband

- I just wanna get good at gymnastics

- Scratch that, I just want some friendz

- I'm sad and confused alot

 

 

I really like my colleagues, but I really miss having non-music friends. I miss having gymnastics friends. I miss being able to go to gymnastics 3+ times a week, and feeling like I was making progress and I wasn't crazy for wanting to make progress. And I know it's normal to not immediately have a fulfilling social calendar when you move to a new place where you don't know anyone, so I'm also trying to go easy on myself with with "wow what a pathetic friendless loser" thoughts because, uh, that's no fun and also not a good vibe for attracting people

 

I was gonna do gymnastics goals, but uh re-reading this sad-sack intro, maybe let's start with...

 

1. Headspace

I've downloaded it before and never used it, but this seems like a good time to try! Goal is every day, before starting to practice. (Bassoon, that is.)

 

2. Limit screen time

I live in Saskatchewan now. It's November and it's already regularly hitting -20c, and -40c isn't unusual for the middle of winter. At those temperatures, the idea of plugging in the car four hours in advance, putting on hat, mitts, coat and boots just to walk to the car, and then driving to the gym starts to seem, well, not worth it, especially when there's a whole internet at your fingertips inside I find I'm much more likely to get things done when I limit my time online to 2 30-min chunks, one in the morning and one in the evening. Then at least if I'm gonna procrastinate I'll do it with a book or something.

 

This is somewhat complicated for the first few days of the challenge by the fact that I'm doing Nanowrimo, but really, if I can't tell the difference between "writing words" and "dicking around on the internet," there's no hope for me.

 

3. Eat meals

Two of them a day, or three if I want breakfast and have time for it (FUCK THE MAN, BREAKFAST IS NOT THE MOST IMPORTANT MEAL OF THE DAY) . A meal is when I prepare a dish and then sit down and eat it. it is not "oh, I've been snacking on junk for the past two hours, it's afternoon, let's say I ate lunch! So hand-in-hand with this goal is limiting snacking. Snacks are fine, if they are driven by actual hunger and not boredom, and consist of something small to tide me over until the next meal. bedtime snack is the exception-- I will plan for something small and probably candy-like every night, because that makes me happy

 

4. Stretch every day

Ugh, I really do feel so much better when I do this. On gym days, I like to do it at the gym, but if I don't get to the gym one day, I need to do it at some other point during the day.

 

Them's the goals! I'm really excited to be back here and now that I am, I'm suddenly coming up with all sorts of nutso themes for challenges

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Machete]

I started with Headspace as well. I ended up subscribing, but fell off my streak. I'm attempting to get back to it.

[tei_]

57 minutes ago, Machete said:

I started with Headspace as well. I ended up subscribing, but fell off my streak. I'm attempting to get back to it.

I’ve heard really good things!

[tei_]

Day -2:

Headspace: Not done. Am I starting officially on the 26th? Let's say it's that!

Screen time: A little over, but not too bad. I am so behind on Nano, ugh Wrote 2000 words today, but I'm not going to finish on time at that rate. Currently at 37,278.

Meals: Yeah! Had lunch, post-gym cottage cheese, dinner, and bedtime snack. I need to buy some bedtime snacks that I look forward to eating because otehrwise I come home from rehearsal tired and hungry and go for the "put lots of sweet stuff in a bowl" route :/

Stretching: At the gym. Also, back walkovers comin' back and feeling decent. Next week I swear to gawd I'll work them on floor beam!

 

My squats are feeling really good! I deloaded alll the way down the 65 lbs, and started doing 5x5 with them again, because my knee caving was becoming steadily worse over, uh, the entire time I've been lifting, and finally this September it was starting to actually hurt my hips when I squatted heavy. Today I squatted 125 for 5x5 with noooooo crazy-ass knees!

[WhiteGhost]

Yay! Another assassin, and a gymnast to boot.   

[Manarelle]

Welcome back! Congrats on the job and getting married and gymnastics stuff! Sorry to hear the new city is less inviting on the exercise front. I have faith that you'll start to find the other quirky people in your circuits though. Following for the continued awesome. You've got this!

[tei_]

1 hour ago, Manarelle said:

Welcome back! Congrats on the job and getting married and gymnastics stuff! Sorry to hear the new city is less inviting on the exercise front. I have faith that you'll start to find the other quirky people in your circuits though. Following for the continued awesome. You've got this!

 

Thank you! I'm constricted by budget right now but I'm hoping to try out some of the crossfit options here some time in the new year... normally I wouldn't be interested in crossfit but it seems like a place where people like to have fun with exercise, so worth a shot!

[sylph]

Oooh... gymnast! Have you found @raptron at any point in the past? You all could talk about flippy things and callus tears and all kinds of gymnast stuff... and the the normal habitation of the alot.

[tei_]

2 hours ago, sylph said:

Oooh... gymnast! Have you found @raptron at any point in the past? You all could talk about flippy things and callus tears and all kinds of gymnast stuff... and the the normal habitation of the alot.

 

Raptron is my heroooo!

 

Day -1:

 

Did the first Headspace thing! Woo go me

 

Had the BEST NIGHT EVER because we played a concert and the guest soloist was TANYA TAGAQ and I was a total dweeb and asked for a picture with her:

 

Look at that freaking dress??? There is beadwork of her face??? And reclaimed seal fur???? Like I honestly got so emotional just when she walked out on stage, and I could actually see people in the audience literally in tears by the end of her piece. She is so amazing and if u are not yet a fan/are feelin' some punk rock throat singing u need to look her up.

 

Challenge tomorrowwwww!

[raptron]

HELLOOOO~! Welcome back! You've sure been busy, omgosh!  

[tei_]

5 hours ago, raptron said:

HELLOOOO~! Welcome back! You've sure been busy, omgosh!  

 

That's for sure! Thank youuuuuu!

 

Day 1:

 

Headspace: Done!

 

Screen time: Was going well until I tried to sit down to write some nano and ended up looking at things on the internet that were not related to that goal :/ (On which front, wrote 2336 words today, which means I am marginally less behind than I was yesterday, but still nail-bitingly behind.)

 

Meals: Decent until dinner, which was going to be salmon until I went to the fridge to find it still frozen and my roommates, who I am okay with but don't particularly enjoy interacting with socially, were having a games night, and the kitchen was too messy to cook in, so I ended up with cereal w/various sugary toppings for dinner. Blech.

 

Stretching: Done!

 

I also vacuumed my room, which was sorely needed, and went for a very long walk-- I was going to go to the gym, but really felt like walking, and it was hovering around 0 today so gotta get out while ya can.

[Nightcrawler_Bamff]

Wow!  So busy!  Way to level up your life!!  

 

Adult Gymnastics Camp?!?!  What is this!?!?!

 

I know it's tough moving somewhere that you dont know a lot of people!  I did that when I moved both times, first to Minnesota then to Oregon.  Both times I ended up not on the friendliest of terms with the one person I knew in each of those places...and Minnesota ended up being really tough because I didnt end up really meeting other people other than work, which I did not live close to so didnt end up doing anything with coworkers either.  Oregon, though, I have made a LOT of friends, got into gymnastics and cosplay and made a career change!  Im always busy out here!  Good luck meeting new people!  It takes time!

[tei_]

2 hours ago, Nightcrawler_Bamff said:

Wow!  So busy!  Way to level up your life!!  

 

Adult Gymnastics Camp?!?!  What is this!?!?!

 

I know it's tough moving somewhere that you dont know a lot of people!  I did that when I moved both times, first to Minnesota then to Oregon.  Both times I ended up not on the friendliest of terms with the one person I knew in each of those places...and Minnesota ended up being really tough because I didnt end up really meeting other people other than work, which I did not live close to so didnt end up doing anything with coworkers either.  Oregon, though, I have made a LOT of friends, got into gymnastics and cosplay and made a career change!  Im always busy out here!  Good luck meeting new people!  It takes time!

 

It is in Portsmouth, New Hampshire! They hold two a year, one in the winter and one in the summer, and the next one is coming up: http://www.homeexercisecoach.com/winter-adult-gymnastics-camp-2018.html  The website looks super spammy but I swear it's a real thing haha, and it was SO MUCH FUN. I can't go to the January one but I'm hoping to go back next summer!

[tei_]

Day 2:

 

Headspace: Done! I love the adorable animations. There is something about their little peanut bodies that is very endearing.

 

Screen time: Maybeee... 60% on this goal? Nano is throwing a bit of a wrench in the works still, since my preferred method of writing seems to be the 10 minutes writing/5 minutes relaxing model. Still, I wrote 2300 words today and if I do that for the next 3 days, I will finish! I also went to an impromptu write-in at a coffee shop, and got a peanut butter marshmallow thing, so...

 

Meals: Had meals, but also snacked way too much. Aforementioned coffee shop thing, plus I tried REALLY HARD to make caramel sauce and failed 3 times in 3 different ways, with the results of the last two fails still being edible in some form. My last attempt would have worked if I had just whisked more and poured the cream in slower, though, so I am closing in on successful caramel sauce... which will also not help with the minimal-snacking goal. Oh well.

 

Stretching: Yep, at the gym. Also SQUATTED 130 LBS FOR 5X5 TODAY! I definitely could not do that before the deload, seeing as I could barely do 135x1 before... so... I guess I'm going to try to keep going linearly, and attempt 135 5x5 next time? That idea is TERRIFYING.

[raptron]

YEEESSSS, BIG GIRL PLATES INCOMING.  

 

11 hours ago, tei_ said:

Screen time: Maybeee... 60% on this goal? Nano is throwing a bit of a wrench in the works still, since my preferred method of writing seems to be the 10 minutes writing/5 minutes relaxing model. Still, I wrote 2300 words today and if I do that for the next 3 days, I will finish! 

So close!

 

[raptron]

14 hours ago, tei_ said:

 

It is in Portsmouth, New Hampshire! They hold two a year, one in the winter and one in the summer, and the next one is coming up: http://www.homeexercisecoach.com/winter-adult-gymnastics-camp-2018.html  The website looks super spammy but I swear it's a real thing haha, and it was SO MUCH FUN. I can't go to the January one but I'm hoping to go back next summer!

Also, lol, yeah. I have no idea why Gina just doesn't get a new site made. Her current one looks like it is from like 1997. Some of my teammates go to these! I went once but wasn't a huge fan of how short the event rotations were. Did you guys have Eileen as a coach when you went? She is like very petite and older and soft spoken and the nicest coach everrrr. 

[tei_]

1 hour ago, raptron said:

Also, lol, yeah. I have no idea why Gina just doesn't get a new site made. Her current one looks like it is from like 1997. Some of my teammates go to these! I went once but wasn't a huge fan of how short the event rotations were. Did you guys have Eileen as a coach when you went? She is like very petite and older and soft spoken and the nicest coach everrrr. 

 

Yes she was the beam coach, she was awesome! The rotations were about right for me since I don't have all that many skills to get through on any one event, haha.

[tei_]

Day 3:

 

Headspace: Done

Screen time: I'll give myself a B? Quite a lot of computer-ing tonight but a lot of that was in between writing intervals. Wrote 3000 words today, and only need to write 2500 tomorrow and the next day to WIN!

Meals: Woke up late and had... brunch? Then accidentally snarfed the rest of the toffee I accidentally made last night, had that and an apple as a pre-gym snack, then dinner.

Stretching: Done.

 

Had a fuckaround day at the gym-- did 2 km on the erg, some elliptical, and random weight machines including the hip ab/adductors which lololol middle splits will be an adventure tomorrow! Also walked to the gym and back, meaning I'm at 16k steps for the day.

[sylph]

So close to winning NaNoWriMo! Good job!

[tei_]

35 minutes ago, sylph said:

So close to winning NaNoWriMo! Good job!

 

Thaaaaanks! I have tried every year, I think, but haven't won in a really long time, so I'm excited/not going to give up now that I'm this close!

[raptron]

So close! And lolol hip machines. Have fun with your splits. Hang out in frog for a long time! 

[tei_]

12 hours ago, raptron said:

So close! And lolol hip machines. Have fun with your splits. Hang out in frog for a long time! 

 

They feel so silly. Especially when I crank it out to the widest setting that nobody ever uses because, middle splits

 

Day 4:

Headspace: Done. I love the animations so much they're adooooorable

Stretch: Yep

Screen time: Failing grade. Womp womp.

Meals: Also failing grade, womp womp. I think these two are related; I tend to overeat when I am stuck in front of a computer screen. So, some ancilliary challenge goals:

 

- I'm going to do just tea/coffee/milk/something along those lines for breakfast for the rest of the challenge. I feel better when I don't eat a big breakfast, which I always manage to forget right before making one, lol. it also slows my morning down-- if I build up some momentum by starting to practice right away, everything goes better.

-So, moving my two screen time intervals to later in the day; after I'm done practicing, and after dinner, or whatever arrangement close to that works with my schedule du jour.

-No screens during meals. Only books.

 

Other things about today:

- Squatted! I was planning on 135 5x5, but my right knee caving thing started happening on the fifth rep of the first set and OH HELL NO so I ended up with 5-4-3-3-3. Which I'm still pretty happy with considering previously 135 was basically a 1-rep max!

- GONNA WIN NANOWRIMO TOMORROWWWWW

- I got paid today... and I still had some money (like, $100) left in my bank account from the last paycheque. This has literally never happened before. I have always been ~the worst with money~ and like, one of those people who embraced that identity, like it's something to be proud of? But it turns out that's fucking stupid, so for the past few months I have been learning to YNAB and having heard conversations about money with my husband and today for the first time in my life I got paid before I was down to by absolute last bottom dollar Goal is to increase the amount I have left every month! Yayyyy! (To be fair to my previous self: it helps a whole lot when you have a job that pays enough money, on a set schedule, which I haven't always had.)

 

 

[raptron]

Oh man, yesss at your budget victory! 

[Twilight]

Your challenge looks great! Congrats on the money!

[RogueLibrarian]

Headspace is great! I use it every day. I'm thinking of switching to Calm in the spring when my subscription runs out, just as an experiment/change of pace. Did you know Andy (the Headspace Guy) has a degree in circus arts?