Nic-Bot 5000 enters recovery mode

[NicTheRugger]

Hello all!

 

Sliding into the challenge a week late, again. A lot has happened in the past 3 weeks: between going to a wedding, packing up, moving, buying and building furniture, work, and all sorts of stuff, I didn't really plan out a challenge until like... yesterday.

 

The good: I am about 95% moved into my new apartment! There are some small things that I need to get from my parents' house still, kitchen stuff, mostly. (My roommate and I don't have a microwave, so I'm bringing my old university one back with me!) I'm keeping up with my mobility training as well as my Polish practice.

 

The bad: My knee is still painful at times and because running and even walking for extended periods of time still hurts, I haven't been able to run anymore. I still need to get to the doctor's-- I just need to fill out the paperwork. Work has also been stressing me out lately, because I have so much to do and almost no time to do it! Because I'm the "pretrial and arraignments" attorney, I'm in court basically from 9-4:00. Not counting the hour lunch where I get some much-needed socialization with my coworkers (and even then, there are days where I do work at lunch), I get maybe an hour of desk time a day. I've actually started taking work home with me so I can do legal stuff in comfy sweats on my couch or at the kitchen counter.  I actually wrote an 17.5 page motion and memorandum over the weekend. 7 pages Friday night, 7 pages Saturday morning, and another 4 over the course of Sunday evening and Monday evening. I need to figure out how to find the time to get things done so I'm not at work from 7:30 a.m. until at least 5:30 each night! It probably won't happen, but it's stressing me out that I have so much to do and no time to do it all.

 

And that brings us to this challenge. Despite my knee being injured, there's still plenty of things I can do! Perhaps this challenge would have been better off in the Rebels' territory, rather than here in Ranger land, but I like y'all too much to want to leave!  My overall focus is "recovery." Hence the title of the challenge! I need to do recovery work-- not just my knee, but also in other aspects of my life! I want to recover my workout habits that have basically dropped out of existence over the past month, and I want to do some emotional/mental/spiritual recovery as well.

 

I'm trying to split this into 3 parts: Mind, Body, Soul. We'll see how it goes!

 

Mind:

- Keep practicing Polish every day-- either Duolingo or Rosetta Stone

             Mini Task: redeem that Rosetta Stone groupon I got for my birthday!

- Read at least one book this challenge. I just started reading Never Have Your Dog Stuffed by Alan Alda, so that's going to be my book to finish this challenge

 

Body

Just because I can't run right now doesn't mean I can't do things! I can still do upper body stuff. I let depression and a bad mindset set me back with push-ups and pull-ups, and while I can't do pull-ups right now (a hex bolt for my pull-up bar got lost in the move! And I don't want to use it until it's 100% secured because I don't want to risk it, and me, falling), there are other things I can do!

- Do push-ups training 3 x a week. My goal is to get back to 5 sets of 15-20 knee push-ups by the end of the challenge. Today's sets were 7-10-10

- Do handstand training at least 2x a week. Didn't do any today or yesterday, but I will try to do some tonight!

- Keep up mobility training every day. I'm hoping to make mobility training a more regular thing in my life. I like doing it in the morning as a good start to my day!

- Mini task: Fill out the new patient paperwork and drop it off at the doctor's office so I can go get examined and get a referral to get my knee looked at!

 

Soul

Work  has been getting overwhelming and stressful, so we're going to do some self-care work this challenge! 

- Journal: yes, I keep saying it, but it's actually helpful when I actually do it. The goal: journal 2x a week

- Knit: it's something relaxing to do that's not work, and I can sit and watch TV while I do it. That totally counts as me time, right?

- Cleaning: a clean home is a happy home! Spend 5-10 minutes a day tidying up somewhere in the house.

- Find a place: I'm hoping to start regularly attending services at my local Universalist Unitarian Church! I was raised Catholic, but somewhere along the way, I realized Catholicism just... isn't a good fit for me. Because of that, I've really struggled to find a home for my spiritual practice, and I think it's been leaving a hole in my life. Praying at home is one thing, but... having a place of worship with other people is something that I did love about Catholicism. I just don't feel at home in the church anymore, though, so that's why I want to find a new space! And after doing some research, I think UU might be a good fit-- I agree with their basic tenets and principles, and I like the mindset that some aspect of truth can be found in every religion. Unfortunately, can't go this weekend because I'll be going home to visit my family (where I will inevitably be dragged to Catholic church for Sunday, or maybe Saturday, services despite the fact that I do NOT want to go!!). But hopefully starting soon I can make this a regular habit and join in the community there.  

 

Okay, that's all for now, folks! I'll check in soon.  

 

[Salinger]

Hi Nic!! Real happy you are here your goals look great, and i will be following and supporting you like always. 

 

Sorry your knee is still bad, please please make sure you get to a doc! 

 

Love you xx

[JuiceeTarget]

So glad you are here! Your life sounds trés busy! Therefore, Rangers is the perfect spot for you!

I did mobility last challenge and it really helped me. I did it in the morning right after waking up and it felt like "me" time even if it was work.

If I didn't have meditation this challenge, I would take up knitting again. What are you going to knit? Are you the type that has three things on the needles at once or do you focus on one thing at a time? I used to be the former and am now the latter.

 

If you have to go to mass this weekend maybe you can find something positive about it. What part of it can you take as a good thing? I know that can be tough to do (I was raised Catholic and I understand the baggage that comes with that) but maybe it can help you know what it is you are looking for in whatever services/community you end up in.

 

Finally, have you considered swimming? Even if you aren't great at it, it can be a great way to maintain fitness if you can't run. Though I know from experience it can be hard to find a pool that works for you.

 

So glad you are here!

[Elastigirl]

Hey there, glad you made it to the challenge. Congrats on the new home, and getting all moved in. I like your plan for working on the stuff you can.

[NicTheRugger]

13 hours ago, Salinger said:

Hi Nic!! Real happy you are here your goals look great, and i will be following and supporting you like always. 

 

Sorry your knee is still bad, please please make sure you get to a doc! 

 

Love you xx

Glad to see you here, Liz! And I am certainly glad to be here  I will be sure to get to a doc soon-- promise! I just filled out the paperwork and I'll be finding time tomorrow to drop it off!

 

 

7 hours ago, GoodDoug said:

So glad you are here! Your life sounds trés busy! Therefore, Rangers is the perfect spot for you!

I did mobility last challenge and it really helped me. I did it in the morning right after waking up and it felt like "me" time even if it was work.

If I didn't have meditation this challenge, I would take up knitting again. What are you going to knit? Are you the type that has three things on the needles at once or do you focus on one thing at a time? I used to be the former and am now the latter.

 

If you have to go to mass this weekend maybe you can find something positive about it. What part of it can you take as a good thing? I know that can be tough to do (I was raised Catholic and I understand the baggage that comes with that) but maybe it can help you know what it is you are looking for in whatever services/community you end up in.

 

Finally, have you considered swimming? Even if you aren't great at it, it can be a great way to maintain fitness if you can't run. Though I know from experience it can be hard to find a pool that works for you.

 

So glad you are here!

Thanks-- glad to be here!! Re. the knitting: I'm very much the one project at a time type. Unfortunately I'm a very slow knitter, so one project at a time is more than enough to satisfy me haha. I'm knitting a dish towel for my mom! After that, I'm hoping to make one for myself.

 

Re. church, I try to focus on the music, as that used to be my favorite part, but the choir director picks the most boring songs in the song book I swear! I'll find a way to get through it.

 

 

5 hours ago, Elastigirl said:

Hey there, glad you made it to the challenge. Congrats on the new home, and getting all moved in. I like your plan for working on the stuff you can.

Thank you! 

 

Mini-update:

Handstand practice and doc paperwork done! I was planning on dropping off the paperwork tomorrow during my lunch break, but I have a phone meeting with a member of the appeals team during that time. She looked over that brief I was writing over the weekend and has some suggestions for me (apparently not too many, which is good!). She's probably going to tell me to drop that one sassy-ish line I have in there that just sort of... slipped out while I was writing.

 

Haven't done any knitting today, but the vegging after dinner was much needed. I also tried a new recipe today! I made crock-pot pulled chicken tacos. I put two raw chicken breasts, a jar of salsa, a can of black beans, spices, and a substantial amount of corn, and turned the crockpot on low before I left for the day. The end result? A delicious taco salad for dinner, and nachos for lunch tomorrow (and probably the rest of the week, truth be told). Will be doing some journaling before bed tonight, and then rinse and repeat for tomorrow. All in all, a good day! Good night, all!

[JuiceeTarget]

14 hours ago, NicTheRugger said:

I'm knitting a dish towel for my mom! After that, I'm hoping to make one for myself.

I love towels and such as they are fairly quick to do and are very useful.

[Salinger]

How you doing Nic?x

[NicTheRugger]

15 hours ago, Salinger said:

How you doing Nic?x

Not too great, truth be told! I have one heck of a cold right now, making exercise next to impossible. I'm so congested that I thought I was going to pass out going up the stairs.

 

The good news though, is that I have a doctor's appointment next week to get my knee checked out! I may have to reschedule it though, as I may have a victim interview at that time... need to double-check that first thing tomorrow.

 

Sorry for the short update, folks. I feel like a pile of garbage and desperately need to sleep. I'll check back in over the weekend!

[Elastigirl]

Ugh. colds are miserable. Hoping you feel better soon.

[Salinger]

oh NO. Colds are awful, the one i had last year i literally thought was going to kill me haha

 

Hoping yours gets better soon. REST UP xx

[NicTheRugger]

Hello, friends!

 

The cold has (mostly) passed and I'm healthy enough to pick up the work outs again! I was so sick I even had to give mobility a pass over the weekend. Monday was a push-ups day (10-10-10-7-6). and yesterday was a handstands day. Handstand training is a little weird, because I have enough muscular strength to support myself when I'm lightly resting against the wall and can even draw one foot away, but still can't support myself free-standing for longer than maybe half a second. I assume that if I keep practicing, I'll eventually build up the core and should strength to push off of the wall.

 

Haven't done much reading over the past week or so, but will be sure to do some tonight. I have gotten some knitting done, which is good. I think once I'm done with this towel I'm going to refrain from doing patterns. It's just taking too long! I feel like I'd be closer to being done if I weren't double-checking "okay, is this a knit 2 purl 2 line or a purl 2 knit 2 line or something else?" It's fun though-- a nice challenge.

 

Sorry for the short update, gotta get ready for work!

[JuiceeTarget]

10 hours ago, NicTheRugger said:

I feel like I'd be closer to being done if I weren't double-checking "okay, is this a knit 2 purl 2 line or a purl 2 knit 2 line or something else?"

I feel like this is part of why I like knitting... I have to keep engaged enough to remember the pattern at the moment.

 

Keep practicing the handstands, they will come as long as you keep trying. I found that my progress happened in spurts, I'd go weeks or months without any change and then for 1 week I'd have a breakthrough every other day.

[Salinger]

Yay Nic is back

 

Glad that horrible cold has gone! 

 

Can we see the towel??

 

What are you reading?xx

[NicTheRugger]

Hello, friends!!

 

On 10/2/2019 at 5:04 PM, GoodDoug said:

I feel like this is part of why I like knitting... I have to keep engaged enough to remember the pattern at the moment.

 

Keep practicing the handstands, they will come as long as you keep trying. I found that my progress happened in spurts, I'd go weeks or months without any change and then for 1 week I'd have a breakthrough every other day.

Handstands are weird like that, aren't they! I know it took me a long time to build up to even being able to do wall-supported ones (as an adult... sigh kid me had it so much easier way back when... handstands were super easy back then!)

 

On 10/3/2019 at 5:53 AM, Salinger said:

Yay Nic is back

 

Glad that horrible cold has gone! 

 

Can we see the towel??

 

What are you reading?xx

The cold hasn't completely gone yet, but it's getting there! Just trying to hack all of that yucky gunk out of my system... my cough sounds horrible!  

 

And yes! I'll try to post a photo of the towel tomorrow. I have to upload the pic from my phone which is a bit of a pain, but I absolutely shall

 

And right now I'm reading Never Have Your Dog Stuffed by Alan Alda! He's one of my absolute favorite actors and my siblings got me all 3 of his books for my birthday this year. (They're even autographed by Alan Alda. I may have teared up when I saw this) I'm hoping to finish this one by the end of October, and then move into the next one in December or so? I like to switch off between non-fiction and fiction, so I'm thinking a good fiction book is due after I finish this one. 

 

On to the update!

I had my doctor's appointment this week! Managed both a physical and a knee examination all in 50 minutes. The good news: the nurse practitioner who examined me yesterday doesn't believe that there's any ligament damage or even a meniscus tear. Because it hurts, however, she think it was likely that something didn't heal right after my sprain last year and that the training I was doing for the Marines wasn't doing my knee any favors. I've been recommended to take 600mg of ibuprofen 3x a day for 5 days starting today so that if there's any inflammation, it will go away. And the painkiller benefit is nice too, as I want to be not in pain. She's also referring me for physical therapy, so that they can help me build up the strength in my knee again and work on the bits that are being silly and difficult. If the PT doesn't work, then they'll refer me either for an MRI to see if there actually is any soft tissue damage, and then treatment as needed. 

The not-so-much-bad-as-inconvenient news: my job isn't exactly lending itself to knee recovery. Because I'm expected to be on my feet for most of the day, it's hard for me to do things like ice or elevate my knee to assist in recovering. 

 

Today is both a handstands and push-up training day, as I didn't do handstands yesterday, and did push-ups on Thursday. I'll be doing those tonight, probably an hour or two before bed.

 

I haven't done.... any journaling this week. I really should set a reminder for myself to start doing that. 

 

Did some knitting but not that much. I'm hoping that I can have some down time tonight and tomorrow to get that done.

 

My to-do list for today is pretty busy, but the more I get done today, the more I can relax tomorrow!

• Update NF (done once I hit post!)
• Put up curtains:
  • Living room
  • Bedroom
  • Kitchen
  • Study/workout room --> This task is going to take two people!! Will have to wait until tomorrow when my roommate is home/awake. 
    • Unfortunately, the curtain rods and supports I have for the rest of the apartment don't really work with the way the apartment is built. I need to run to Home Depot and pick up a few different kinds of curtain rods:
      • For kitchen: expandable, no-drill curtain rods. I can put them up between walls for one window, and between the cabinets for another. No drilling needed
      • For the study/workout room: One extra long curtain rod that I can install above the window frame
• Sweep the kitchen/bathroom area (checks off my 5 minutes of cleaning goal)
• Finish vacuuming the high-up corners to get rid of cobwebs that have taken up residence in the kitchen 
• Make croutons (I have bread that will go bad if I don't, and I also want chicken caesar salad tonight for dinner, and why buy croutons when I can make my own?!) they smell so good, y'all
• Make dough so it can rise overnight and I can bake bread tomorrow in my dutch oven
• Clean up after brunch
• Look for hotels/air BNBs in a certain area because my parents and I want to watch my brother compete in something called "Ranger Challenge" that the army does for ROTC kids and we want to go watch him compete and cheer him on, but we need to figure out the logistics
• Meal plan for upcoming week
• Journal
• Handstands-- going to do tomorrow. Not feeling too hot right now after pushups
• Push-ups
• Morning mobility

Whew, that's a lot! Definitely going to be a busy day. I'll try to check in periodically and let you all know how it's going with this epic list!

 

Edit: Some things need to be pushed off until tomorrow (handstands and putting up curtains in the study/workout room), but other than that, everything is done!!

[Elastigirl]

Glad it was pretty good news on the knee and hoping the PT does the magic knee healing you need

[NicTheRugger]

9 hours ago, Elastigirl said:

Glad it was pretty good news on the knee and hoping the PT does the magic knee healing you need

Fingers crossed!!

[Salinger]

How you doing Nic?xx

[NicTheRugger]

Hiya Liz! I'm doing okay! Today was a pretty good day. First, I baked a load of bread and had a relaxing morning. The roommate and I went to Ikea today and picked up some cute baskets for our yarn library that we're going to make. We have a ridiculous amount of yarn between the two of us. After that, I did some exploring of my new hometown and even bought 3 new books! Well, I say new but they're actually books I picked up an antique shop. They were having a special. 3 books for $5! I ended up getting an antique copy of Heidi, The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, and what I think is a conspiracy theory book on whether Shakespeare actually wrote his plays.

 

Also, as promised, a pic of the knitting! And bonus pic of the bread I baked today.

[Salinger]

WOW Nic, amazing. What a great day <3 LOVE the knitting and that bread looks delicious! Also love the converse  xx

[JuiceeTarget]

The knitting looks great! I love those colors. Now you make me want to bake bread and knit again... I think next challenge will have a knitting component just to get me back into it.

[NicTheRugger]

Hey all,

 

Sorry I haven't checked in for a couple of days! Work has been... busy. Very high case load for the past couple of days, with some very emotionally draining cases. And long hours. I was at the office/court from 7:35(ish) to 6 yesterday. And it's not like I'm a traditional attorney where I have billable hours and am raking in the dough to be working those hours. I just have so much work I need to do and because I'm in court from 9-1 and 2-4(ish) every day, I have so little time to do actual case prep. I have write-ups that I need to send up to other people, discovery requests (aka evidence procurement) to process, and it's just a lot. I'm a little envious of the trial attorneys, because while their caseload is hard too, they get to split the amount of cases in half, and they're usually not in trial all day. On the other hand, I'm responsible for every case before it gets up to the point of trial. It's a lot of responsibility and it's a little stressful. People are great about answering questions when I have them (which is often), but it doesn't lighten my workload by much. Our juvenile DA (as in she works in the juvenile court) helps out a lot when she can, since there aren't as many juvenile cases as there are adult cases, but it's still a lot of work. Don't get me wrong. I love my job, and I feel like I'm, for the most part, doing my part to help people and keep people safe, but... man, it can get exhausting at times.

 

Sorry for the mini vent! I just had to get that out.

 

I haven't been keeping up with push-ups. My knee has been extra achy lately, and doing knee push-ups is not really an option for me anymore because it makes me knee hurt even more. That's something I'll probably have to shelve until either my knee recovers or I find a physical activity I enjoy more than push-ups. (I didn't enjoy doing it all that much, to be honest. I just wanted to do something physical). I should try to get back to handstands... maybe do some after I sign off or am done with the day. I just don't feel much motivation to do them, to be honest. Not being able to do the kinds of exercise I enjoy (weightlifting and cardio) is kind of putting a damper on my enthusiasm for fitness.

 

I have been keeping up with mobility, but I'm noticing my stretching is less about full-body mobility and has been focusing more on my lower body out of convenience (read: I'm phoning in and while I'm doing something, I'm not going at it whole-heartedly). I should try to get back to doing full-body mobility routines though.

 

Duolingo has been going well. Have hit some technical difficulties with accessing my Rosetta stone gift though, so I need to reach out to groupon and figure out what's going on. 

 

Journaling is... okay? I did it once last week on a word document and then deleted it because I didn't feel like writing it and didn't want to keep it. But I wrote last night, which is good.

 

Knitting is going well! I have added on a bunch more, and I think I may finish the towel in the next week or two! After that, I'm not sure what my next project will be. Maybe a hat or a scarf, or maybe a reusable Swiffer pad for cleaning, because I don't like using a vaccuum on wood floor (doesn't work as well, I think), and that way I don't have to pay for those expensive Swiffer dusting cloths! The possibilities are endless. Of course, I may end up just making another dishtowel, so who knows. (Not me! That's for sure!)

 

Sorry for the ramble, folks. Have a good day, all! Will try to check in soon  

[Salinger]

Great update Nic, thank you. Really interesting to hear more about your job! Where are you based? I forgot!

 

Sending you lots of love xx

[NicTheRugger]

On 10/9/2019 at 1:02 PM, Salinger said:

Great update Nic, thank you. Really interesting to hear more about your job! Where are you based? I forgot!

 

Sending you lots of love xx

I'm in Massachusetts, in the US!  

 

Folks, it's a lovely, rainy, windy day today! One might even say it's... an Addams Family kind of day >:3 I will admit, while sometimes the rain makes me gloomy and sleepy, I also love weather like this. Maybe it's because I'm so close to the ocean, or maybe it's because, like my ultimate icon Morticia, I find this weather beautiful, but I feel invigorated when I hear the wind howling and very distantly hear the waves crashing (or maybe that's more wind. who knows). 

 

Haven't done any reading this week, because I've been focusing on trying to get this towel done! I'm definitely more than halfway done at this point, but now I'm worried that I may run out of yarn! I may have to do something creative to make sure I have enough blue yarn to reach the end. I was thinking about adding multiple stripes of another color, rather than just one like I did on the first side. So maybe one thin black stripe, then some more blue, then a thicker black stripe, some more blue, and then a thick black stripe, and then the end? I thought this would be a one-skein project, so now I'm getting worried.... 

 

It's going to be a long weekend here in the US! And while Christopher Columbus was not a nice or good person who should be celebrated, by any means, I'm more than happy to celebrate Indigenous People's Day instead, and have Monday off. To be honest, I could use a long weekend. It'll be nice to have some time to breathe.  Tonight I'll be heading up to the city to grab dinner with a friend who I haven't seen in a while, hang out, and maybe go to my favorite club while I'm up there. Then again, maybe not! Depends on how tired I am when the club opens at 9. After that, I'll drive to my parents' house to stay until Sunday. We're supposed to close the pool this weekend, but with the weather being so unpredictable... not sure how that's going to go. I'll be leaving there Sunday evening and heading back to my place, and then my work friends and I are going to go to Salem on Monday! I've lived in Massachusetts for about half of my life at this point, and never once have I been to Salem in October. Which is bizarre, considering how much I love Halloween! All in all, should be a fun weekend. Probably won't update again until Sunday night, since I'll be leaving my laptop at the apartment, rather than lugging it around with me for the whole weekend. 

 

By folks! See you in a couple of days!

[Elastigirl]

Enjoy your weekend!

[NicTheRugger]

Hullo, folks! I really need to get better at this whole updating thing. Maybe that's a problem for next challenge though. Had a for the most part nice weekend! Went to my parents' house Friday night and stayed until Sunday evening because my brother was home for the weekend and we needed to close the pool for the upcoming winter. Monday, I actually spent the day doing some sight-seeing. Took it easy, went slow, sat when I needed too, and also took some ibuprofen for my knee so it wouldn't hurt while I explored. (It helped a little, but I was still a little achy). Had a lovely massage yesterday. Apparently the muscles and tendons around my injured knee are super tight, which may be contributing to some of the pain I'm feeling? Not sure what else I can do though, since I'm already taking care to stretch my legs. Short of either commandeering back my foam roller from my mom or buying a new one, not sure how else I can really dig into those areas around the knee...

 

Honestly, this challenge is a bit of a wash, like the last couple have been. I'm absolutely lacking in motivation to do exercise because the exercises I enjoy doing are off limits until my knee starts getting treated. And unfortunately, I don't get my first physical therapy session until November 13th!! Almost a month to wait! Sure, I'm keeping up with mobility exercises (for the most part. This past weekend didn't work out so well, and this upcoming weekend will be spent on the road, so probably won't be able to morning stretch either though I do expect to get in some stretching at some point) but... it's not fun. I do it because it's good for me, but I don't necessarily get the same sense of enjoyment and fulfillment I did out of running and lifting. Don't get me wrong. The rest of my goals are going swimmingly, for the most part. But the fitness end... I really don't know what to do with myself in terms of physical fitness and it's frustrating me. I really hate doing push-ups, and even light cardio like walking can be painful at times. Stretching isn't super stimulating for me, and I'm not sure what to do anymore. I hate being so inactive.