Juliebarkley is slogging on

[juliebarkley]

Let's go!

 

STR: - I will exercise 3x per week, even if it is only the following exercises that I am levelling up. But preferably more than that. My current exercise days are (I think) Monday, alternating Wednesday/Thursday, Saturday.

         - I will do 3x8 pushups on each exercise day. The difficulty will depend on my progress. Starting with standard pushups.

         - I will do a low plank every exercise day, with each one being longer than the last one.

         - I will attempt three pullups on the rings. The goal is not to actually do three pullups (I can't) but to practice the motion and get back to playing with the rings.

DEX: - I will practice handstands every day before I play a game on my phone. I'm kind of addicted to the game, so hopefully a good motivator!

CON: - I will do a daily 30 minute podcast walk on the stairs with the goal of hitting 5000 steps/day. 5x per week is the goal - on the days where this is not realistic, I have likely walked or stood a lot anyway.

INT:  - My booklist bookmarking frenzy actually got me to a one-year goal last challenge. Neat.

         - I'll up the last goal a whisker - 20 minutes per day of reading, at least 5 days per week.

WIS: - The prep is where I fell down here, so: I will lay out my prayer rug every day. If I could get someone to nag me on the regular, that worked really well last time actually!

CHA: - I will collect the emails of all of my family members.

          - I will email/message a friend at least once per week.

          - I will contact one person that I haven't seen in a long time.

Occupation: - I will complete profiles/sign up for all of the sites that are appropriate. Basically get them to the stage where I can apply for work.

                      - I will apply/audition for five jobs. Not a lot, but this is a mental barrier.

                      - I will write one blog post.

                      - I will arrange my money in a tax-efficient manner. TFSA, RRSP, non-reg - it's all a mess right now. I just need to sit down and figure out what needs to be where, and do the moving around. Been meaning to do it for ages.

Arts/Skills: - I will finish the Is and Js.

                     - I will begin the Ks.

                     - I will sew while listening to a podcast at least three times per week. ONLY ONE of these sessions can be embroidery!

Languages: - I will try the oral French test again.

                      - I will send a written message on Amikumu or Facebook in Esperanto at least once per week.

 

I'm looking to focus more on my physical activity since that was a real challenge (haha) last time around and a big source of failed goals. A little push from myself here should get the momentum going again.

 

[juliebarkley]

I just sorted out my monthly goals, so I didn't actually work on them today (or indeed, earlier this week). This is going to be a very busy week for me unfortunately. My remaining tasks for the day are to contact my advisor about my first coaching session, and pack a book that must ship tomorrow. So I'll go do those things now. See you tomorrow!

[juliebarkley]

Uf, not the most productive day. By the time I got home, I was having trouble staying awake, napped, slept too long, and then didn't do much of anything after that. I did read quite a bit. I need to do better tomorrow.

[juliebarkley]

STR: - I did my FIRST EXERCISE DAY SINCE OCTOBER on Saturday! I'm actually quite proud of myself for getting it in as this past week has been just awful for free time. It went about as expected. I was able to do the first set of pushups easily, the second with some struggle, and the third I had to bail into knee pushups for the last four. I knew I had lost strength in the upper body, but wasn't sure how much. I guess now I know. Plank was 46 seconds; not bad for a starting point. My ring pullups were negatives, holding a few seconds in a static position and then slowly lowering. They still kicked my ass, not gonna lie.

DEX: - Addictive games have been an excellent motivator and I have practiced handstands for two days now. I'm not hitting the times I was getting on crow pose last challenge, but patience and I believe it will come.

CON: - First day I had remotely enough time to pull this off, so I did.

INT:  - I think I have missed one day so far in my reading. I have now finished my book of short stories and am ready to choose something else. This book has been a great introduction to some of the classic mystery writers: G. K. Chesterton/Father Brown, Leslie Charteris/The Saint, Ernest Bramah/Max Carrados, Edgar Wallace/J. G. Reeder, and others. My favourite in the collection was a humorous parody of Sherlock Holmes taken from The Triumphs of Eugene Valmont by Robert Barr. Goodreads (and its reviewers) say that he was friends with Arthur Conan Doyle and that Eugene Valmont may have been an inspiration for Hercule Poirot. I'm torn between The Three Musketeers, Jane Eyre, and The Woman in White for my next read.

WIS: - Yes, did my prep today. I have been struggling with this this week as I have been so tired I have been purposely leaving my stuff set up for naps as I know I will be in desperate need when I get home. I did indeed fall asleep once after getting home and had to nap twice after work. It has been that kind of week.

CHA: - Not yet begun

Occupation: - I spent the whole day in fits and starts writing a profile that I can use on job sites. It is about as much fun as, and very similar to, writing a resume. Which is to say, not fun at all. But now it is done. Hooray!

Arts/Skills: - I have not yet done any sewing or book work. Unless giving my son his pile of books to sort counts as book work. Which it doesn't.

Languages: - Nothing yet here either. But I have now hit the final Duo league, the Diamond league. Fancy!

[juliebarkley]

Today I FINALLY had some time to start peeking around the Challenge Forums (howdy friends - I have missed you!). Mayhap you'll actually see me comment on your threads soon rather than lurk as usual?! Shock horror, I know! I am so envious of you folk who have interesting things to say. I need to perfect my non-insulting snark and work my imagination muscles so I can be more social in the NF community.

 

My second workout day (STR) in FOREVER was today. I can still feel the last one, lol. I did the same things I did last time with the rings, and man could I feel it - not so much in my arms (but also there), but in my abs. My pushups were even worse than last time - the last two in the second set and 6 of the 8 in the third set I had to drop to knees. I hope this is just because of the soreness of last time! The struggle bus ended with the planking though, as I smashed my previous time and did 1:01. I think static holds are a thing I am good at for whatever reason. Combined with the 30 minutes stair walk I did (CON), I'm starting to feel like a real live cares-about-exercise person. And I got in handstand practice (DEX) first thing today, with a few really solid times. I do struggle with wrist pain in this position, especially on the right side. I am not sure if warming up better would help with this.

 

So I think I have settled on The Three Musketeers for my next book (INT). But I didn't start that today. I did read for 20 minutes, but it was in a manga series that I started a week ago. I'm really enjoying it, but the theme is playing into some emotional vulnerabilities I am currently struggling with and it is making me feel bad about myself. So I'm gonna try to finish it up quick. I did a quick first sort of the IJ book pile (Arts/Skills) and I quick messaged a friend (CHA). Not too shabby!

 

My evening plan, for such evening as I have left (1-2 hours max), is to fold my laundry, then sew to 1 podcast (Arts/Skills) and do a prayer on the rug I set out nicely today (WIS). Maybe I will read a bit before I go to bed. Who knows?

[juliebarkley]

Quick update, cause it is LATE. I have booked a coaching session for VO (Occupation), and I'm gonna have some homework to prepare for that very soon. My crow poses (DEX) were amazing today - 4 of the five were at least 15 seconds! I got in a podcast worth of sewing (Arts/Skills) when I realized that an item of clothing that I was wearing needed repair, and since I ended up starting another podcast but not getting too far in, I used that one for my walk (CON). Emailed a work colleague (CHA), read some manga (INT), then Googled and read some more self-esteem negative stuff (-INT?). Need to stop doing that. Will get in a quick prayer (WIS) before bed and call it a day.

 

A glance at my goals shows a few one-time items that I haven't touched yet. I'll have to get them into Firetask tomorrow so they don't disappear from my attention and memory.

[juliebarkley]

So I did not do my exercise today. However, I did shift the entire Adult Fiction section of the library where I work today (took 2 hours), so surely that counts for something?

 

Felt really lazy when I got home; didn't do walk or handstands either.

 

Researched some about RRSP (will sort out tomorrow), then was reminded by son that he got some very suspicious (and authentic-looking) payment receipts in his email at the end of January. They totalled over $10,000 US, and seem to be to a legit company, using a legit payment processor. I have emailed the company to check their invoice records (they didn't respond when he did it immediately after receiving them). So now I have a tomorrow goal of dealing with possible identity theft by 1: contacting the payment provider; 2: contacting the bank to see if any payments have been made from it; 3: maybe contacting the police? Credit agencies? I don't know. I hope that it is all scammy fake stuff, but it really doesn't look like it....

 

Will do some reading, but that may be it for today.

[juliebarkley]

^^^That was written yesterday, but apparently not posted? I was pretty distracted by the whole identity theft thing, I guess. I spent a couple of hours emailing and making phone calls, and determined that the receipts are genuine, but fortunately his bank account is not affected. The credit agencies have been rather useless and just say they don't keep records for minors, but that if I want to get then to block his SIN, I have to send a handwritten letter and a bunch of other documentation to them and then hope that they reply in a month. At least if they don't keep records for minors, there won't be any terrible consequences on his future credit score if it is indeed identity theft and not just someone who typed their email address wrong and sent the receipt to the wrong person (an unlikely but still possible possibility). I don't know if I should let the police know or not.

[WhiteGhost]

Finally found you (I have been really slow in following threads this challenge...).  Will be following along for the rest of it 

[juliebarkley]

2 hours ago, WhiteGhost said:

Finally found you (I have been really slow in following threads this challenge...).  Will be following along for the rest of it 

You're excused! I always take forever to get through all the threads, I I get it. I just got to the Assassins today. Plus I started the challenge late and that's on me.

 

I am disappointed with my (negative) pushup progress - I couldn't even make it through the whole first set without dropping to knees for the last one. I should really learn from the last three session and pick a non-hardwood floor to do them on - it gets hurty on the knees. Plank time was 1:14. And rings were rings. I tried 10 second hold and 10 second negative times 3, with the last one being a bit questionable if I made 10 seconds. (STR) I missed handstands yesterday, but today's was on point. I bailed from them at 15 seconds (and a couple earlier by mistake), but held the last one as long as I could and I think it was 25 seconds. How long is good for a crow pose? Maybe I should find out. (DEX) I walked yesterday but haven't yet today. I may do it, or I may sew to a podcast, or both - I haven't decided. Actually, I should really do the walking before I give in to the one that's not about moving, since this challenge is about moving more, right? (CON)

 

I read almost two full volumes of the manga I'm reading today, putting me at the start of volume 8 of 10. The Three Musketeers might have to be temporarily on hold - I put Little Women on my Kindle, and my mom has absconded with it to her room. I don't think I'll be getting it back for a few days. I have some sci-fi novels in my pile though, so I'll be fine. (INT).

 

Missed prayer yesterday cuz I waited till the end of the day (boo) and then was really wiped out. Today I got it done early (yay). That bit of learning was also Wisdom. (WIS)

 

I finally got my son to sort his book pile, so the stack is alphabetized and ready for processing (Arts/Skills). No sewing yet, but maybe sewing today. And that last session? No sewing happened, because my "sewing" pile is also my "trying on and deciding about things" pile, and the D20 of Decisions rolled me six try ons. I couldn't do more than that as I was decision-fatigued out.

 

What is left? I did a little advance prep for my coaching session, but I need to do more (and to do it daily). I need to pick out scripts tomorrow still. I decided to wait on the RRSP contributions because the tax deadline is right around now, but I wasn't planning to claim it for last year anyway, and if I do it now I'm not 100% sure what year it'll end up in. I don't want to mess myself up with the taxman, so it's safer just to wait till next week. (Occupational) I am going to try to get these goals into my Firetask, as I have just looked at my list and realized I completely forgot I had a (small; tiny really) language goal this time around. And I've been ignoring my one-off tasks. Oops. Though that's a nice switcharound, as I usually ignore the daily habit tasks in favour of the one-offs.

 

On a different note, I recently learned to play Cribbage. My son and I have been playing almost daily, at his request. My coworker wants to start an intergenerational games club at the library to encourage elders to teach teens bridge, Cribbage, euchre, etc. He is STOKED. I hope it happens!

[juliebarkley]

Very short update:

 

Sunday I was very busy and did little towards my goals. Mostly just caught up on other stuff.

 

Monday I did all of my exercise goals, with a plank time of 1:31. Not sure how far I'll go before I hit a plateau on this. The pushups were a little better than the previous session, but a long way to go to get back to where I was. I know, don't compare. Hard to do. Had a bank appointment and a Beavers meeting, plus started gathering script copy.

 

Tuesday was spent weeding through script copy to the exclusion of all else (except eating supper). I got a shortlist of scripts together, then had to go to bed.

 

Today, I am reading through the shortlist and will email in my final choices. I doubt I will be doing much else, as I have to go to bed early tonight as well. I will be glad when the script selection process is done, though this part is actually pretty fun!

 

Have done nothing towards any of the one-off goals yet. I can pay attention to them when the current urgent task is complete.

[juliebarkley]

I had my first coaching session yesterday. I think it went well. From the comments the instructor made, I needed to relax and work on adding character. I was pretty nervous, so the relaxing thing was not a big surprise. I have some interesting homework and have booked my next session. I have to practice for 10 minutes per day, so that's another habit I need to try to build. (Occupation)

 

Prayer has not been great, but I have been doing the prep at least. (WIS) I have noticed that I am more successful when I do earlier prayers rather than later, so perhaps I should target a different one. Reading has been mostly on target, and I finally have my Kindle back. I'm just about done this manga series, then it's on to the Three Musketeers! (INT)

 

I have found getting back into daily walks (CON) harder than expected. I'm looking forward to being able to walk outside again - it won't be long now! Doing the basic exercises for an exercise routine is getting easier now, though I still miss one every two weeks because my work schedule is switched. But that will go back in a couple of weeks, so it'll be fine. Plank is at 1:39, pushups were worse yesterday than ever before and rings not much better, so not the most successful day. (STR) I have been getting handstand practice in more like every other day. My last session was awful - I kept falling over forward and couldn't seem to hold a balanced position for more than 8 seconds - but regardless, I am seeing steady improvement. (DEX)

 

No real progress on anything else. I was severely lacking time most days, which made me want to rest on the other days. I'm gonna take a look right now and see how I can get the other stuff done before challenge end.

[juliebarkley]

Ok, I am alive, and I have been working on things, but I have (obviously) been really, really bad at updating. I don't have time right now, but I promise anyone that may be waiting with bated breath that I will update and sum up the challenge tomorrow.

[juliebarkley]

All right, it looks like it has been two weeks since my last update - dang, I thought it was only one!

 

My workouts have been progressing nicely, barring the one that I plum forgot. (STR) I am up to 2:19 on the plank, got 3x8 pushups all done properly, and was able to pull myself off the ground a little ways with the rings! I guess the work is paying off, slowly but surely. I have done almost no handstand practice in the last two weeks; however walks have improved now that the weather is less Arctic. I got in a few on the tail end of the two weeks, but not too many in the earlier part. (DEX)(CON)

 

Reading has not been so hot. I have read a little from some random books while eating or waiting for my computer to get its act together, but only barely started The Three Musketeers. I have probably hit my goal about 40% of the time. (INT) For prayer, the prep has been on point, the followup less so. (WIS) I have gotten about half of the sewing done that I was planning, and my schedule is out the window for it because of the work from home switch. No embroidery at all. I did nag the kiddo to do his part, so the K books have been started as well. I am afraid to work on them right away after spending more than 24 hours last Wednesday/Thursday trying to get my browser to restart. It doesn't like the fact that my hard drive is small, but my open tab number is huge. (Arts/Skills)

 

I have been working on my coaching, but haven't yet persuaded myself to audition. Or write a blog post. But I did get almost all of my money sorted out two weeks ago, plus did my taxes. I've got a tiny bit more moving to do (I had to wait for things to finish processing). (Occupation)

 

Is it weird that I've been doing more socializing now than for a long time? Some groups that I am loosely associated with normally have in-person meetings that I can't attend, but now they have online meetings, and I can. This is a huge boon when you lack transportation and normally work evenings/weekends. I have definitely been messaging some people that I haven't seen for a bit, and more than once a week. (CHA)

[juliebarkley]

Challenge summary:

 

On 2/19/2020 at 2:03 AM, juliebarkley said:

STR: - I will exercise 3x per week, even if it is only the following exercises that I am levelling up. But preferably more than that. My current exercise days are (I think) Monday, alternating Wednesday/Thursday, Saturday.

         - I will do 3x8 pushups on each exercise day. The difficulty will depend on my progress. Starting with standard pushups.

         - I will do a low plank every exercise day, with each one being longer than the last one.

         - I will attempt three pullups on the rings. The goal is not to actually do three pullups (I can't) but to practice the motion and get back to playing with the rings.

Success. I have only done the minimum really, but I was quite consistent with it, and I have seen results. I have found a more comprehensive plan (which may or may not be too ambitious for me right now), and I have a couple of new exercises I will be throwing in if I don't decide to go with that plan.

 

On 2/19/2020 at 2:03 AM, juliebarkley said:

DEX: - I will practice handstands every day before I play a game on my phone. I'm kind of addicted to the game, so hopefully a good motivator!

Started well, faltered at the end. Didn't enforce my own rule, and it wrecked the plan.

 

On 2/19/2020 at 2:03 AM, juliebarkley said:

CON: - I will do a daily 30 minute podcast walk on the stairs with the goal of hitting 5000 steps/day. 5x per week is the goal - on the days where this is not realistic, I have likely walked or stood a lot anyway.

Poor at the start, got better towards the end. Being able to walk outdoors is good for the mood. There are a lot of geese, plus some ducks, gulls, and other returning birds out there right now.

 

On 2/19/2020 at 2:03 AM, juliebarkley said:

INT:  - My booklist bookmarking frenzy actually got me to a one-year goal last challenge. Neat.

         - I'll up the last goal a whisker - 20 minutes per day of reading, at least 5 days per week.

Pretty good for the first half, but more spotty in the second half. Should be easy to get back on track, though.

 

On 2/19/2020 at 2:03 AM, juliebarkley said:

WIS: - The prep is where I fell down here, so: I will lay out my prayer rug every day. If I could get someone to nag me on the regular, that worked really well last time actually!

My prep was very good, my follow-through not so good. But it also wasn't nothing, which is something to work from.

 

On 2/19/2020 at 2:03 AM, juliebarkley said:

CHA: - I will collect the emails of all of my family members.

          - I will email/message a friend at least once per week.

          - I will contact one person that I haven't seen in a long time.

Success in all but "collect the emails of family members". I'll try to get that done before the next challenge begins. Social distancing is making it easier to reach out to people.

 

On 2/19/2020 at 2:03 AM, juliebarkley said:

Occupation: - I will complete profiles/sign up for all of the sites that are appropriate. Basically get them to the stage where I can apply for work.

                      - I will apply/audition for five jobs. Not a lot, but this is a mental barrier.

                      - I will write one blog post.

                      - I will arrange my money in a tax-efficient manner. TFSA, RRSP, non-reg - it's all a mess right now. I just need to sit down and figure out what needs to be where, and do the moving around. Been meaning to do it for ages.

Success on the money front. The stuff I haven't done is largely because of processing times. I haven't created a profile on any new sites, or auditioned, or written a blog post. Boo. I have been doing the exercises and homework my coach has been giving me, which is probably more urgent, but still no excuse for not doing the rest.

 

On 2/19/2020 at 2:03 AM, juliebarkley said:

Arts/Skills: - I will finish the Is and Js.

                     - I will begin the Ks.

                     - I will sew while listening to a podcast at least three times per week. ONLY ONE of these sessions can be embroidery!

Success on the books, partial success on the sewing.

 

On 2/19/2020 at 2:03 AM, juliebarkley said:

Languages: - I will try the oral French test again.

                      - I will send a written message on Amikumu or Facebook in Esperanto at least once per week.

Nothing here. I am continuing to practice daily, but neither of these specific tasks were done.

 

All right, I'm going to look at where I can level up, where I need some more work, and how this fits into my goal planning, and I'll be back soon with a new challenge.

[juliebarkley]

New challenge is now up.

 

https://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/index.php?/topic/116177-juliebarkley-strives-for-consistency/