Chris thinks of something

[ChrisWithaStick]

As recently noted I've developed a fine, wonderful rut.  Except that it's not really doing me any good.  So.... time to think of something and see about getting out of said rut and moving on a slightly better path again.

 

it's late and I should go to bed, but the general focus areas are:

• Sleep - go to bed earlier than what I have been, because regardless of anything else, I wake up when the sun is up, and man, I'm starting to be damn tired.
• Eat well - this one is pretty easy, actually, as my partner does most of the cooking, and likes her veggies and salads.  We've been comfort fooding a bit, to be sure, but she's looking at Whole-30ish type food rules for the summer (neither of us will do a strict W30...I don't hate myself enough to give up caffeine, and I probably can't strictly give up grains just due to work). 
• Move more - Long commutes and office type work has not been kind to my hips and knees, nor activity levels in general.  I'd work more from home, but Energetic Toddler coupled with no dedicated home office space is a problem not yet solved.   So...I need to figure out some more movement besides walks and occasional kata.  I may go back to goblet squats, swings and get-up practice.  As a general conditioner that grouping works fairly well for me. 
• Do more kata and suburi, because really, you can rarely do too much.
• Get some house projects done.  More on this later, but there's a number of finishing projects that need to be done, some serious yard projects, and some other upkeep to get done. Not to mention actually getting most everything moved in and sorting/reducing a lot of the overlap from merging two houses. 

I'm not sure if I'll have any hard number goals, or just work on getting some habits shifted. 

 

On the up side, I've been getting a fair number of walks in, and (now) Toddler B has been my walking companion.  Granted, she's in a back pack, but still - fresh air for her, and 25(ish) lbs in a backpack for me. 

 

Ok.. I really should go to bed....

[Kyellan]

Toddler backpack. This is a good idea! 

 

Got a recommendation? I have a 1.5 year old who would probably love to be a backpack.  

[ChrisWithaStick]

17 hours ago, Kyellan said:

Toddler backpack. This is a good idea! 

 

Got a recommendation? I have a 1.5 year old who would probably love to be a backpack.  

It was a gift from Grandpa, but I believe it's a Chicco Smart Support Backpack (grandpa is a hiker).  It's nice as it's got an aluminum frame that kicks out to form a stand so you can more easily take it off/on alone (easier than a fabric backpack).  For the wearer, it has good shoulder straps and a good waist belt and has generally been pretty comfy. For the passenger, it has a lap belt and shoulder straps - the straps can be a little fliddly to get snapped in, but I might also be missing an adjustment (need to find the instructions).  The seat has some up/down adjustment available, too. 

 

Overall I like it, but I didn't do any comparison shopping. 

 

Pic is from earlier in the spring, but shows the pack well. 

 

Not a lot to report tonight, but dinner included smashed carrots with some butter, garlic, and a touch of maple syrup- they were quite tasty. 

 

[Kyellan]

kawaii ❤️ 

 

Thanks for the recommend! Appreciate it!  

[Kishi]

Oh God you two are adorable.

 

I feel the kata and suburi goals pretty hard. Getting an itch to dig into some relatively adjacent stuff, but I have no idea how to make the time commitment work. In the meantime, hey, that sounds like it's gonna be fun!

[Mistr]

Welcome back Chris!

 

I love the photo of you and the Toddler. Cute kid. 😊

 

My sympathy on the woes of a long commute and a desk job. Your goals all make lots of sense.

[ChrisWithaStick]

I suppose I might add, post more than once a week..

 

As it is, I'm not doing awesome at my 'get to bed earlier' - partly it's a disconnect between my partner and I - she's a TV sleeper, I'm a "in a deep, dark, cold cave" sleeper... the sort of compromise we've worked out is she sets a timer and I come in about an hour after, right about when the timer is done.  This means though, I'm going to bed at 11 or later, and my brain wakes up at 5 am or whenever there is light through the window.  Something to work on. 

Eating has been on good though, and there was some bonus awesome this weekend - my sister-in-law (I'm not married, just calling them in-laws for lack of a non-awkward phrase) made ribs for a party Sunday, and damn... there is a sublime pleasure in eating perfectly cooked ribs. She did an oven method, not a grill, but timing was perfect and the dry rub (I skipped the sauce) was on point. 

Moving was mostly walking and some yard work.  Weed eating and a little mowing Saturday, and finished mowing today (not a huge yard, but still, I get an extra 5 k steps out of it, according to the fitbit).  At some point in the near future, there will be dirt-work.  There is a collapsed something in the side yard next to the house - might be an old well-house, or an old septic (at least it's not stinky).  Luckily, it partially fell-in on it's own, and not when I was standing on it (rotted wood cover). So...about a yard and a half of dirt, and I'll probably get an extra yard for some other fill-in work.  So...add another project to the list. 

 

No kata/suburi to speak of....

 

It's actually been weirdly difficult being away from my training partners (something I know a lot of people are dealing with).  We've not had class since mid march, and it's taking it's toll.  I'm worried about the dojo we rent space in, too.  I've had some decent rounds of suburi here and there, but I'm really missing both the camaraderie and the interaction in the kata.  The county our dojo is in allows the possibility for some training, but most of the group are in various risk categories, so we're kind of holding off a bit longer.  I might end up meeting with one of the kohai though - we're in the same area (well, anything under a 20 minute drive). 

 

On 6/25/2020 at 5:39 AM, Kyellan said:

kawaii ❤️ 

 

Thanks for the recommend! Appreciate it!  

You're very welcome.  YMMV, but I'm finding my knees and feet have been the grumpiest since I wasn't doing weighted walks previously (so, probably need to do some more stretching).

 

On 6/27/2020 at 12:07 AM, Kishi said:

I feel the kata and suburi goals pretty hard. Getting an itch to dig into some relatively adjacent stuff, but I have no idea how to make the time commitment work. In the meantime, hey, that sounds like it's gonna be fun!

One thing my teacher's teacher wrote was to take a given waza, and look at it on it's own - slow it down, break it up if necessary, and work on the particular mechanics of it - sort of like making a chikung out of it, or, if you'd rather, a grease the groove type practice.  I haven't dug into that as much as I should, but it is an interesting way to think of suburi. 

 

8 hours ago, Mistr said:

Welcome back Chris!

 

I love the photo of you and the Toddler. Cute kid. 😊

 

My sympathy on the woes of a long commute and a desk job. Your goals all make lots of sense.

Thank you!

She's very adventurous, loves to climb, and luckily, has a natural roll fall (my niece did more front falls, so I'm counting myself lucky). 

[sarakingdom]

On 6/30/2020 at 1:15 AM, ChrisWithaStick said:

I'm a "in a deep, dark, cold cave" sleeper...

 

If it's the light and not the noise, try an eye mask. Amazing.

[ChrisWithaStick]

Well... I'm reading if not posting at least.

 

I'm in the last part of doing my taxes.  What is normally easy is sort of difficult since I sold my house last year and bought another one.  I currently don't think I'll owe any capital gains, but I'll know by Sunday (I just need to sit down and do the math for the major improvements I put in). 

 

Walking has slowed down, unfortunately.  With various things at work my commute has gotten a little later and I'm getting home just about dinner time now.  I'm not sure if there are adjustments I can make in my schedule right now or not.

 

Otherwise - things are going along.  Tiny Toots (she was a gassy baby, what can I say) is walking a lot, and when she finally quits hedging that she can do it, will probably talk our ears off (she's getting really "verbal" with her babbling).  Between my schedule and E getting more active at the barn again, eating has tended towards the convenient over the last week.  Not horrible, but we'll probably want to up the veggie and salad quotient again.  I also will probably need to talk with E about me doing a bit more cooking.  I pretty much cooked for myself for so long that, while I appreciate it incredibly, and am more than happy to do the dishes in return, I really am having the itch to get into some cooking again.

 

Semi-sappy parent thing:

Spoiler

One thing I didn't realize or think about before I dove into this is that being a parent of a baby and toddler does present a sense of immediacy and can be a way to cultivate a bit of "in the now" mentality - there are so many changes in such a short time you don't know what you might miss, or what might be the last time something is done- she hasn't really power crawled since she started walking (she was fast, and loud, with her crawling when she had a purpose).  She also sing-songs while doing raspberries, and I think it's my favorite sound in the world, but I know it's just a matter of time before she grows out of it.  I think this kind of "pay attention!" aspect of life is pretty much available to anyone, it's just an unexpected side benefit that it's so in your face with a small child.. and probably as they get older, too, but I'm not thinking about that just yet.

 

 

[Kishi]

On 7/10/2020 at 2:50 AM, ChrisWithaStick said:

Semi-sappy parent thing:

  Reveal hidden contents

One thing I didn't realize or think about before I dove into this is that being a parent of a baby and toddler does present a sense of immediacy and can be a way to cultivate a bit of "in the now" mentality - there are so many changes in such a short time you don't know what you might miss, or what might be the last time something is done- she hasn't really power crawled since she started walking (she was fast, and loud, with her crawling when she had a purpose).  She also sing-songs while doing raspberries, and I think it's my favorite sound in the world, but I know it's just a matter of time before she grows out of it.  I think this kind of "pay attention!" aspect of life is pretty much available to anyone, it's just an unexpected side benefit that it's so in your face with a small child.. and probably as they get older, too, but I'm not thinking about that just yet.

 

 

Spoiler

It might be available to anyone, but you aren't just anyone. You're you.

 

Yeah, man, I get needing to eat around convenience from time to time. I think you've got the right instinct as it relates to making higher-quality choices when available. Do it long enough and this'll all even out.