[WhiteGhost]

For this challenge I am going to be sticking with the Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion theme because I am not done with it yet.

 

I am going to change some things up here, though, in that I am not going to track my main quests (eating right, exercising, etc.)  For this challenge, I am going to be scored only on things that are optional, or stuff I want to do but just don't get around to because they are lower on my priority list.

 

Another change is that I am not going to set any specific goals for these things, just track them and see how I do.  I am going to organize each activity into a guild faction from Oblivion and the more I do it, the higher my rank will get.  Let's see how far along in these guilds I can get

 

Fighters Guild (Cardio) - This could be jogging, sprinting, dancing, even extra brisk walking - anything that both gets my heart rate up and also gets me out of breath.  Yes, even that    level up after every 3 sessions

 

Dark Brotherhood (Flexibility) - This could be MyFlex, GMB, or anything that improves either flexibility or strength in end ROM positions.  Level up after every 3 sessions

 

Mages Guild (Spirituality) - This is mostly any dedicated session that focuses on things of a spiritual or religious nature, but will primarily be scripture reading and/or prayer.  Level up after every 4 sessions

 

Thieves Guild (Sketching) - I haven't touched this one in a while what but as long as I am looking for habits that I want to build but habitually avoid this one fits the bill perfectly.  Level up after every 3 sessions

 

Arena (Sanitation) - Primarily vacuuming or at least making sure the vacuum cleaner is cleaned every night.  Other things like doing dishes, laundry or cleaning the kitty litter don't really count because they would all get done anyway.  Unless of course it something beyond the normal thing, such as washing the kitty litter box.  Level up after every 4 times

 

Court of Madness (Piano) - I want to get better at the piano.  I know I can if I stick with it but I tend to avoid it.  Hopefully the opportunity for promotion within the court of madness will prove motivation enough to actually do it.  Level up after every 4 times

 

 

And there we have it.  I have joined all of the guilds, now it is time for me to  go and make a name for myself

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Following to see what kind of name you make.

[Jupiter]

Following.  

[deftona]

Following! 

[MaeradCase]

That's a lot of tasks. Wishing you the best in your side quests.

[Rhovaniel]

Me: I wanna do just one goal this time. I lose track of three.

 

WG: ALL THE GOALS. 

 

Love it, and following of course!

[RES]

Love it! Following!

[Scaly Freak]

Something about getting lost in the side quests sounds very Skyrim-like...  

[WhiteGhost]

On 9/5/2022 at 12:15 PM, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

Following to see what kind of name you make.

Well technically names (plural) because each guild has its own nomelacture  

 

On 9/5/2022 at 12:38 PM, Jupiter said:

Following.  

Welcome!

 

22 hours ago, deftona said:

Following! 

Glad to see you around  

 

15 hours ago, MaeradCase said:

That's a lot of tasks. Wishing you the best in your side quests.

Yep, it is a lot but they are all pretty much just voluntary, optional stuff  

 

14 hours ago, Rhovaniel said:

Me: I wanna do just one goal this time. I lose track of three.

 

WG: ALL THE GOALS. 

 

Love it, and following of course!

None of these are, strictly speaking, goals.  However, it would appear that I may have some rangerly attributes rubbing off on me.

 

13 hours ago, RES said:

Love it! Following!

Howdy!

 

9 hours ago, Scaly Freak said:

Something about getting lost in the side quests sounds very Skyrim-like...  

Oh yes, for sure.  Or very Oblivion-like, as the case may be  

 

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Yesterday I couldn't go to the park because we had someone coming over to re ahng the curtain rod in the living room that somehow started to come loose.  I have no proof, but I suspect somone *cough* Phantom *cough* has been trying to climb the curtains again.    In the afternoon we had somone come over to replace the filter in our water purifier.  Neither of them indicated what time they would be coming other than morning and afternoon, so I was pretty much stuck at home all day (not that I had anywhere to go anyway). 

 

For dinner I made some goose and green pepper stir fry because I have a bunch of goose that needs to be used up.  It was better than I was afraid it might be.

 

I made progress on only one guild quest (Arena) by cleaning the vacuum before I slept

[Scaly Freak]

16 minutes ago, WhiteGhost said:

Oh yes, for sure.  Or very Oblivion-like, as the case may be  

 

Pfft. If you've played one Bethesda game, you've played them all  

[Mad Hatter]

17 hours ago, Rhovaniel said:

Me: I wanna do just one goal this time. I lose track of three.

 

WG: ALL THE GOALS. 

 

Love it, and following of course!

What if your one goal is to do all the things?  

[WhiteGhost]

21 hours ago, Scaly Freak said:

 

Pfft. If you've played one Bethesda game, you've played them all  

With the Skyblivion and Skywind mods coming out soon, this is going to be literally true

 

19 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

What if your one goal is to do all the things?  

One goal to rule them all, as it were  

 

------------------------------------

 

Yesterday was very productive.  In the morning I went to the park in the morning and did my workout, and then on the way home I did some sprints (4x100).  Once home I had a quick lunch and then did some stretching.

 

In the afternoon I practiced the piano and even got out my pencils and did some sketching.  Both sucked, but sucking is the only route to not sucking so that's fine.  

 

It was Tuesday so I went with the tried and true Taco Tuesday and it did not disaapoint.  After dinner I vaccumed and then did some Bible reading.  Full points across the board

 

  

[WhiteGhost]

Yesterday morning I accompanied my FIL to pick up his brother from the train station, followed by lunch at my in-laws house.

 

In the afternoon I took a nap (still not used to getting up at 6 to take Ghostlet to school) and then, even though I really didn't feel like it, proceeded to practice piano and do a bit of sketching.  I made some teriyaki goose stir fry for dinner which was OK but it is pretty clear why this dish is usually made with chicken.

 

After dinner I played oblivion until Ghostess got home and then did my scripture reading and cleaned out the vacuum before going to bed.

 

Points for everything except cardio and stretching

 

[WhiteGhost]

Yesterday morning I made it to the park for a workout and followed it up with some wind sprints and then a stretching session

 

In the afternoon our cleaning lady was supposed to show up but she never made it.  I took advantage of the time to get in some piano practice and some sketching.  I was pretty happy with my sketch.  I was objectively terrible but it was the first time I tried to draw something from my imagination rather than trying to recreatre something I was looking at.  It was fun.

 

I made some curry for dinner and then played a bit of Oblivion.  I did some scripture reading before bed.

 

I have been promoted to the rank of Pickpocket in the Thieves Guild (Sketching)

[WhiteGhost]

Yesterday I was at the park again in the morning, with both sprinting and stretching afterwards

 

I have been Promoted to the rank of Associate in the Fighters Guild (Cardio)

 

I have been Promoted to the rank of Murderer in the Dark Brotherhood (Stretching)

 

In the afternoon the cleaning lady that was supposed to come yesterday came over so I spent most of my afternon reading and overseeing that.  After she left I practiced the paino for a bit and then played some Oblivion after dinner

 

I have been Promoted to the rank of Tourist in the Court of Madness (Piano)

[Mad Hatter]

15 hours ago, WhiteGhost said:

Tourist in the Court of Madness

Is that like taking drugs? 🤔

[WhiteGhost]

7 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

Is that like taking drugs? 🤔

No, nothing like that, not even similar.  Indistinguishable, in fact.  And Cheese!

 

(in the game you can go though a portal to he realm of the God of insanity and help him fight off the forces of order)

 

------------------

 

Yesterday I did very little.  My old keyboard was very close to dying (it is nearly 20 years old) so  Bought a new one and it arrived yesterday.  I spent some extra time practicing and enjoying the keyboard.

 

We got a couple?more cases of fruit (Yesterday was Mid -Autumn festival, for some reason this year everyone is giving fruit instead of mooncakes) so we have more fruit in our house hang we know what to do with.  I tried making some kiwifruit bread but it was terrible. I ended up throwing it away

 

For dinner we went out with the in-laws and some other relatives who are in town. 

 

I forgot to clean out he vacuum before I slept, but I did get some scripture reading done.

 

I have been promoted to the rank of Associate in the Mages Guild (spirituality)

 

 

[MaeradCase]

Mooncakes are soooo good. I miss pineapple or mixed nuts. I can't find either in the states, not even at our local Asian market district. 

[juliebarkley]

On 9/9/2022 at 10:54 PM, WhiteGhost said:

I have been Promoted to the rank of Murderer in the Dark Brotherhood (Stretching)

Murderer is the first rank!?

[Shello]

I’m loving the rank names!  Following! 

[WhiteGhost]

12 hours ago, MaeradCase said:

Mooncakes are soooo good. I miss pineapple or mixed nuts. I can't find either in the states, not even at our local Asian market district. 

There are some mooncakes that do taste good, but in my experience they are pretty rare.  Pineapple does sound pretty good, though.  The only ones I have seen this year are the trypical bean paste ones.  Ghostess got some coffee flavored ones, though, and they were particularly nasty  

 

8 hours ago, juliebarkley said:

Murderer is the first rank!?

It is a guild of professional killers after all.  How much skill does it take to murder someone?  So easy people do it on accident sometimes.

 

3 hours ago, Shello said:

I’m loving the rank names!  Following! 

I'll be honest, getting to slowly reveal the various ramks to everyone here is a big motivator for me to not skip out on my stuff  

 

--------------------------------------------------

 

Yesterday was Sunday but I had to skip church.  The only slot we could get to take Wraith to the vet was the same time as church we did that instead.  We got her in and they did and xray (to determine the number) and an unltrasound (to determine their health).  Wraith is carrying at least 4 kittens and the due date is estimated to be Oct 2nd.

 

In the afternoon we wnt to get Ghostlet a bike for school.  His schedule this year is even more brutal than last year and he has to be to school by 7:20am and then gets out at 8:00pm.  Becuase he will be coming home in the dark even now he said he didn't want to walk so now he has a fancy new bike.  Ghostlet did all of his own research into the kind of bike he wanted and the specific things he wanted which helped us narrow down the selection.

 

After we got the bike we went out to dinner for some Xinjiang style food and ate about a bazillion meat skewers.  

 

In the evening I was suposed to have a D&D game DMed by @Jarric  but my internet connection was miserable.  I haven't been able to get my VPN working for my computer for almost a month now and yesterday the one on my phone is becoming extremely sporadic, connecting only for a few minutes every couple of hours most of the time.  I was able to get a connection into the game, but it was so bad I only caught the words "bucket" and "plunge" so I had to try and guess what was going on from just those clues.  I really hope things get batter after the big party meeting in October.  I am hopeful because it usually does.  While that was going on I did a bit of sketching.

 

I have been promoted to the rank of Footpad in the Theives Guild (Sketching)

 

Before bed I did some piano practicing and read some scriptures.  I also cleaned the vaccum.  I actually cleaned it twice (one in the morning because I forgot to do it the night before) but it only counts for this if I do it before bed - no making up missed points by doing it in the morning)

 

I have been promoted to the rank of Pit Dog in the Arena (Sanitation)

[MaeradCase]

7 minutes ago, WhiteGhost said:

There are some mooncakes that do taste good, but in my experience they are pretty rare.  Pineapple does sound pretty good, though.  The only ones I have seen this year are the trypical bean paste ones.  Ghostess got some coffee flavored ones, though, and they were particularly nasty  

Hahaha, I bet they are! 😂

7 minutes ago, WhiteGhost said:

I'll be honest, getting to slowly reveal the various ranks to everyone here is a big motivator for me to not skip out on my stuff  

Perfectly good source of motivation. 😍

 

7 minutes ago, WhiteGhost said:

In the afternoon we wnt to get Ghostlet a bike for school.  His schedule this year is even more brutal than last year and he has to be to school by 7:20am and then gets out at 8:00pm.  Becuase he will be coming home in the dark even now he said he didn't want to walk so now he has a fancy new bike.  Ghostlet did all of his own research into the kind of bike he wanted and the specific things he wanted which helped us narrow down the selection.

Good for him figuring out what bike he wants!!

 

7 minutes ago, WhiteGhost said:

After we got the bike we went out to dinner for some Xinjiang style food and ate about a bazillion meat skewers.  

Oh maaaan

I still remember the aroma and the taste of the spice. Lamb, buns, and garlic cloves were all my favorites. And if they were too spicy, a quick stop at a shop for an ice cream bar would do the trick. 😍😍 So jealous.

 

7 minutes ago, WhiteGhost said:

In the evening I was supposed to have a D&D game DMed by @Jarric  but my internet connection was miserable.  I haven't been able to get my VPN working for my computer for almost a month now and yesterday the one on my phone is becoming extremely sporadic, connecting only for a few minutes every couple of hours most of the time.  I was able to get a connection into the game, but it was so bad I only caught the words "bucket" and "plunge" so I had to try and guess what was going on from just those clues.  I really hope things get batter after the big party meeting in October.  I am hopeful because it usually does.  While that was going on I did a bit of sketching.

 

I have been promoted to the rank of Footpad in the Theives Guild (Sketching)

Sorry your connection wasn't going well. The only thing sadder than no D&D is no D&D when you're supposed to have D&D. 😣

Good job on the promotion to footpad, though.

 

7 minutes ago, WhiteGhost said:

Before bed I did some piano practicing and read some scriptures.  I also cleaned the vacuum.  I actually cleaned it twice (one in the morning because I forgot to do it the night before) but it only counts for this if I do it before bed - no making up missed points by doing it in the morning)

 

I have been promoted to the rank of Pit Dog in the Arena (Sanitation)

Yeah! Two promotions! Keep up the good work!

[juliebarkley]

19 minutes ago, WhiteGhost said:

Wraith is carrying at least 4 kittens and the due date is estimated to be Oct 2nd.

I missed the pregnancy announcement, so... um... did Phantom live up to the role he was hired for, or was outside help required?

[Rhovaniel]

8 hours ago, WhiteGhost said:

Yesterday was Sunday but I had to skip church.  The only slot we could get to take Wraith to the vet was the same time as church we did that instead.  We got her in and they did and xray (to determine the number) and an unltrasound (to determine their health).  Wraith is carrying at least 4 kittens and the due date is estimated to be Oct 2nd.

It worked! Yay! I don't suppose there is any way to tell whether Phantom or Potato is the proud father yet - are they very different in colouring to tell when the kittens are born perhaps? Congratulations to the expectant mother  

 

 

[WhiteGhost]

20 hours ago, MaeradCase said:

I still remember the aroma and the taste of the spice. Lamb, buns, and garlic cloves were all my favorites. And if they were too spicy, a quick stop at a shop for an ice cream bar would do the trick. 😍😍 So jealous.

How did you get a picture of my plate?  Between the 6 of us we probaboy ate twice that many skewers    Did you live over here somewhere back in the Beforetimes?

 

20 hours ago, juliebarkley said:

I missed the pregnancy announcement, so... um... did Phantom live up to the role he was hired for, or was outside help required?

Oh, we definitely had to bring in outside help.  Potato (Ghostess's secretary's cat) was brought in because he had proven himself a real stud.  After a few demonstrations (OK, after a few days of almost constant demonstrations) Phantom got the gist of it and may a few attempts himself.  

 

12 hours ago, Rhovaniel said:

It worked! Yay! I don't suppose there is any way to tell whether Phantom or Potato is the proud father yet - are they very different in colouring to tell when the kittens are born perhaps? Congratulations to the expectant mother  

 

 

At this point it is still too early to tell, but based on the ultrasound there are two cats that are larger and two that are smaller.  It could be that the two batches are from different fathers, but my suspeicion is that they are just two different preganancies from Potato (based on the size, the second batch would likely have been conceived a few days after the first batch).  Or it could be a couple of runts, but usually there is only one runt per litter.  If any of them is actually from Phantom, it will be hard to tell because their coloring is very similar.  The biggest difference is that Phantom has super thick luxuious fur whereas Potato has a much thinner coat.

 

----------------------------------

 

Yesterday was a holiday (still part of the Mid-Atumn Festival) so no school or work.  Instead I took Ghostess to another hospital because her back is still giving her a lot of trouble.  The regular place we go was full and we couldn't get an appointment until Thursday at the earliest so we tried a new place.  The new place actually turned out to be an Olypic sports medicine and rehabilitation center and the doctor she met with used to be the chief doctor for the Chinese Olympic ski team.  He really knew his stuff and we got, for the first time, a very clear diagnosis of what exactly the trouble is and a mix of some medicine for the pain and some rehab exercises to actualy help resolve the problem.  All the other hospitals we have gone to have just said the only option was years of massage therapy, but nobody was very optimistic about how much it would actually help.  So we were very happy with that.  I wish I had known about this hospital when I wrecked my shoulder last year, because I am 100% sure they would have been more helpful.  Next injury I am going there for sure  

 

The hospital was close to Sam's club so we stopped there on the way home and bought loads of USDA Beef and a fair amount of imported seafood.   We are going to be eating very well for a while   

 

After we got back home,    Ghostlet wanted to try out his new bike, so I grabbed a rental and we went riding around the neighborhood, checking various routes to and from his school and also just mapping out our neighborhood in his mind so he knows where the important places are.  We ended up cruisong around for about 90 minutes and it was much more of a workout than I was expecting.  I am going to count this toward my cardio goal, even though I wasn't breathing super heavy.

 

In the afternoon Ghostess told me that she wanted to have another batch of banana bread to take to her salon (her clients love it) so I made a few batches but miraculously didn't eat more than 2 slices total (I have to make sure each batch tastes OK before it leaves the house  )

 

Imade some salmon steak, salmon sashimi, and heated up some beef pies from Sam's Club for dinner.  Afterwards I folded laundry and then finally got around to some piano practice, some scripture reading and cleaned out the vacuum before I crawled into bed.