[spezzy]

Okay, so beginning of last challenge, things were feeling like this:

 

 

Right now, things are feeling a bit better, like this:

 

 

My goal is by the end of the challenge, for things feel like this:

 

 

TL:DR; (or really, too long to write and there's no need to bore everyone with details 😞

We sold our house in May with the intention of full time travel, and in a total plot twist we have decided to stay in New England and take over my mother's property, which has been challenging on a lot of fronts (both in amount of work involved and the emotional elements). After 2.5 months, we now have the majority of her stuff out of the house, we have the basic repairs done that make this property livable, and a lot of the paperwork is almost done, so it's starting to finally feel like we can breathe a bit and start to actually settle in without having 100 urgent things banging down at us constantly. 

 

I'm also entering my last year of my 30's during this challenge, and while I'm inherently okay with aging and don't have an issue with it, I am definitely starting to have a lot of feels around it and I'm sure the fact we're moving my mother into senior housing and looking at her "final" phase in life isn't helping the emotions. 

 

This is going to be a heavily druid challenge, really, because yoga will be a forefront. 

 

I've been able to really keep up:

• Daily Walks (just hit 1,000 in a row yesterday)
• Veggies with every meal
• Water

 

Things that are going better after last challenge, but I'm still struggling with:

• Movement: I hit daily movement most days in the form of yard work and moving stuff and cleaning, but I need to start actually doing full workouts again. 
• Nightly Stretching/Yoga: I started off last challenge with 1-2x a week and now I'm stretching a good 6/7 nights
• Routine: With everything as crazy as it's been, everything's changing often and it's been 
• Relaxing and calming down: I feel like I'm constantly in go-go-go mode and can't turn off. This is affecting both my physical and mental health and my anxiety is through the roof because of it. I've been experimenting with yoga nidra and some general breathing stuff, and that's already helping, but I'm definitely in the very beginning of learning to practice these things.
• I started logging food with MacroFactor, and am loving it. I'm NOT going to make this a goal, but just wanted to make note I am doing it and working on it, but it's the lowest of my priorities and is something that will start to feel easier the better I get at my actual goals. 

 

So, with that, since routine is a part of the problem, instead of trying to write out and stick to a perfect routine, I'm going to tie different time constraints into my goals. 

 

Obviously if I don't make time constraints, I'm not going to either not do it or not give myself credit for doing it, but the goal is to build in some anchors within my day at which I take care of myself, and that I'm not forgetting about it till 11pm. 

 

GOALS:

1) Be outside for my walk within 30 minutes of waking up

I've got the daily walking in the morning first thing habit down (just hit 1,000 days in a row yesterday!), but what we don't have defined is what is "first thing". 

 

One of my scheduling struggles is getting out of bed on time, for no reason other than I don't have schedule restraints that prevent me from doing so, being the most eastern located person on my team. 

 

So the goal is to get outside and be walking within 30 min of that alarm and waking up. Eventually, I'd like that to be less, but for now, even 20 seems unrealistic.

 

2) Yoga Nidra, Breathing, or Meditation

Every single day. You'll notice this is my second listed goal, because it needs to be a priority and is going to be insanely hard for me to do. I don't have to do these well, but I do need to put in an effort.

 

I specifically want to focus on Yoga Nidra, as it's highly recommended in therapy circles with some things I'm struggling with with a lot of great data to back it up,  but breathing exercises or meditation would work as an alternative in a pinch. 

 

My goal is to do this after lunch each day, before heading back to work, but any time throughout the day works. 

 

3) Daily Exercise of at least 30 minutes.

I will do this before work at least 3 days each work week, and the rest of the days I need to start by 3pm, unless otherwise planned for. 

 

This can be strength, cardio, or work around here (sometimes the physical labor here is harder than a workout 😂 ) - but I've got to get it done. 

 

*

4) Yoga before bed

Can be any length or style, but must start by 10:30pm.

 

*We have 4 cats + felix now, as my Mom had 2, so this gif is more appropriate than I'd like to admit. 

 

5)  Spellbooks / Scheduling

 

This has been a focus, but hasn't been specific enough to really measure how well I'm doing or not.  i also have been forced to really focus on the day to day, vs the larger picture, so:

 

• Schedule in anchor tasks into calendar, and then schedule everything else around them
• Start each week with a list of goals I want to accomplish, and break that down by day
• At the end of each day, review what went well and didn't go well and adjust for the next day if there are any adjustments to make, and plan the next day. 
• Be honest with myself about what didn't go well - if it's mental health, that's fine,  if I'm too busy, that's fine, but if I don't do something because mental health and I say it's because I'm busy, that's not fine
• Start to look out at this month, next month, etc - especially since we have a longer term plan now, and have a full house of renos to do, the better I am at being realistic with timelines and when things can happen, the less time we'll be living in a construction zone, or we can at least minimize it. But also - I don't want to miss out on life because of renos, so just trying to fit in necessary life things like doctor's appointments and hair cuts, but also some fun like ren faires and oktoberfests

 

 

And that's it!

 

Good luck y'all!

 

[spezzy]

Also, I wanted to start this challenge with a win:

 

yesterday was my 1,000th day in a row that I have gone for a walk.

 

we climbed a mountain in celebration.

 

a lot of my new goals will eventually be around hiking, and this mountain was a great start for where we are at fitness wise right now. 
 

time to find another for next weekend

 

 

 

 

[Everstorm]

47 minutes ago, spezzy said:

But also - I don't want to miss out on life because of renos, so just trying to fit in necessary life things like doctor's appointments and hair cuts, but also some fun like ren faires and oktoberfests

💯

 

Following for amazing reno and non-reno

[RES]

Following for the next 1000 days walking and spellbooks!

 

[sarakingdom]

What I'm hearing here is that Rurik is trapped in New England for pie season, and is going to make you pie.

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

33 minutes ago, sarakingdom said:

What I'm hearing here is that Rurik is trapped in New England for pie season, and is going to make you pie.

No, you are hearing that Rurik, who is every bit as basic about Pumpkin Spice as I am, is about to spend his first Pumpkin Spice season in the Country of Pumpkin Spice, in a Region widely acknowledged to be the Autumnal capital of said country.

Also, I'm fine with him becoming a Pie-master.

 

3 hours ago, spezzy said:

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned this before but the first time I saw this GIF I didn't know who Simone Giertz was and briefly wondered if this was you.

 

Also, I'm loving y'all at the top of that mountain.

[sarakingdom]

Just now, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

No, you are hearing that Rurik, who is every bit as basic about Pumpkin Spice as I am, is about to spend his first Pumpkin Spice season in the Country of Pumpkin Spice, in a Region widely acknowledged to be the Autumnal capital of said country.

 

I did not realize there was a second PSL addict in the house.

 

The thing about pumpkin spice and pies is that it also makes a darned good apple pie. Probably also peach pie.

 

Also, the best pumpkin spice in the world is Trader Joe's. They have some unusual additives that really crank it up.

 

In one month, all the trees will look like they're made of pumpkin spice.

 

But that is relevant to Rurik, whose thread this is not. What is relevant to Spezzy is that she is going to have a source of pie. Probably cinnamon-flavored pie, by the sound of it, but possibly also shepherd's pie.

 

[Rhovaniel]

All this talk of pumpkin spice is making me envious. I tried a PSL at Starbucks over here once. It was vile. I am doubtful that the taste is the same as what you guys get to experience, if the enthusiasm is anything to go by!

 

Also, those are some awesome mountain pictures Staci!

[sarakingdom]

5 hours ago, Rhovaniel said:

All this talk of pumpkin spice is making me envious. I tried a PSL at Starbucks over here once. It was vile. I am doubtful that the taste is the same as what you guys get to experience, if the enthusiasm is anything to go by!

 

The PSL is the most infamous use of pumpkin spice, but probably not the best. (For one thing, Starbucks roasts their coffee to just about burnt, and this can be a tough one for people outside the US to get used to. Also, I can't recall if they just use the spice or also use pumpkin flavor itself in the latte, and that's another flavor that's super hard for people outside the US, especially in sweet form.) But we have about three months over here where nearly everything comes in pumpkin spice flavored. The donuts, the breakfast cereals, the ice cream, the coffee, the tea, the cookies, the scented candles, the dog treats, the toilet paper, everything.

 

[Everstorm]

4 hours ago, sarakingdom said:

But we have about three months over here where nearly everything comes in pumpkin spice flavored. The donuts, the breakfast cereals, the ice cream, the coffee, the tea, the cookies, the scented candles, the dog treats, the toilet paper, everything.

 

Seriously,  everything.

 

[spezzy]

On 9/5/2022 at 3:43 PM, Everstorm said:

💯

 

Following for amazing reno and non-reno

 

 

 

On 9/5/2022 at 5:32 PM, RES said:

Following for the next 1000 days walking and spellbooks!

 

 

 

 

 

On 9/5/2022 at 6:42 PM, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned this before but the first time I saw this GIF I didn't know who Simone Giertz was and briefly wondered if this was you.

 

Also, I'm loving y'all at the top of that mountain.

 

ha, yeah, I've heard that elsewhere as well!

 

It was our first mountain together!

 

18 hours ago, Rhovaniel said:

Also, those are some awesome mountain pictures Staci!

 

Thank you! 

[spezzy]

On 9/5/2022 at 6:09 PM, sarakingdom said:

What I'm hearing here is that Rurik is trapped in New England for pie season, and is going to make you pie.

 

 

 

On 9/5/2022 at 6:42 PM, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

No, you are hearing that Rurik, who is every bit as basic about Pumpkin Spice as I am, is about to spend his first Pumpkin Spice season in the Country of Pumpkin Spice, in a Region widely acknowledged to be the Autumnal capital of said country.

 

 

 

 

 

 

On 9/5/2022 at 6:50 PM, sarakingdom said:

What is relevant to Spezzy is that she is going to have a source of pie. Probably cinnamon-flavored pie, by the sound of it, but possibly also shepherd's pie.

 

 

 

Yes, this. Very much this. 

 

I would also accept pie of the apple or berry variety 😆 

 

On 9/5/2022 at 6:42 PM, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

No, you are hearing that Rurik, who is every bit as basic about Pumpkin Spice as I am, is about to spend his first Pumpkin Spice season in the Country of Pumpkin Spice, in a Region widely acknowledged to be the Autumnal capital of said country.

 

 

On 9/5/2022 at 6:50 PM, sarakingdom said:

I  did not realize there was a second PSL addict in the house.

 

The thing about pumpkin spice and pies is that it also makes a darned good apple pie. Probably also peach pie.

 

Also, the best pumpkin spice in the world is Trader Joe's. They have some unusual additives that really crank it up.

 

In one month, all the trees will look like they're made of pumpkin spice.

 

18 hours ago, Rhovaniel said:

All this talk of pumpkin spice is making me envious. I tried a PSL at Starbucks over here once. It was vile. I am doubtful that the taste is the same as what you guys get to experience, if the enthusiasm is anything to go by!

 

12 hours ago, sarakingdom said:

 

The PSL is the most infamous use of pumpkin spice, but probably not the best. (For one thing, Starbucks roasts their coffee to just about burnt, and this can be a tough one for people outside the US to get used to. Also, I can't recall if they just use the spice or also use pumpkin flavor itself in the latte, and that's another flavor that's super hard for people outside the US, especially in sweet form.) But we have about three months over here where nearly everything comes in pumpkin spice flavored. The donuts, the breakfast cereals, the ice cream, the coffee, the tea, the cookies, the scented candles, the dog treats, the toilet paper, everything.

 

7 hours ago, Everstorm said:

Seriously,  everything.

 

We will 100% absolutely be taking in all that New England in the fall has to offer including all of its pumpkin spice everything  It's been a good 10 or 12 years since I've spent a fall here, too, and its my favorite season, so I'm excited to go all in. I'm not as big of a fan of pumpkin itself as Rurik is, but I am as big of a fan of apple, and like you mentioned, sarakingdom, pumpkin spice is great on apple pie. But we plan on doing apple picking and then make apple pie and pumpkin picking and then make pumpkin stuff and jack o lanterns of course! There's so much typical fall stuff to do here we probably won't even have time to start scratching the surface, but we're so excited for fall in the most magical place for fall again. And pumpkin spice will make a huge part in that

 

But yes, everything here is already pumpkin spice everything, EVERYWHERE, but I feel like that's caught on everywhere now. Even in Canada in the prairies everything was overly pumpkin spice branded. 

 

We live right in the middle of mountains and farms, too, so it's just kind of a really great place to be for all fresh everything and are about to be spoiled, big time. 

 

And we're gonna make a lot of pie. 

 

Because pie.

[RES]

11 hours ago, spezzy said:

And we're gonna make a lot of pie. 

 

Because pie.

[spezzy]

16 minutes ago, RES said:

 

[sarakingdom]

12 hours ago, spezzy said:

It's been a good 10 or 12 years since I've spent a fall here, too, and its my favorite season, so I'm excited to go all in. I'm not as big of a fan of pumpkin itself as Rurik is, but I am as big of a fan of apple, and like you mentioned, sarakingdom, pumpkin spice is great on apple pie. But we plan on doing apple picking and then make apple pie and pumpkin picking and then make pumpkin stuff and jack o lanterns of course! There's so much typical fall stuff to do here we probably won't even have time to start scratching the surface, but we're so excited for fall in the most magical place for fall again.

 

Stooooooop, I'm trying to have a few more weeks of summer here to go swimming in, and now I want to pick apples and sit by fires and douse everything in cinnamon!

 

 

It's not autumn just because corporations say it is. It's not. I still have at least two weeks of summer. Calendars say so. I will resist this pumpkin-spiced lure.

 

Pie is unfortunately not on my menu. But I could make a spice cake.

 

12 hours ago, spezzy said:

But yes, everything here is already pumpkin spice everything, EVERYWHERE

 

I wasn't kidding about the dog treats. Felix could partake.

[spezzy]

Alright, Week 0, Day 3

 

Not so bad so far. Waking up and getting outside has been the hardest, which isn't surprising. For some reason my schedule has really shifted over the last few weeks, to a later schedule (I don't like this, so am going to work on changing that) - but also this morning I was awoken by my doctor's office cancelling my doctor's appointment today, so I was dealing with that a bit and then went back to bed and cuddled with Felix because I was just so crushed (I've been waiting for this appointment for months, but thankfully we've sorted it and they can get me in Friday).  I know that wasn't the "right" call, but it was what my feelings needed in the moment. 

 

I've been doing the yoga nidra before bed, but it's at least happening, and doing additional yoga as well.

 

Yesterday I did a dumbbell strength workout before work, in my new office (🎉 🎊 ) nothing fancy but definitely felt it a bit. 

 

My entire body is exhausting from going non-stop all weekend, and just fatigued from the hike in the heat. 

 

Spellbooks is going well. Have to change things up because of the drs appt but made a new plan for the next few days and feeling good about that!

 

TRACKER:

1) Be outside for my walk within 30 minutes of waking up  💀🏆💀

2) Yoga Nidra, Breathing, or Meditation ⚔️⚔️

3) Daily Exercise of at least 30 minutes. 🏆🏆

4) Yoga before bed 🏆🏆

5)  Spellbooks / Scheduling ⚔️⚔️

 

Key 

💀- I did not do the thing

⚔️ - I am doing the thing part way

🏆 - I am a responsible adult and did the thing.


A FEW OTHER MISC WINS:

This last weekend, we cleared the rest of my Mom's stuff out of the house and then scrubbed/primed my new office and then moved my stuff in. I still need to paint, it's VERY bright in here with it just being two coats of primer 😆 , but it's the biggest and best office I've ever had, and I'm feeling really lucky. It has enough room for my desk set up AND an exercise space, so I was able to use that space to workout WITH THE DOOR CLOSED to keep the 4 cats and 2 dogs out and it was just absolutely wonderful.

New office room:

 

Also, one of my mother's (now ours) cats, is feral. She got him knowing this, and the goal was never to tame him - she doesn't like being touched by cats but needed a good mouser. Anyway, over the last 6 weeks of being in the house, we've been really working with him and his boundaries. Some days he lets us touch him for a second, maybe get in half a pet, and one day he let me scritch his neck, but for the most part we're still at "go running whenever you see a human or hear a noise and get scared". 

 

We've been a bit worried with my office being cleared of my Mom's stuff about how he'd react because it was FULL of stuff, and he had hiding spots - now he really doesn't have any. 

 

But he's really been taking it well, and last night during yoga he even came in and fell asleep in the dog bed next to my yoga mat while I was doing yoga. 

 

 

It feels like he's starting to feel safer and safer around me, and he's choosing to spend time in the same space as me, so I'm feeling very lucky there, too ✨ 

 

Also, yesterday was Felix's third birthday, and we had a fun little celebration

 

 

 

 

 

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Happy birthday Felix! Happy Office Spezzy!

[Rurik Harrgath]

On 9/6/2022 at 8:51 AM, sarakingdom said:

But we have about three months over here where nearly everything comes in pumpkin spice flavored. The donuts, the breakfast cereals, the ice cream, the coffee, the tea, the cookies, the scented candles, the dog treats, the toilet paper, everything.

 

 

15 hours ago, spezzy said:

 

 

I make this solemn oath here and now, that I shall do the Workboots Shuffle™ when the yoga porch is done, and again when the garage gym is complete (or at least workable).   

 

15 hours ago, spezzy said:

It was our first mountain together!

 

110% accurate depiction of my part in the ascent:

 

[Everstorm]

1 hour ago, spezzy said:

I was able to use that space to workout WITH THE DOOR CLOSED

Yay for work/workout space with a DOOR.  (I might have a minor obsession with doors that my husband does not understand.   I think he would be perfectly happy if we didn't have any 😭)

 

1 hour ago, spezzy said:

Also, one of my mother's (now ours) cats, is feral.

 

Hopefully kitty will come around.  We have 2 cats, one of whom is very friendly, and the other is hit or miss.  She has warmed up enough to come to you if you are seated, and may even sleep in your lap, but she runs away if you stand up or walk into a room where she is.

[spezzy]

Week one has basically flown by, but a few wins:

• I have a gym membership again and we went to the gym for a workout
• I have sat down and figured out a general fitness plan for the next bit. 
• We made a ton of BADs (Big Adulting Decisions) and got some balls moving on some things that we needed to do
• We now have a bathroom with a door that CLOSES
• Feral kitty has let me pet him at least 5 whole pats in a rowat least once a day for the last week

Week 1 Tracker:

TRACKER:

1) Be outside for my walk within 30 minutes of waking up ☠️ ☠️ ☠️ ☠️ ☠️ ☠️ ☠️

2) Yoga Nidra, Breathing, or Meditation ☠️ ☠️ ☠️🏆🏆🏆🏆 - started strong, ended bad

3) Daily Exercise of at least 30 minutes. 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆

4) Yoga before bed ☠️🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆

5)  Spellbooks / Scheduling ☠️ ☠️  ⚔️ ⚔️ ⚔️ ⚔️ ⚔️

 

Key 

☠️ - I did not do the thing

 ⚔️  - I am doing the thing part way

🏆  - I am a responsible adult and did the thing.

 

Soooo as you can see the biggest thing I'm struggling with is getting up, which makes sense because this last week has been one of those weeks where my insomnia is really bad. I've also had a lot going on mentally, which hasn't helped with the insomnia (just a lot of really big, important things on my mind). 

 

I've been having some health issues that have been getting worse the last few years, and I'm finally in with a doctor to try to figure it out.  We got some preliminary blood tests back which is nice, but I didn't really feel supported by the new doctor's plan (and really tried to keep my head up after the appointment, but the follow-ups were just as discouraging), so I have a new appointment with a new doctor at the same place next week that the place thinks might be a better fit, so I'm hopeful she can at least direct me to the right specialists. 

 

My breathing is affected, and I don't feel 100% safe working out on my own so am working on a plan for workouts where either Rurik can go with me or where it's during busy hours at the gym. I'm 99% certain I'm recognizing triggers fast enough to be able to catch myself before I get to the point of fainting, but these fears are definitely weighing on me a bit when thinking about where I can and can't push my body right now.  

 

Hoping to make it to the gym at least 3x this upcoming week. 

 

My laptop is about to die and I don't want to lose this update, but I'll come back with a plan for next week shortly. 

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

I am so sorry you are struggling so much with health stuff. It isn't fair, and it sounds awful. I hope a good medical team can come together to help you stay functional and able to do what you want for fitness.

[Everstorm]

Health issues are stressful enough without unsupportive medical professionals 😔 I hope the new doctor works out better so you can get it sorted and get back to being/feeling AWESOME!

[spezzy]

Okay, so I said I'd come back to this, and I got distracted by doing more stuff that had to be done (😂 ), but that's okay. Here I am.

 

So let's see, for daily movement and workouts, I actually have a plan for the first time in a long time and worked on that over the weekend. 

 

We're building a home gym here, on the new property, in our 2 car garage. It needs to be cleaned and the roof replaced before we can do that, though, so - 

• Got a gym membership at local powerlifting/bodybuilding gym (I'll probably keep this long term, too,  but it will be primary for now)
• Making it a goal to have my body ready for light olympic lifting again when the gym is ready
• Focus will be barbells, dumbbells, cables, bands, and bodyweight.

Programming will be:

(copying from what I told @bigm141414 , thanks for asking and making me write it out :D)
 

Push/Pull/Legs for strength, with a work set of front squats or goblet squats every gym workout regardless of what day it is.

 

This way exact days don't really make a difference, and it's an easy enough split that I can do some workouts at home with dumbbells and it won't mess up programming, since numbers don't really "matter".

 

It's also one of my favorite splits that's hard to do when you're doing oly more seriously, so now is a good time.

 

But I can also double up days if I want an extra long workout on a weekend or something (so do pull and legs, for example)

 

Gym workouts will be:

Main Lift in the 4-6 rep range

Secondary lift in the 6-8 rep range

As many or as few accessories in the 10-12 rep range as I can fit in with the time I have

 

Then 30+ minute walk every morning (one of my other goals)

Yoga or mobility every night (one of my other goals)

At least one endurance walk or hike each week

 

I'm considering setting the spin bike up and seeing if it's still running because that feels like something I could really focus on listening to my body during, too. But I need to figure out the cardio part and get my lungs working right again, too.

 

Other updates:

1. I'm excited to see some of the new iOS16 features around focus to see if they could help me with my ADHD. The idea of having a different home screen just appear when I'm at the gym (or at my desk 😂 ) would be huge. 
2. I'm going to pick up the new Apple Watch - I've been using my old 4 Series since I got an iPhone again, and I've been loving it for the most part, but the 8 has blood oxygen level testing which is something I'm struggling with medically, so even if it consistently worked inaccurately, that would be a huge help to have. I hate spending money on fancy things but I have been really utilizing the old one, and I think the new features/functionality is worth it. At least I have a birthday in a few weeks haha!
3. I am really enjoying my headband earphones I got cheaply off amazon for yoga. I was really hesitant to order some because I was convinced they'd all be crap, but I'm impressed. The only downside is when I put my forehead down sometimes it stops the yoga because my head presses the button 😬 
4. My step counter from yesterday says that I did 15k steps walking and doing yard work yesterday, even though I didn't have my watch or phone on me for a good 2-3 of those hours as they were dead. I'm guessing it's closer to 20k, based on what this says I do per hour walking around the yard.  
5. I got a cheap little wood chipper and was able to chip most of the branches on the property over the weekend, including some huge wild grape vines we had pulled down because they were trying to climb (and kill) a bunch of our trees. Felt so good to get those gone!

 

6. I feel like this whenever anyone talks to me about this house and the paperwork:

 

====================================================================================

Daily Tracker - my weeks start on Monday so all I have so far is this morning. I did better than usual, but not great, and didn't hit the 30 minute goal, so giving myself a ⚔️  instead of a ☠️ 

1) Be outside for my walk within 30 minutes of waking up ⚔️ 

2) Yoga Nidra, Breathing, or Meditation __

3) Daily Exercise of at least 30 minute __

4) Yoga before bed  __

5)  Spellbooks / Scheduling __
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

🏆 = i did it!, ⚔️ = kinda, ☠️ =NOPE NOPE NOPE, __=not yet 

====================================================================================

 

 

 

[spezzy]

18 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

I am so sorry you are struggling so much with health stuff. It isn't fair, and it sounds awful. I hope a good medical team can come together to help you stay functional and able to do what you want for fitness.

 

17 hours ago, Everstorm said:

Health issues are stressful enough without unsupportive medical professionals 😔 I hope the new doctor works out better so you can get it sorted and get back to being/feeling AWESOME!

 

Thank you both!

 

I think the new doc was partially my fault, partially situational, partly them. 

I'm doing a bunch of research this week on the best way to present things to doctors, communicate with them, etc. - so that I can go in Friday to this new doc more prepared

 

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

One thing that might also be worth it if you intend to build fires, either in the house or outside in a fire pit, is a hydraulic log splitter. I've used them before with friends after cutting down a dead tree. It is AMAZING for splitting firewood (unless y'all really want to do manual log splitting with a maul) and fast. Especially with both of you there, one for loading the logs on and the other to work the switch.