[MaeradCase]

I'm so excited about everyone's challenges and the energy they're bringing to the forums. I've been through almost a year here making small steps of progress toward better health and mobility.

 

Long rambling tangents of where I'm coming from:

Spoiler

Some of the steps I've taken have been clearly physical goals - the beginner's bodyweight exercises on NF have been my go-to exercise, but when I have other things on my plate I try for simply warming up like the exercises in ACNH or doing a GMB flexibility set (the hips one is the one I have memorized).

 

I've also made a point of trying to be more veggie-positive, whole fruit oriented, and mindfully snacking. Trying new veggies isn't easy on my own, let alone with a partner who knows what he likes and doesn't feel compelled to try new ones.

Eating fruits that are fresh is a fun change for me, especially now that I'm so frustrated with apples getting stuck in my teeth that I'm branching out to get other sorts of fruits more often.

Lastly, I've been prepping a portion of mixed nuts rather than relying on the quality of a granola bar. It's been 100% gratifying that I'm staving off hunger but not living off of the processed sugars and/or silly price range of general or fancy protein bars.

 

One of the weirder things about me on the NF challenges, is that I use the format to do things that aren't related to health and fitness, but still seem to work because how we spend our free time is a contributor to mental health and well-being.

I am a woman of many hobbies, and some of them come to light more often than others. Crafting and art get the most time and recognition. But let's talk writing. 😉

I participated in the National Novel Writing Month for my first time, and wrote my first full-length novel. I set it aside for a month, returned to it to read and condense my book in the first two weeks of January, and then I have been in creative brainstorming mode since then, but I haven't started the second draft.

I have decided to use the NaNoWriMo April camp to make the second draft happen. That's in less than two weeks and I have the sense of dread building up alongside my anticipation. That's normal for writers, right? 😅

 

Is writing my only challenge this time? Like when I set all aside for November? Maybe? I think the ACNH exercises I did last challenge would be a good stretch to include in my writing routine. So I want to include exercises daily in addition to writing 1667 words of my second draft.

 

I was going to do "biking and DDR" as my challenge, but I don't know how often that will happen, and I don't know that those goals would be compatible with a daily writing goal. Instead, I'm not making that my goal, but that I'm going to enjoy doing them when I can, and will continue doodling the victories into my calendar to confirm that I have done them. 😃

Continuing the healthy eating goals while I focus on the major endeavor of writing, like continuing a simple exercise goal, will be part of this challenge.

And I have three goals to track!

 

1. Write 1667 words every day (starts April 1)

2. Do a mobility exercise every day (bonus points for biking and/or DDR)

3. Eat a fruit, a veggie, and a portion of mixed nuts every day (bonus points for ones that I don't already eat on regular basis)

 

Gotta go get ready for work! Thanks for being here!

Sincerely,

Maerad

[Salinger]

Wooooooooooo here for this ❤️ xx

[shaar]

I love your fruit/veg/nuts daily goal! I’ve been trying to  add more of all of the above to my morning snack box so it’s not just pretzels and an egg heheh…

 

HERE FOR THISSSSS!! 🙌🏻

[Rhovaniel]

Nice goals! If I had the time, I'd join you in April for writing. Instead, I'll just sit here with a cup of tea and a snack bag of veggies, cheering you on  

[Shello]

Let's Go!  Following! 

[TimovieMan]

I have to ask...

 

Why 1667? 🤔

[Shello]

2 minutes ago, TimovieMan said:

I have to ask...

 

Why 1667? 🤔

 

lol.  I had the same question!  Then I did some math.  that should be 50,000 words in 30 days!  

[Everstorm]

Same writing goal as in November?!?  Are you planning to rewrite the entire thing for the second draft, then?  Or will the sections you are keeping count toward the word count?

[Artemis Prime]

Hello! Here to soak up some of your writing inspiration for my own challenge!

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Following.

[MaeradCase]

3 hours ago, Salinger said:

Wooooooooooo here for this ❤️ xx

Yay! Glad to have you!

 

3 hours ago, shaar said:

I love your fruit/veg/nuts daily goal! I’ve been trying to  add more of all of the above to my morning snack box so it’s not just pretzels and an egg heheh…

 

HERE FOR THISSSSS!! 🙌🏻

Thank you! I don't know this will be the challenge I really explore new things, but making sure to get a variety of my hobbit foods is always fun. 😃

 

2 hours ago, Rhovaniel said:

Nice goals! If I had the time, I'd join you in April for writing. Instead, I'll just sit here with a cup of tea and a snack bag of veggies, cheering you on  

You've been rocking the writing as it is. 😉 Glad to have your company as I dive into second drafting.

 

2 hours ago, Shello said:

Let's Go!  Following! 

Thank you! 😃

 

2 hours ago, TimovieMan said:

I have to ask...

 

Why 1667? 🤔

Good question! NaNoWriMo sets the goal of 50k words written by the end of the month by writing at least 1667 every day of November. It's not mandatory to have the 50k word goal at the camps, but I expect the book to be as long as before, so I want to make my goal reflect that. 😃

 

2 hours ago, Shello said:

 

lol.  I had the same question!  Then I did some math.  that should be 50,000 words in 30 days!  

🌟 Gold star for the right answer! 

 

2 hours ago, Everstorm said:

Same writing goal as in November?!?  Are you planning to rewrite the entire thing for the second draft, then?  Or will the sections you are keeping count toward the word count?

I am rewriting it with some segments to cut and some segments to add, so I'll use my existing outline and rework the story with fresh words.

There may come times that the word choices I make may change, but that allows me to revisit it for comparison and contrast of how I would like to convey my ideas. 😃

 

1 hour ago, Artemis Prime said:

Hello! Here to soak up some of your writing inspiration for my own challenge!

Yeessss!!! 😍

[MaeradCase]

26 minutes ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

Following.

You got me mid-reply! Thanks, Tank!

[Sovalis]

Great challenge! I will be joining you for Camp. I have it written in my Bujo tracker but didn’t put it in my challenge immediately because I was distracted. Thanks for reminding me that I should mention that!

 

Looking forward to cheering you on!

[MaeradCase]

36 minutes ago, Sovalis said:

Great challenge! I will be joining you for Camp. I have it written in my Bujo tracker but didn’t put it in my challenge immediately because I was distracted. Thanks for reminding me that I should mention that!

 

Looking forward to cheering you on!

AWESOME!!! Glad to have every ounce of support for camp NaNo!

[Salinger]

How are you today? xx

[MaeradCase]

32 minutes ago, Salinger said:

How are you today? xx

Pretty good! Aches, pains, and a little stiff, but I think I'll make it through somehow. 😅

[MaeradCase]

Stopped by the store on my way home tonight because I've been wanting to try making zucchini and yellow squash as a side for myself (Cid won't eat either one).

This weekend I splurged on two three-packs of salmon (so we'd have a pair of each of the three flavors in the pack) while we were grocery shopping. Tonight we had the original flavor with potatoes (and me with my veggies, too). Tomorrow is game night, so no dinner prep, but Thursday we'll have the peppered salmon slices with butter&garlic noodles (and leftovers from tonight's veggies). We'll finish off the third flavor on Friday evening - it's Cajun seasoning, so we'll have dirty rice and I'm gonna get us some red beans, too.

 

All my talk about flavorful food pairings is making me think of @Tanktimus the Encourager. 😆 Tank, you jealous? Proud? Intrigued? 😅

[Salinger]

sounds scrummy mmmmmm ❤️❤️ xx

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

8 hours ago, MaeradCase said:

Stopped by the store on my way home tonight because I've been wanting to try making zucchini and yellow squash as a side for myself (Cid won't eat either one).

This weekend I splurged on two three-packs of salmon (so we'd have a pair of each of the three flavors in the pack) while we were grocery shopping. Tonight we had the original flavor with potatoes (and me with my veggies, too). Tomorrow is game night, so no dinner prep, but Thursday we'll have the peppered salmon slices with butter&garlic noodles (and leftovers from tonight's veggies). We'll finish off the third flavor on Friday evening - it's Cajun seasoning, so we'll have dirty rice and I'm gonna get us some red beans, too.

 

All my talk about flavorful food pairings is making me think of @Tanktimus the Encourager. 😆 Tank, you jealous? Proud? Intrigued? 😅

[shaar]

I loveeeee salmon!! You have a great week of dinners ahead of you 🖤

 

I also love sautéed zucchini and squash as a side dish, slice em thin with some garlic and maybe onion powder mmmm now I want to get some for the weekend too, you’ve INSPIRED MEEEEE

[MaeradCase]

7 hours ago, Salinger said:

sounds scrummy mmmmmm ❤️❤️ xx

It was so good!

 

2 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

😃 Woot!

 

1 hour ago, shaar said:

I loveeeee salmon!! You have a great week of dinners ahead of you 🖤

 

I also love sautéed zucchini and squash as a side dish, slice em thin with some garlic and maybe onion powder mmmm now I want to get some for the weekend too, you’ve INSPIRED MEEEEE

I love it, too. We usually split two larger cuts and pair it with asparagus and a seasoning packet, but trying new things is also fun.

 

I went for thin slices to roast with some diced potatoes in olive oil and Italian seasonings. I will try your sauté suggestion soon, and eventually I might dare to attempt to make ratatouille like it is presented in the Pixar movie of the same name because they make it look sooooo gooood.

[Snarkyfishguts]

Spoiler

The dread and anticipation about writing that you described is normal amongst creatives.  😁

 

I love this challenge! Following along!

[MaeradCase]

3 hours ago, Snarkyfishguts said:

  Hide contents

The dread and anticipation about writing that you described is normal amongst creatives.  😁

 

I love this challenge! Following along!

Thank you, Snarky. 😉 I'll admit I'm not unfamiliar with performance anxiety because I want to be perfect, so I often put off doing a thing until there's no time left for delay. Curtains are rising, and second draft needs to get pushed to center stage. 😏

[MaeradCase]

Quick lunch time update!

 

I had a serving of salad mix and a pear with my leftover bell pepper casserole. With my mixed nuts snack supply helping me out with the long shift I got today I've hit all three of my food goals with bonus points for having a pear, rather than an apple. (Oh man, why'd I just think of pear-apples? Where can I even find those? Nostalgia food if I can get one. 😂)

 

Spoiler

Nerdy guy some of you might recall being mentioned in the previous challenge came to do repairs on our machine again (we make frequent calls for servicing it, but this was a bigger repair than before, so maybe the repeated cries for small repairs will stop crying wolf?). Aaaanyyyway, we talked more video games and talked anime (last time we talked books, but these are all fun subjects for me, so no problem), and before I traded spots with someone else so I could go to lunch on time I let him know the offer of friendship still stood because 🤷 why not? He said he'd add me on Discord, so now I can try introducing him to Cid and maybe they'll get along and we'll have another nerdy friend in the area. 😃

 

Game night tonight is part 2 of 3 sessions playing Fallout RPG. I put my hair in buns again because I picture my character looking a bit like Toga in MHA. 😅

 

Gotta head back to work! Thanks for stopping by! Have a beautiful day!

Sincerely,

Maerad

[MaeradCase]

8 hours ago, MaeradCase said:

Game night tonight is part 2 of 3 sessions playing Fallout RPG. I put my hair in buns again because I picture my character looking a bit like Toga in MHA. 😅

Game night started out with me emotionally exhausted from a long day at work, and entirely out of spoons, but the session went smoothly and everyone liked the pineapple upside-down cake (even though nobody else likes cherries...) so it all turned out okay.

 

Our characters stopped for shelter and then stopped at a locked up building for potential supplies. That ended in flames when we barged in on a room of feral ghouls. Our ghoul and super mutant and Mr. Handy all did well. My vault dweller got very unnerved being surrounded and targeted, and struggled to hit any of her targets. Good role-playing, though, and great story beats. We wrapped up on the verge of a big fight against a giant sewer monster... Oops. 😅 (This might become a 4-parter while we take side quests for leveling up, but we level up for winning fights, so maybe it's worth it for what fate awaits us? Or maybe this monster will kill us... It is really big. 🤔)

 

Can't wait to go to bed. So tired despite the good things from today.

Hope y'all had a good night!

Maerad