[Scaly Freak]

 

The pain eventually ends. Walking becomes easier, smoother, as stiff muscles begin to loosen up and find their strength again. Scalyfreak eats as she walks, unwilling to stop and grateful for her travel rations, that for some reason still seem to be just as fresh as they were when she packed them. This is strange, and initially a little unnerving, but Scalyfreak learned not to question positive surprises a long time ago.

 

It's an unnerving walk. The terrain remains unfamiliar from the earthquake. The weather is bright and sunny warm, the sky is clear and blue, and the forest around her is quiet. Completely quiet. Too quiet. It is very unnerving.

 

So Scalyfreak continues to walk, continues to eat, continues to stretch in between bites as she walks, and continues to remain on alert for another ambush or sudden attack from Self-Sabotage.

 

The forest is peaceful and silent. Completely silent. Too silent.

 

 

A brief “intro” for anyone who doesn't know me very well:
 

Spoiler

I approach all my challenges as video game quests, with boss fights and level grinding. I have re-framed my anxiety into pyromancy (specifically, the Flame of Anxiety), because it's very destructive when it flares up and gets out of control. But like pyromancy, if the chaos is embraced and can be harnessed, all that energy can be used against against my enemies. In fireball form.

 

Track record in my boss fights so far:

 

• Self-Sabotage drains levels and health, and heals herself with what she drains from her opponent.
  • Current strategy: Run and hide
• Procrastination is good at hiding and then hitting me with a back-stab when I least expect it.
  • Current strategy: Ignore; deal with her later.
• Self-Indulgence was gradually convinced it would be easier for her to reach her goals if we worked together. Before the alliance fell apart on its own, Self-Indulgence was viciously killed by a very angry unicorn (that has been seen briefly once of twice since then, but it keeps staying away).
  • Current strategy: Dance on her grave
• Stress-Hydra spawns whenever too many things are happening at once, or when something really big and overwhelming happens, and cutting off one of her seven heads makes no difference because it re-spawns a replacement head almost immediately.
  • Current strategy: The Herakles Method - Ask for help

 

I'm currently dual-classing as a Warrior Druid, because meditation is a great way to quietly build Endurance and Resilience stats while figuring out how to make my need for sleep work with my need to make my body lift things and move and generally be active in a way that builds strength and resilience.

 

I am still working on re-establishing my healthy habits from before I was laid off. Meditation is back on track, but my health bar and stamina bar continue to regenerate slowed than I spend. For this reason, I will “only” have two goals this challenge: Refill the stamina bar, and level up the health bar.

 

The health bar is the red HP meter and it is maintained and refilled by taking care of my body. This means giving it regular opportunities for movement move and building muscles, and yes, the myocardium remains one of them.

 

The green stamina bar is emotional bandwidth and mental strength. The bar is replenished and grown by doing things that genuinely improve my quality of life, make me happy now or in the future, or just make me feel really good

 

And that is it.  

 

Physical HP (physical health)

Walked in the evening. Feisty Sidekick walked with us again, and it was as adorable and fun as it was before.

 

Recover Stamina (fortify emotional bandwidth)

After talking about it for a couple of months now, we finally did it... we have paid off our mortgage. Husband and I now officially own our house, and as a pleasant side-effect we are now also completely debt free. This is a big deal for us, and we're excited, and I feel good about this.

 

[Loveable_Bouncer]

5 hours ago, Scaly Freak said:

Physical HP (physical health)

Walked in the evening. Feisty Sidekick walked with us again, and it was as adorable and fun as it was before.

 

Recover Stamina (fortify emotional bandwidth)

After talking about it for a couple of months now, we finally did it... we have paid off our mortgage. Husband and I now officially own our house, and as a pleasant side-effect we are now also completely debt free. This is a big deal for us, and we're excited, and I feel good about this.

Whoot! Congrats on being able to pay off your house! And damn for being debt free. I hope you can enjoy the bliss of any debt payments!

 

He is part of the fam for walking!

[JuiceeTarget]

Following along. I love that your strategy for procrastination is to put off dealing with it.

 

Paying off the mortgage is awesome! My wife and I were just talking about our strategy for that yesterday. There is so much advice about it lately, "If your interest is low, and you can keep it in a place that earns more interest… blah blah blah" - I think it is important to think of that and to think of cash flow, and to think of how having your mortgage paid off makes you feel. Sounds like it is making you feel great, so congratulations!

[Elastigirl]

Huge congrats on paying off your house!  We did that a few years ago, and it has been so nice!

[Harriet]

Nice job owning your house! I wish you much stamina and HP. 

[Jackdaw]

Woow, congrats on the mortgage! Seems umbelievable. I've always thought people keep on paying it off till they're so old they're nearly dead

 

It's a very healthy approach not to overwhelm yourself when you're low on energy. I am also happy for you no nasty surprises or ambushes as you call them recently. 

[WolfDreamer]

Following! Awesome to hear about the mortgage being paid off. My wife and I inherited my great grandmother's house, which was built in the 1950's, and remodeled it in 2020. It is fully paid off, but it is in my mother's name. We are in the process of changing that soon. We are far from debt free, however, since my wife and I both have student loans.

 

Good luck on your challenge! Let me know if I can help in any way.

[TimovieMan]

42 minutes ago, JuiceeTarget said:

Following along. I love that your strategy for procrastination is to put off dealing with it.

Cure procrastination: just don't do it! 👍

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Congrats on Debt Free!

[Mistr]

Congratulations on paying off your house!

 

I hope the new job continues to be peaceful and quiet. 

[Scaly Freak]

18 hours ago, Loveable_Bouncer said:

He is part of the fam for walking!

 

According to Google, cats follow their humans during walks because cats are by nature curious and love to explore. However, cats are also at all times acutely aware of how small and fragile they are, so they often hesitate to explore unfamiliar territory where they don't know what to expect or where the hiding places are... unless, of course, someone they trust is there with them. Apparently tagging along on family walks lets Feisty Sidekick explore new streets and places without worrying, because he's not exploring alone. 

 

As a pleasant side-effect, it's really exhausting for him (but he stubbornly keeps up and keeps following us), so he's much calmer after walking with us in the evenings.

 

14 hours ago, JuiceeTarget said:

Paying off the mortgage is awesome! My wife and I were just talking about our strategy for that yesterday. There is so much advice about it lately, "If your interest is low, and you can keep it in a place that earns more interest… blah blah blah" - I think it is important to think of that and to think of cash flow, and to think of how having your mortgage paid off makes you feel.

 

We saw a a lot of similar advice as well, as we started researching to try and decide if we should pay off the mortgage or not. I think what finally decided it was the simple notion that we'd rather have that amount of money in our checking account each month, than hand it to the mortgage lender. Once we had made the decision, the process was actually surprisingly straightforward and simple. The lender/bank was very helpful. They must have liked the idea of getting our money or something.  

 

Thank you everyone else for the congratulations as well.  It's been a nice week so far.  

 

 

 

Physical HP (physical health)

Walked in the evening, this time without the  Feisty Sidekick, who dislikes cold winds. Can't say I blame him.

 

Recover Stamina (fortify emotional bandwidth)

Watched the movie Hoosiers because sometimes we all need a classic feel-good movie. 

[TimovieMan]

2 hours ago, Scaly Freak said:

The lender/bank was very helpful. They must have liked the idea of getting our money or something.  

The age old bank motto of "money now >>> money later" 😁

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

5 hours ago, Scaly Freak said:

cold winds

[Heidi]

On 9/12/2023 at 1:34 AM, Scaly Freak said:

I will “only” have two goals this challenge: Refill the stamina bar, and level up the health bar.

#DruidApproved

 

On 9/12/2023 at 1:34 AM, Scaly Freak said:

we have paid off our mortgage.

holy moly this is amazing!!!

Congratulations!!

14 hours ago, Scaly Freak said:

Watched the movie Hoosiers because sometimes we all need a classic feel-good movie. 

Solid approach and solid choice.  

[Sovalis]

Congratulations on the mortgage, that's wonderful!!

[Scaly Freak]

Physical HP (physical health)

Attempted an Iron Heart workout, only to once again have my knee joints  complain in threatening ways. if this happens a third time I will temporarily switch to a different form of workouts, until the knees are in agreement with me about the importance of moving around. Tentatively penciling in a walk for later tonight, depending on temperatures and winds.

 

Recover Stamina (fortify emotional bandwidth)

I've been in my new job for about four months now. A couple of weeks ago, my boss started assigning me projects to work on -- formulate a strategy for this one, drive and coordinate that one, etc -- and this week was the week I started having meeting with the teams I'll be working with for these projects. She cautioned me that there would probably be some resistance, for reasons that have nothing to do with me, and she was right. I handled it as best I could, appreciated that boss supported me fully in the meetings, and then I reached out to the most resistant people after the meetings and kept talking to them, because that's one of the easiest way to make sure they feel heard and taken seriously.

 

In our one-on-one today, my boss told me she thinks I've been doing a fantastic job both with the actual project part and with the part that involves convincing others to work with me and be enthusiastic about the project, and to keep doing what I was doing, and that she's impressed with my work so far. 

 

I know I'm good at what I do, but it's nice to hear compliments and validation from someone who hasn't worked with me for over a decade and already knows me well.  

[Scaly Freak]

Physical HP (physical health)

Tried to do the Iron Heart workout again... and the knee joints screamed at me again. Okay. I can take a hint. I went back to the Darebee home page, and looked for the LIIT program @Tanktimus the Encourager has been talking about in his thread. I'm typing this post during the rest period in the Day 1 workout.  

 

Recover Stamina (fortify emotional bandwidth)

I located several new songs for my LOTRO music project, including the two Gloryhammer songs I found the other day. I've been working on turning the songs into solo arrangements and converting them to .abc file format so I can play them in the game.

 

While I did my workout I listened to a YouTube video with Star Wars inspired wallpapers. This is one of the most Nerd Fitness Rebellion pictures I have ever seen....

 

[Harriet]

On 9/15/2023 at 4:19 AM, Scaly Freak said:

In our one-on-one today, my boss told me she thinks I've been doing a fantastic job both with the actual project part and with the part that involves convincing others to work with me and be enthusiastic about the project, and to keep doing what I was doing, and that she's impressed with my work so far. 

 

I know I'm good at what I do, but it's nice to hear compliments and validation from someone who hasn't worked with me for over a decade and already knows me well.  

 

Noice! It certainly sounds from your description like you know how to do your job and it's going well. 

 

2 hours ago, Scaly Freak said:

Physical HP (physical health)

Tried to do the Iron Heart workout again... and the knee joints screamed at me again. Okay. I can take a hint. I went back to the Darebee home page, and looked for the LIIT program @Tanktimus the Encourager has been talking about in his thread. I'm typing this post during the rest period in the Day 1 workout.  

 

It is wisdom to listen to the joints. 

 

2 hours ago, Scaly Freak said:

Recover Stamina (fortify emotional bandwidth)

I located several new songs for my LOTRO music project, including the two Gloryhammer songs I found the other day. I've been working on turning the songs into solo arrangements and converting them to .abc file format so I can play them in the game.

 

What is your LOTR music project, and is it filled with Blind Guardian? Their songs are all about LOTR lore, as far as I can tell. 

 

[Scaly Freak]

15 hours ago, Harriet said:

What is your LOTR music project, and is it filled with Blind Guardian? Their songs are all about LOTR lore, as far as I can tell. 

 

The project is about taking midi files, opening them in an application called Maestro and editing them however I want, then exporting them to an .abc file and saving them to the folder the music plugin in LOTRO can use, and refresh the plugin in the game, so it sees the new files.

 

And no, it doesn't have a lot of Blind Guardian yet. I'm working on it.  

[Scaly Freak]

Physical HP (physical health)

No movement of any kind today. I slept about twice as many hours as I do during the week though, so there's that.  

 

Recover Stamina (fortify emotional bandwidth)

More LOTRO music editing. I have also started a series of missions I have been assured will eventually award me with a pirate outfit.

[Kalitraz]

Congrats on debt free!!! I like your challenge setup and the videogame/rpg elements you build off of. Especially like the bosses you list. Best of luck continuing the challenge!

[Heidi]

On 9/14/2023 at 10:19 PM, Scaly Freak said:

I know I'm good at what I do, but it's nice to hear compliments and validation from someone who hasn't worked with me for over a decade and already knows me well.

I really like that your new boss gives positive feedback.

Rewarded / reinforced behavior tends to be repeated.  

19 hours ago, Scaly Freak said:

I have also started a series of missions I have been assured will eventually award me with a pirate outfit.

Pirate outfits are good!!

 

Good job changing up the workout. Let me know how it goes.

 

[Scaly Freak]

6 minutes ago, Heidi said:

 

Pirate outfits are good!!

 

As it turns out, what I have ended up with is the armor set of the Shipwrecked Mariner: Headband, shoulder guard, jacket, gloves, and boots.

 

 

[Scaly Freak]

Physical HP (physical health)

Evening walk with Husband and Happy Sidekick. Planning to do either LIIT or Iron Heart tomorrow, so I'm posting it here for accountability, because that has worked in the past.   

 

Recover Stamina (fortify emotional bandwidth)

Well, I got my mariner/pirate outfit. I also got an eye patch for my dwarf Champion (a heavy melee class in the same game), because why wouldn't I?

[Harriet]

On 9/17/2023 at 5:09 AM, Scaly Freak said:

More LOTRO music editing. I have also started a series of missions I have been assured will eventually award me with a pirate outfit.

I've never played an mmo game before. I am uncertain about how it works, interacting with other people. I was looking at elder scrolls online and was unsure about the reviews, which were mixed. But I am playing a pirate game. I have started a series of missions I am assured will result in a stylish templar outfit.

 

Your pic reminds me of Morrowind except the faces were worse, and slightly green.