[Darciana]

I cannot believe it's a new challenge already. Where did the time go?! I'm not going to bore you with a long introduction of this challenge, it's nearly identical to the last, if you were around then. If not, Welcome! Here's a quick rundown:

 

Battle Ready: Strength train 4x/week: Monday - Legs, Tuesday - Chest, Wednesday - Back, Thursday - Arms/Shoulders (typically). Cardio is Friday or Saturday depending on weather and work/life. This challenge ends the day of my 10k so I'll be focused on running for my cardio day so long as schedule/weather allows. If I run Friday, the goal is to walk Saturday and vice versa. If running isn't possible (I've had peroneal tendonitis and hip issues lately), I'll do a harder ride on the Peloton to help maintain and maybe increase my cardiovascular endurance in some way for this 10k.

I'm also hoping, weather permitting as it's stormy/rainy season and we need all the rain we can get right now in preparation for summer, to walk the dogs after dinner daily.

 

Edible Alchemy: AKA Kitchen Witchery AKA food/nutrition/meals/cooking. I'm focused on eating Paleo/Primal and meal-prepping for the week to help reduce the grocery bill, but also keep things simple and easy. I've made the switch over with a high percentage of success (I'm not perfect and if I can have 80% adherence or more, I'm happy. Except with dairy, I must avoid dairy because sensitivities).

 

In-Edible Alchemy: This is any kind of creation that is not edible, such as homemade leave-in conditioner or candles or whatever else. I've made a homemade daily serum and nightly serum for my skin care routine once my store-bought ran out. I have a homemade rosemary and peppermint hair oil for my weekly hair oiling that is currently infusing. I have no real goal other than learning more about natural products. Maybe looking into natural dishwasher soap or regular dishsoap? Laundry soap? This is only included as a reminder to keep learning.

 

Mirror, Mirror: This is for me to do any "Me Time" every day. Journaling, writing my daily gratitude, my daily self-love, my daily affirmations, etc. Reading every night before bed, and I'm adding in Daily Duolingo to this, as well. It's kind of a catch-all for my self-improvement  and self care goals.

 

Mundane Magic: Greet the Day - go outside, get grounded, and say hello to the greater world. Nothing fancy, just getting outside for fresh air, connection with nature, and breathing fresh air. Stirring in daily intentions into my coffee before drinking it (after grounding, it's a theme here). Really, any way I can infuse a little magic into my mundane day. There will be a Full Moon, a Lunar Eclipse, a Solar Eclipse (*see below). Also the 1st of the month rituals (such as blowing cinnamon, taking body measurements, though that's not so magically related). Anyway, there's plenty of options for dedicated rituals I'll include along with any mundane ones. Mundane can include: infusing intentions while cooking or doing my skincare routine. Selecting certain plants or herbs/spices for their taste as well as their magical properties. Daily meditation. Working towards remembering my dreams (It's a calling from the Universe - I've seen it come up again and again). I keep having this pull towards action, I'm just not understanding what action so this space is dedicated to that. I'm seeing a lot of repetitive mentions of change, health, and moths. The Universe will guide so long as I pay attention which is what this goal is about.

 

Knowledge Acquisition: The Man is going through his MBA currently. We are on week 4 of 10 weeks of his first 2 classes. He's on academic probation (due to his bachelor's cumulative GPA being lower than the standard required by the school) for his first 4 classes (these 10 weeks, the next 10 weeks which includes 2 classes as well) which means we need to maintain above a 3.0. He requested the hardest classes to be the first ones he takes and let me tell you, they're kicking my butt. I'm helping to learn the material so I can tutor him. I'm also the unofficial editor of all his work. Once my work calms down, I'll likely need to start looking into my PE exam to begin studying for that - I'm not eligible for promotion or bonuses until I'm licensed so it's a big deal. Plus, it's much harder to find a job without it should anything happen with my current position. Not sure PE will be this challenge, but putting it here just in case.

 

Bartering: I'm working to pay down debt. As of this post, I have $7,200 in credit card debt and $3,200 in a loan. I'm co-signed on 2 "vehicle" loans: one at $4,600 (dirtbike for youngest Stepson) and another at $8,000 (our side-by-side for the ranch) and the Man is working on getting those paid down now that he's paid off his credit card and helped me pay off the RV loan last challenge.

To do this, I'm working to limit a ton of "want" spending and, instead, saving up for them instead and putting off instant gratification. I'm also using my budget to move money - for example the money that went towards the RV loan minimum payment ($350) will be divided into 2 categories: $250 towards summer fun (to avoid more credit card debt while still having fun with kids, especially as it's StepDaughter's last summer) and $100 additional towards credit card (minimum payment is $150 so I'd pay $250).

 

There's a high potential for work travel this round - this depends on when we can get the purchase order issued, right now aiming for first week of April I think and 2-3 weeks after that would be in-person kickoff AKA travel. It's only Oklahoma no matter which vendor we choose (both are in Tulsa) so it's not a far trip and should only be a couple of days. That's still a disruption to my normal routine I need to account for. I succeeded last round with maintaining my weight as well as improvising my normal strength workouts in the hotel gym (which ultimately led to gains once I was back into my gym with my normal workout routine).

The Eclipse (*here's that tidbit from Mundane Magic) is total over my town and supposedly there's concern the cell towers and internet providers will be overwhelmed, resulting in the loss of internet/cell service. I took that Monday off work due to this and am instead on call Saturday-Monday day shift (8am-4pm) with the Fire Department (but I can answer any calls outside those hours, I'm only required to man the station during those hours). This is very likely to disrupt our workout and eating. I believe the station has a microwave and I know it has a fridge so we may be meal prepping for those 3 days to take our food with. It's likely our workouts will be pushed a day (Peloton Monday and shift everything else back a day so strength is Tuesday-Friday instead). Still a disruption that will have to be accounted for and improvised around. Note: if I disappear, it's likely that I have limited/no service and cannot come on to update. I will as soon as I can ❤️ 

 

Welcome all my Lovely Friends ❤️ 

[athousandwords]

Following along! I love your Mundane Magic goal and I'm fascinated by In-Edible Alchemy - do you post a lot about your homemade products? I had no idea you could make your own face serums! 🙈

[Sovalis]

Hi Dearheart! I am here!

 

I really hope you have something planned for releasing for the eclipse. What an opportunity!

[Darciana]

58 minutes ago, athousandwords said:

Following along! I love your Mundane Magic goal and I'm fascinated by In-Edible Alchemy - do you post a lot about your homemade products? I had no idea you could make your own face serums! 🙈

Thank you! I'm glad to have you along with me on my journey ❤️ I don't post too much. I just started. I have a Pinterest Board [if you can see it, I think it's public] that @Sepherina also contributes to.

I have a subscription to Simply Earth essential oils and each month a box comes with a theme and a few recipes along with most, if not all, of the items needed for it. When I ordered my first box, I got the Big Bonus Box for free which came with almond oil, coconut oil, and something else I can't remember off the top of my head to dilute the essential oils. It also came with lots of little jars and such. You'd have to purchase those separately for the monthly boxes (and have to replenish when you run out), but otherwise the recipe ingredients are included in the box. They have individual oils, mixes, accessories, and such you can purchase separate from the box, too. I have a couple of their pre-made roll-ons I love. That's what inspired me.

For my face serums, I just researched what essential oils were good for. Thinks like acne scars or blemishes. Wrinkles and age spots. Then started experimenting with recipes I found on Pinterest.

[Darciana]

5 minutes ago, Sovalis said:

Hi Dearheart! I am here!

 

I really hope you have something planned for releasing for the eclipse. What an opportunity!

Hello Darling 💜💜💜 I don't, yet, but I'm brainstorming! It's perfectly aligned since it falls during the waning moon. I'm open to any ideas, though, so if something comes up, please share. I'll try to do the same, although I'm awful about procrastinating and acting on impulse at the very last minute.

[Sovalis]

13 minutes ago, Darciana said:

Hello Darling 💜💜💜 I don't, yet, but I'm brainstorming! It's perfectly aligned since it falls during the waning moon. I'm open to any ideas, though, so if something comes up, please share. I'll try to do the same, although I'm awful about procrastinating and acting on impulse at the very last minute.

There is nothing wrong with impulse, the Heart knows what we need. ❤️ I’ll think on it and let you know if I arrive at anything. 

[Darciana]

Y'all, how'd you let me forget?! I owe cuteness to everyone

Harley (brown) and Smoke (white):

[Sepherina]

Awe!  Sooo cute!  Here to follow and support you beautiful 

[Darciana]

On 3/22/2024 at 7:27 AM, Sepherina said:

Awe!  Sooo cute!  Here to follow and support you beautiful 

You are always so welcome, Love. Thank you for being amazing

 

 

My newest Simply Earth box came in and let me tell you, I'M ECSTATIC. Skin care! 

 

 

[Darciana]

Quick update from my phone:

 

Ate lots of dairy for an early dinner out last night as a cheat. I'm up 2lbs in bloat. Ugh. 

 

I had 3 dreams and I remember tidbits of each. The first was of Grandmother (who passed this past Sunday). She appeared and told me she's okay and happy now. I've always had a connection to the Other Side (my childhood "imaginary friends" were discovered to be relatives passed on) and I knew my Great Grandma passed before they informed my parents because she visited to tell me. My dad knew when my Grandpa passed in December - he was visited as well. Maybe she visited me because I was easiest to reach due to my obvious connection? Either way, that was a nice way to get closure. She looked radiant and that made my heart feel at ease. 

 

The other two are less vivid and I only remember bits. Something about a woman buried in the rain realm and some about other elemental realms. The final one was a bunch of rooms filled with information and I was searching for it. This one is a struggle to remember as I was awoken violently by the Man's alarm during it. 

 

 

[Darciana]

Hello Lovelies!

 

Today is a tad rough - I slept absolutely awful last night and Mondays are full of meetings. Ugh. I have lots to keep busy with work and hopefully I can get it done in a timely manner. And my Outlook won't open so I can't access any of my meetings or emails. Joy. At least I can hop on meetings on my phone and I can then open them through the teams app on my computer, but there's no calendar reminders.

 

Battle Ready: Workout was cut short - all the squat racks were taken and people were doing entire workouts on them so there was no chance to slip in and grab one. I did light romanian deadlifts but the Man hates them (hurts his back) so he left and waited for me in the car. We only had the squats left to do so still a fairly solid workout.

 

Edible Alchemy: Meals are prepped. I made a paleo ham and potato soup for lunches all this week. Dinners are mix-and-match: I made 3 breasts, cut in half (6 servings) and I seasoned them in 2 different ways to change things up. I made a large pot of sauteed red cabbage with leftover bacon from last week's breakfasts and the leftover ham that didn't fit in the crock pot for my soup. Also roasted the rest of the carrots (carrots in the soup). I have some whole white mushrooms that I can either chop and add to salads or I can saute day of since I'm not a fan of leftover mushrooms. Breakfasts are my sweet potato avocado "toast" with over easy eggs. I have 2 more apples left since I had one for lunch yesterday with cashew butter and then the Man (who hates apples) ate one with peanut butter.... If we stop at the store one morning after the gym (I forgot the Man's egg whites), I might grab more, though I think the sale ends tomorrow.

 

In-Edible Alchemy: I haven't dug into my new Simply Earth box other than to take the above photos. I'll have to do so later on this week when things calm down (Mondays are not calm. Ever). I'm very excited, though, and I'll see if there's something fun worth sharing!

 

Knowledge Acquisition: I spend until early afternoon yesterday editing the Man's papers because we ended up going out of town Friday which meant I only just started one paper. Saturday I finished the paper I started Friday. Sunday I had to finish editing the second paper in its entirety as it was due Sunday night. Whew. No days off mentally and I'm feeling it. I was really hoping to finish Friday so I could have Saturday and Sunday free but the Man got off work early and wanted to go check out some kayaks. Oh well. It wasn't terribly hard, but I really wanted a total rest day and the brain is a muscle, dangit!

 

Mundane Magic: I have absolutely failed. Okay, maybe not. I did Greet the Day on my run and enjoy nature (photos to come). I attempted to meditate before bed but my mind went wild so it wasn't a success by any means. I did a little meditation while fishing Saturday and that also doubled as my Greet the Day because, despite it being late afternoon, I was grounded and fully immersed in nature at that point. Sunday was less so... I didn't do either, although I thought about meditation last night, I couldn't even get my mind to slow down enough to really put an effort into it. I slept absolutely awful and the dream I had was a combination of Chicago Fire characters and our own fire department's Eclipse Response training... Not exactly relaxing - I was stressed in my sleep! I'm going to need a lot of meditation today. 

On a happy note, I did put lots of lovely intention into my meal prep yesterday and I felt absolutely amazingly witchy, grounded, and at peace while doing my prep.

 

Mirror, Mirror: Not much to report here. I did remember my dreams so I wrote them down the best I could. I read that writing down whatever little bit you can remember prompts your brain to remember more the next time. I hope so! Reading is going well, I've kept that up before bed every night.

 

Bartering: I broke down and bought these Tarot and Oracle cards I've had in my Etsy cart for months last night. Not my smartest move but I suppose I did deserve a smidgen of loot after sticking to paleo for so long now. I also spent a bit more than I'd hoped on groceries but I'm pretty thoroughly stocked up for Eclipse week. This coming weekend's trip will get everything else needed for Eclipse week on top of normal weekly shopping [except the perishables (avocados, fresh veg, etc) which I'll wake up early and go first thing Friday before the eclipse in hopes of them still having it in stock and beating the rush]. My raise did hit this paycheck so I have a little bit more to work with going forward. It is by no means going to change my life and it's small enough I wouldn't have noticed it if I wasn't looking for it.

 

I must get going to eat breakfast before my first meeting. I hope today is fantastic and all your apps and programs work smoothly!

[Sovalis]

OOOOOH, now I need to know which decks! 

 

Hope you get better sleep tonight. ❤️ 

[Darciana]

38 minutes ago, Sovalis said:

OOOOOH, now I need to know which decks! 

 

Hope you get better sleep tonight. ❤️ 

Thank you, Dearest Darling ❤️ 

 

As requested:

Wisdom of the Raven Oracle - I love EVERYTHING by this guy, his artwork is absolutely stunning. One day I'm going to purchase one of his prints for my wall. I already have the Dreams & Incarnations Oracle from him.

and

Witchlight Tarot - This popped up on my Etsy feed so many times so I finally looked at it. I love the artwork so much.

 

The deck I currently use [The Dark Mansion] is getting a little worn and it's not exactly cheap to replace it as you can see in that listing. I have a Nightmare Before Christmas deck I absolutely adore but the cards are so huge they're challenging for me to handle with my little hands. Unfortunately my only working space is my desk which doesn't have enough real estate to really spread those cards out, either. I have a Moonlight Tarot by Dark Forest as well, with gold foil but those cards are also a little bigger than I like. The Oracle decks are larger than I'd like, but the artwork is beyond worth it.

[Sovalis]

They’re gorgeous!! Congrats!!

 

This is my next planned deck: The Forager’s Daughter Tarot. I think it will have to be in May, as I have birthdays in April I need to buy gifts for. 

[Darciana]

4 minutes ago, Sovalis said:

They’re gorgeous!! Congrats!!

 

This is my next planned deck: The Forager’s Daughter Tarot. I think it will have to be in May, as I have birthdays in April I need to buy gifts for. 

Oh I'm putting this one on my list, it's GORGEOUS! Please share once you do get it~!

[Darciana]

General update: The Man and I finally feel good enough in our credit scores (mainly him, but the payoff of the RV loan hasn't been accounted for yet so my credit hasn't taken the temporary drop and now's the time before it does) so we refinanced the truck into both of our names (previously it was in mine only). This dropped our payment nearly $400/month (about $360 lower a month, it's not fully finalized yet). Plus, the Man finally has his name on it which he has been waiting for since we bought it back in 2021.

 

Although we increased the loan terms (payoff was originally January 2028 now it'll be April 2030 or something like that) there's no prepay penalty so we can pay it off early once our other debts are paid down. I finally feel like I have breathing room. Whew.

[Darciana]

Hello Friends!

 

Battle Ready: I added 10 more pounds to my bench press! I managed 2 sets of 8 reps (my normal), and the last 2 sets I had to drop down to 6 reps with the 6th rep being near muscle failure (read: I was thankful the Man was there because I almost didn't make it back up and having him there to catch it gave me confidence to push for that last rep at all). One of the regulars at the gym is actually a Physical Therapist Assistant (his Father In Law is the PT) and suggested the Man get an MRI then come see them because of his shoulder. It's having issues again today and he's concerned he may need surgery. We've been through it before on his other shoulder a few years ago. With that said, he's going to be adjusting our workouts so we do back and shoulders together (tomorrow) since we usually finish back early and we can then focus on triceps and biceps Thursday rather than trying to rush through those and shoulders. This allows him to take things slower and to really focus on those workouts which he can do without triggering any shoulder pain.

 

Edible Alchemy: My satueed red cabbage lost all flavor being stored in the fridge so I need to figure out how to refresh it before eating for the rest of the week. Today I'm subbing in mushrooms for my carrots and adding a salad as a snack. I ended up eating an apple with cashew butter for an afternoon snack because I was hungry but then wasn't hungry enough at dinner. Oops. I think a salad will fit in there perfect. I only have one more apple for this week so it'll save that for a sweet tooth day.

 

Knowledge Acquisition: The Man finished all his homework for the week already, it's in my inbox to review and edit as needed (before Sunday, when it's due but earlier the better so I can help going forward). He's going to start working on next week's work since it's another big project (there's 3 of these projects. The first took 2 weeks of effort to feel like we understood the assignment and than managed to put together a paper which met those requirements hopefully going forward they'll be easier to understand. This is supposedly the hardest class in the MBA program, save the Capstone). Fortunately this week and next week are only single assignments - most other weeks have 2 assignments each class.

 

Mundane Magic: I'm on board with @Sovalis to figure out how to connect during my lifts (or workouts in general). I feel like if I can put a little extra "mundane magic" to my workouts, I'll get more of that mind-body connection needed to really grow and protect myself. A month or so ago I purchased some bone runes which I've never used. I want to incorporate them so I'm aiming to do a daily Rune and Oracle reading. It'll be a single rune/card so nothing crazy but I think this will help me use the beautiful Dreams and Incarnations deck I already have and, going forward, the Wisdom of the Raven deck. I used to use them with my Moon rituals but that fell off.

My Samsung Health app has Calm integrated for meditation and mindfulness. Yesterday I did day 1 of the '7 Days of Managing Stress' meditation program. I'm hoping this will get me meditating during the day and then I can keep my 5 minute box-breathing meditation before bed.

Greet the Day is going well. I need to get out there today but it is cold this morning.

Just for clarity - the stirring of daily intentions into my coffee is as strong and steady as I could ask for.

 

Mirror, Mirror: I'm doing that Rune thing. I'll circle back tomorrow and see how that reading went. Tomorrow I'll add the Oracle card to it. Reading is going well, too. I've also started back to a daily gua sha practice and I feel like that really is helping me wake up and feel ready for the day once I'm cleaned up from my workout.

 

Bartering: HOA dues and my Tarot/Oracle splurge have hit the account. I only have one $20 bill left this month so the remainder of my balance plus my VA check all go towards BigBills on the 1st. Will need to keep the spend to a minimum on Saturday during the baseball game.

[athousandwords]

On 3/23/2024 at 9:47 AM, Darciana said:

I had 3 dreams and I remember tidbits of each. The first was of Grandmother (who passed this past Sunday). She appeared and told me she's okay and happy now. I've always had a connection to the Other Side (my childhood "imaginary friends" were discovered to be relatives passed on) and I knew my Great Grandma passed before they informed my parents because she visited to tell me. My dad knew when my Grandpa passed in December - he was visited as well. Maybe she visited me because I was easiest to reach due to my obvious connection? Either way, that was a nice way to get closure. She looked radiant and that made my heart feel at ease. 

 

This is such a gift. My gran passed away last December and I would have loved to see her and know she's happy. Sorry for your loss but this must be such a comfort. ❤️ 

 

Congrats on the truck refi - freeing up $360 a month is awesome! And the bench press PR! 💪🏻

 

[Sepherina]

6 hours ago, Darciana said:

I added 10 more pounds to my bench press!

This is awesome!  

 

On 3/25/2024 at 12:06 PM, Darciana said:

This dropped our payment nearly $400/month

I am sure this is bringing you some needed breathing room in your budget. 

[Darciana]

On 3/26/2024 at 10:10 AM, athousandwords said:

This is such a gift. My gran passed away last December and I would have loved to see her and know she's happy. Sorry for your loss but this must be such a comfort. ❤️ 

 

Congrats on the truck refi - freeing up $360 a month is awesome! And the bench press PR! 💪🏻

Thank you! I hadn't spoken to Grandmother in approximately 20-23 years and she wasn't the biggest fan of me (she hated my dad because his family wasn't rich and thus disliked me because I'm my father's daughter). But it brought a certain weird comfort that it's over and she isn't suffering. She wasn't cruel, she (and Grandfather who passed this past Halloween) were simply absent in my life for the vast majority of it. I wish my Grandpa (on my other side) who passed away in December had visited me like he had my Dad but I guess I can only be so lucky. He practically raised me and we were very close.

17 hours ago, Sepherina said:

This is awesome! 

I am sure this is bringing you some needed breathing room in your budget. 

Thank you! I'm so excited to see the progress so quickly. Today marks 6 weeks since I started lifting with the Man (he started Tuesday while I ran, I started Wednesday)

 

 

Hello Friends!

 

Busy busy busy!

Yesterday most Microsoft applications failed. Turns out, it's a pretty widespread issue across the company. I had no access to Word at all. Today Word is working enough but I don't have all the features I used to. Oh well, it's enough to get my work done, unlike yesterday when Word wouldn't even open. Excel is working today with full features whereas yesterday it worked but not features worked (similar to what Word is doing today). Outlook was sporadic, like the connection was only good enough to send/receive mail at random short times through the day. The only thing that worked well was my Teams. We shall see if I can get my work done before it goes haywire again.

 

Battle Ready: Today we had back and shoulders which went really well for me. I'm able to lift, cumulatively, nearly as much over a 50-ish minute workout as I did with legs in a 30-ish minute workout. My legs are limited by my back. I could possibly do more on the leg press but those are known for putting strain on the low back and going too heavy will cause back spasms (which then results in my legs being able to handle less load than they would've without the spasm....thanks nerves). I'm hoping Monday we can get in on a squat rack (preferably the Smith Machine) to do squats which we skipped last week due to all the racks being taken.

 

Edible Alchemy: I'm trying to estimate my calories to be sure I'm eating enough but not eating too much. I didn't measure when making my meals so I'm not entirely sure, but I've roughly estimated. I'm under-eating currently and realize I need to increase my protein quite a bit going forward. I was doing well for awhile there but I've slacked quite a bit. I might add in a protein fruit/veg smoothie to breakfast to help up both calories (right after workout and early enough in the day to burn them) and protein.

 

Knowledge Acquisition: Whew! I finished editing the Man's homework assignments for this week last night and took a look at Project 2. It builds on Project 1 (there are 3 total so chances are Project 3 builds on Project 2, as well). I don't think the Man had a full understanding of Project 1 (we got a 148/150 working together on Project 1, at least) so this will involve a lot of hand-holding like the last one did. Typically he does his homework and hands it off for review/edits with an occasional question while he's actively working on it (typically excel/statistics specific questions). These Projects are definitely a team effort simply due to the timeline/deadlines. He's picking things up, but it's slow and they are challenging.

 

Mundane Magic: I haven't managed to do much of anything today except stir in coffee intentions and Greet the Day (because I was already outside in the cold yelling at the dogs to shut up 🙄). I have my Oracle cards and my Runes next to me, though, for once I'm done with this post.

 

Mirror, Mirror: I successfully managed Gua sha for 3 days now and yesterday I did it after my morning shower and before bed! Good job, me. Maybe it's the ritual of it, but I really feel calm afterwards. Everything else is good. I did remember my dream a smidgen but I forgot it very quickly as the Man got up the same time as me throwing off my entire routine (he didn't warn me he was waking up 15 minutes earlier today. I woke up those 15 minutes so I could get in and out of the bathroom before he got up...ugh). Now I'm wondering if I need to wake up another 15 minutes earlier (at 430) to offset the bathroom debacle. Ugh. We were waking up at 430 a couple weeks ago and the Man said he felt better when sleeping until 5, even though it was only 30 minutes. I'm not ready for that!

 

Bartering: No spend, thankfully. I paid off the credit card I used last week (to be able to use the points) and it hit my account finally. My final bill of the month should be hitting today (likely won't see it reflected in my account until tomorrow at the earliest). I have groceries and Saturday's baseball game to account for. I may put the groceries on the credit card and pay 1/2 immediately and pay the other half after my next paycheck (since I won't be getting groceries that weekend due to the Eclipse anyway). Plus that will allow me to use my cashback points ($4.81 is pending, set to hit April 1 plus any additional I accrue on this weekend's trip) to pay down the balance since they just hang out there until I use the card.

 

Alrighty, off to my runes and oracle! I hope today reveals something interesting and exciting for you ❤️ 

 

 

[Darciana]

Searching

Key words: restless, dissatisfied, absent

Meaning: feel as if something is missing in life. It is either veiled in shadow or currently unattainable. Could be a restlessness which causes dissatisfaction. Left to linger could disrupt sense of self

Do not rush for purpose. Be patient and open-minded to be ready for when it comes to fruition.

 

Berkano: Birch, Rebirth, A new phase/relationship/project.

Changing of phases, each with a challenge. Every ending brings new beginnings. Nurture this beginning to grow strong.

[Darciana]

Hello Friends!

 

I'm a bit late today, I had a busy busy morning between meetings, knocking out work items, and celebrating the Man's work progress! He was selected by the VP to skip the "hireview" and move straight into an interview with the VP for a different department (same position, different department - this one the sales people actually have to go sell things unlike his current position which is "sales" but is more an advisor because it's government)

 

Battle Ready: Solid arm workout today. I'm doing fairly well progressing but my arms still look quite flabby. I know it's fat and fat takes time to drop off, but it's so hard to not see the changes I'm noticing elsewhere in my body! The numbers I'm lifting show the changes, though, so I have to remind myself to focus on that. I've also been focusing on getting the dogs out for walks and right now, while it's not too hot, I'm successfully managing over lunch but I've lowered my step goal from 10k to 7k and that's still been a struggle to meet. I was 300 steps off yesterday (I'd be closer but I charge my watch while I do my nightly routine and then reading before sleep). I need to work on finding ways to get more steps and that will mean getting off my lazy butt during the work day to move around. My watch reminds me every 50 minutes if I've been still, but it's registered as "active" while I'm still sitting if I'm doing big enough arm movements. Rather than take rest breaks to research things online, I need to get up and moving. My phone is mobile and I can easily pace around the house while doing the research I want to do or playing the game I want to.

Part of the problem is that after work I'm either helping the Man with his MBA stuff or he's already turned on the show we're watching together. He won't pause it and I have to choose between missing a big piece of the storyline or walking the dogs. The weather has helped me make the decision more often than not lately but we're getting close to evenings or mornings being my only option due to the Texas heat (more for the dog's sake than mine). I need to start getting into morning walks again after our workouts and it'll get easier once it starts getting lighter out earlier (stupid daylight savings time change ruined that... I have to try to sleep when it's still light out and I can't do my workouts until I'm already at work in the mornings. Not a fan).

 

Edible Alchemy: I've got a tentative meal plan for the next 2 weeks but I'm second guessing it. Part of it is that I planned the work weeks but didn't plan for the weekend between. I'll be on call from 8am-4pm Saturday and Monday so I need already-prepped meals so I don't get a call midway through cooking. Sunday I'll be at the station from 8am-4pm so I need meals that travel well (at least lunch and snacks, but likely a breakfast of some sort as well since I don't do well eating first thing). All that is messing up my week plan because I'm not sure how to go about it. I need to sit down and work through it better before tomorrow, I'll need to take an extended lunch break tomorrow to get groceries since HEB is closed all day on Easter (I find that crazy considering Christmas Eve, New Years Eve/Day, and Thanksgiving they are open, even if they're shorter hours). The one time I wish I wasn't busy Saturday.... Oh well.

 

Mundane Magic: I've been doing pretty okay with my meditation. I do the 7 Days of Managing Stress sometime during the day and then a self-meditation to sleep. The sleep is a little less than idea, but we're making progress. Greet the Day has been going well also. Gua sha is becoming a bit of a magical experience. I find myself able to ground while doing it. Next step is to infuse it with a little added intention. Baby steps, though!

 

Mirror, Mirror: I've been doing the 7 days of Posture Improvement. I need to do today's but that'll mark 4 days in a row. They've all taken less than 10 minutes to do. Yesterday I stepped away from our TV show (I could hear it still) and knocked it out after dinner. I might take an afternoon work break to do so today. Everything else is going well. I remembered to pull my Rune and Oracle this morning first thing which was nice. I feel good about that and it's giving me a chance to do a little Mundane Magic with a little reflection and learning all in one.

 

Knowledge Acquisition: I really need to sit down with the Man's Project 2 and start planning things out now so I can tutor him properly. Luckily I have until next weekend (10 days) to get him finished with it. I'd rather start early, though, given Saturday we're gone and Saturday/Sunday we're locked down but may be on calls (hopefully it's boring - I'll need to charge my kindle and the Man wants to use that time to work ahead on school work). But first I need to make this grocery list so I can go shopping tomorrow and not leave us starving hehe

 

Bartering: Based on my tentative meal plan (and what the Man needs for his) it's going to be a pricey one. I get paid the 5th of August so the interest accrued will be so minimal the cashback I have will more than cover it if I use the credit card. Once the payment hits, I can pay about 1/2 immediately (approx 1 week's worth) and once I'm paid, I can pay the other half (as if I was grocery shopping that weekend though I won't be). I did, however, pay my credit card to just below $7k today so I hit that mini-goal! The interest charge, once it hits in about a week, will pop it back up over $7k but barely and I can knock that tiny amount off with my next paycheck on the 5th and slowly chip away at it from there.

I do have a pretty hefty charge of just over $300 coming on the 14th but that's offset by no longer having the RV loan coming out the 16th for nearly the same amount so I won't miss it. Because I've worked diligently to get ahead on bills, I should still be able to  put nearly the entire goal amount of summer fun money aside in savings despite practically paying the "loan" one last time. One of those things I worked ahead on was to pay our HOA dues using my last paycheck rather than having BigBills and HOA on the same one, which would've made things rather tight. I will continue to work ahead on bills when possible and set aside money for summer ❤️ 

I'm waiting on one last e-mail to confirm our loan finalization for the truck. Right now, it states our first payment is due April 26th. I hope I get that confirmation soon since the payment is due April 17th with the current loan and I'm setting aside the money to cover the current higher payment until I know for sure I'm clear.

 

Alright, I really need to get back to work now. Tata!

[Darciana]

A very quick update. Today got hectic. The Man wants to go pick up his motorcycle in the next town over (30 minutes away) so I'll have to go with to drive the vehicle back while he rides home. I also need to get groceries (I think on the way home I'll stop at the store in that town rather than make a separate trip to my usual store which is 30 minutes in the opposite direction). Also, I'm working and today is big deadline day. I won't meet it simply because one vendor is closed for Good Friday and I need responses from them to finalize things. But the other vendor should be back in office after a week away today so I can at least finalize that one.

 

Battle Ready: It was very windy when I woke up and looked like a downpour any minute. I've been rained on when it said no rain chance so I wasn't going to risk it. Plus, I had forgotten to set out clothes thinking the Man usually gets up early to work out Friday anyway and I only had flowy pajama bottoms and a hoodie top to try to ride peloton in (not ideal considering I'd be riding topless if I didn't want to die of heatstroke and the flowy bottoms might get caught in pedals.) Depending on when we need to leave tomorrow to head to the baseball game, I might try for a run, even if it's shorter than I planned. Weather and time restriction dependent, of course. Worst case, I'll run Sunday since there won't be any grocery shopping.

 

Edible Alchemy: I got a meal plan sorted out for the next 2 weeks plus the weekend between working the Fire Department and grocery list made. I have a few perishable items on a secondary grocery list I'll have to pick up next Friday. I'll go first then when they open to miss the madness of anyone traveling in that day and hopefully the store will still have stock.

Today I will have my meal prepped food and will have some leftovers. The dogs can have my chicken but the rest, unfortunately, will have to be tossed. I need to figure out what to have Sunday as we'll be meal prepping and usually have something together. Since tomorrow is our cheat day of the week by eating out, I'll need to keep it paleo or at least not a total, off-the-rails meal. I have until about 1pm today to figure it out and get it on my meal plan and grocery list.

 

In-Edible Alchemy: I'm looking at sunscreen for this summer and maybe making my own. Most sunscreen leaves my skin burning and my face breaks out. I bought a nice big floppy hat and have a beach hoodie to help protect everything except my legs so far so I'm fairly well protected by shade in that regard. I'm not sure what it is in the sunscreen that my skin doesn't like, but I've found a few recipes with only 2 ingredients I've not tested - carrot seed oil and red raspberry seed oil. Everything else I've tried on my skin with no reaction. Doing more research, but something I'm looking into.

 

Knowledge Acquisition: I haven't done a dang thing except print one of the pages requiring filled out. I'll have to dig deep Sunday after meal prep to get ahead on that. The paper can be written once the document is properly filled out so my priority is to figure out how to tutor the Man in what the document fill out entails.

 

Mirror, Mirror: I finished Day 5 of the 7 Days of Posture Improvement. I have to do today's, tomorrow's, and Sunday's to be complete. Tomorrow will be more of a challenge unless I can squeeze it in early. I woke up early this morning remembering my dream but since the Man didn't get up, I allowed myself to go back to sleep until I woke up naturally. I don't remember that dream anymore. Oops. Need to reflect on Rune and Oracle from yesterday and how it applied to my day.

 

Mundane Magic: Didn't manage my 7 Days of Managing Stress meditation yesterday. Work got crazy with last minute calls and issues that pushed me into dinner and beyond. I barely squeezed in my Posture Improvement workout of 10 minutes. I did meditate a few minutes last night before bed, though. Already did my Greet the Day this morning during a short break in the cloud cover when I felt it was least likely for the sky to open suddenly. Once I post this, I'll be pulling my daily Rune and Oracle and reflecting on yesterdays.

 

Bartering: Other than Sunday's meals, I'm only at $260 for two weeks of food, which is awesome. I will say there's about $50 in perishable items for next Friday, but even with that included, it's about what I'd spend weekly. I'll take it! I'm going very conservative and getting extras since they'll be used no matter what. I'd rather have too much than too little. Tomorrow with the game I'll have to be careful, but things are looking okay budget-wise. I'm ahead of the curve since my credit card is paid for April so if I get into a pinch, excess that would otherwise go towards paying it down can be shifted elsewhere. I also have $300 set aside for the truck which offsets fairly large chunk. I received my final disclosure today stating my loan is finalized. I have 20 days to get the title from my previous lender to the DNV - the payment is due in 19 days so this is good news. The previous loan should be paid in full, the title sent to me, and I'll have it  submitted to the DNV by the prior payment due date. Meaning I'm in the clear and that helps me budget better having that finalized.

 

 

Alright, I need to get to work. I hope today and the entire weekend is sunny, beautiful, and full of joy!

 

 

[Darciana]

Hi Lovely, Darling Friends!

 

Quick update as I have back to back meetings starting here in a few minutes. Hopefully I'll finish in time to post before I have to get on the call.

 

Battle Ready: I did some research on low back pain and some of my leg day lifts. It's not just the weight compressing- that much I already knew. So I took the advice of the internet (legitimate websites, guys) and adjusted a few minor things. Wow. I increased weight quite significantly on almost everything with only a little soreness (which will forever be there). But no sharp pains, no tingly legs! Super excited about that. Even 8 years after surgery and re-learning to walk I'm still learning new things about how my "new" body works. I also measured myself today for the 1st of the month and I'm down 1.5 inches since I last measured on March 7th. I've lost 1/2 inch on my waist (smallest part), my "pooch" (the biggest part of my belly, just below the belly button), and my hips (at the widest part). All other measurements (neck, chest, thigh) have maintained which is fine. I don't feel like there's too awful much to lose there - my legs have fat to lose but plenty of muscle to gain so a recomp without significant change isn't bothersome.

 

Edible Alchemy: I was able to get my two dinners (bbq chicken "poppers"/meatballs and teriyaki chicken stir fry) meal prepped yesterday but my lunch was a crock pot meal so I put that on high first thing after the gym this morning. I may end up having the stir fry for lunch and soup for dinner today. I did that last week a couple times when I wanted a heavier lunch and lighter dinner.

We had gone to our friends for a crawfish boil and to hang out - it's been a long time since we were around and good thing we went. Our good friends who moved 5 hours away showed up as a surprise and, even more of a surprise announced their pregnancy! Anyway, all that to say I wasn't home for long enough yesterday to finish up the full crockpot meal and barely had time to tutor the Man in his big Project 2 (the 6 page paper has been started now that the outline and other prerequisites to the paper are complete, whew!) along with some meal prep. Busy busy.

 

Knowledge Acquisition: Right now, it's forecast to be stormy/cloudy/rainy all weekend, including Monday, the Eclipse. I'm hoping so - as much as my space-nerd self love those things, I don't love the madness that it's bringing to my town. With that, I'm hoping the Man can finish his paper (its a "no more than 6 page" paper and he has about one page done so far) before we're on call for the weekend so we can use that time to work ahead. Plus, I'd rather not be frantic due to it being too busy to do the work and having to pull all nighters to get it done before its due (Sunday).

 

Mundane Magic: I've managed to Greet the Day and stir in intentions daily plus some extra little tidbits here and there. I have epically failed at meditation. I have tried the last few nights with no success and I haven't done any guided meditation. Thinking I'll need to go back to guided for a bit before trying on my own again. Today I did Greet the Day and I have lots of calls today so I'll try to squeeze on in. Maybe I can do a walking meditation with the dogs if the weather holds for a lunch walk with them.

 

Mirror, Mirror: I haven't done the Stress Management OR the Posture Improvement. I'll have to pick those back up as little breaks in today's work between meetings to get my body moving and my mind relaxed. I have managed to read, though, so I'm sticking to that at least!

 

Bartering: I did spend a little more than I'd like - between concessions (pricey! but I needed to stay hydrated) and then a small gift for the new Mama-To-Be (Etsy, shipped direct), and a new septum ring for me (that was under $10 and I only have one that isn't too big for me). I'm still on track for my budget, though, and feeling confident on money management going forward.

 

I hope you don't get fooled today! ❤️

 

EDIT: It's the 1st of the Month so don't forget to blow cinnamon in your front door!

[Darciana]

First: my new Oracle deck came in. I love it so much! This artwork is phenomenal

 

Second: my puppers are adorable and need to be shared