[athousandwords]

Just catching up and I'm so enjoying all your positive posts from the last few days! Nicely done getting out of the sleep deficit and shaking off the extreme workload of the eclipse! I feel like all your planning ahead is paying off this week! Hope you have a great week ahead of you - it sounds like you've got a smart plan for using up leftovers without going too wildly off track with your eating plan.

[Darciana]

On 4/15/2024 at 10:19 AM, Sovalis said:

Sorry about the Uber nonsense. That is annoying. Yay about the coach and the Man being ahead on homework! And the future vacation and being saved up for it! So much good in this update. ❤️ 

Thank you. My bank is aware and they've locked my card out and are sending me a new physical card to me. The charges are still there, but hopefully they'd disappear. It's a whole $13 and change so not a huge deal at all (thankfully) but I'd rather it be removed.

13 hours ago, athousandwords said:

Just catching up and I'm so enjoying all your positive posts from the last few days! Nicely done getting out of the sleep deficit and shaking off the extreme workload of the eclipse! I feel like all your planning ahead is paying off this week! Hope you have a great week ahead of you - it sounds like you've got a smart plan for using up leftovers without going too wildly off track with your eating plan.

Thank you. I'm trying to stay upbeat and positives - to find the silver lining. Work has been absolutely beyond stressful so I'm trying to offset that with being relentlessly positive in my personal life. Also, working out and eating right helps my body fight the negative impacts of stress so kinda important hah!

 

Hi Friends,

 

Yesterday was so busy with work! I wanted to get something knocked out first thing before my Procurement Agent got in so I immediately knocked that out. Then, just as I finished, I got a call about another project needing me to finalize a few things. Next thing I know, I've gone down a rabbit hole of various tasks for all my projects to try to finish things up. Whew. It was very productive but busy busy.

 

I hit a PR in the bench press yesterday which was super exciting! Today I upped my weight in the reverse fly but all other back stayed relatively close to what I was doing before. Most of the back exercises I had gone up in weight the week before last so I'm simply happy to not be going down in weight this week. I'm finding that if I go up on weight one week, I'll maintain it the next week and then go up again the week after that. The back exercises track with that pattern so I'm content with this. Arms will be much the same tomorrow as I increased in most exercises in my last workout.

 

Food is good. After logging (estimates) I'm decent on protein but super high in fat. It's good fat (avocados, olive oil) but it's making up nearly 50% of my calories. Oops!

I did get 2 of my new recipe books in (Well Fed and Well Fed 2) when I checked mail this morning on my way home from the gym. Today my final book (Well Fed Weeknights) should be arriving so I'll have lots of delicious paleo friendly recipes to choose from. I'm realizing I feel a bit better when I include a small bit of carbs from whole grains (oats mainly) and I don't have the crazy sugar cravings I was having before so I'm focusing on paleo more for the dairy-free aspect. I'm finding it far more challenging than it should be to locate quality dairy-free recipes that aren't just "dairy free mac and cheese" or "dairy free nachos"....Ugh. At least I know I'll be dairy free if I stick to paleo-ish.

 

I have not yet edited the paper the Man sent me on Monday. Hopefully tonight I'll have a bit more brainpower to knock that out. I need to get that knocked out so I can get started reading the prompt for the Big Project so I can guide him on it. This is especially important as there's the possibility of work travel next week (less likely) or the week after (more likely) and I believe Big Project is due Sunday next week (28th) and we have our race (5k for The Man, 10k for me) which we'll be out of town Saturday evening-Sunday afternoon (we're overnighting since it's about 1.5 hours away and the race starts at 8am). Eek! I'm off Friday so other than my call with Tay to see if Coaching would be beneficial/work financially, I can focus on getting him set up. We have no plans I'm aware of this weekend so hopefully we can make a large dent, if not finish, the Big Project. Great news is that I've done something right because he felt less than confident in BigProject 2 and found out he got 150/150 points (100%)!! The end of this first set of classes is in sight finally and then we only have 10 more weeks of probation to work/worry through hah

 

I forgot about my Essential Oils bill coming out (I've now added that to my budget) so I'm about $40 lower than my ideal Buffer Balance. This is okay. Other than possibly needing to get fuel in the Tahoe tomorrow after the gym (depending on if The Man goes or not) I'm not spending anything more before Friday. The books I bought were already accounted for prior to the vacation paydown so that's set. I also purchased them from Thrift Books so they were much cheaper than the amazon prices linked above. I'm still feeling good about things. May includes 3 paychecks which also means June will be set up nicely. Hopefully that gives me a chance to pay down the rest of the vacation and still have some left over for food and activities on said vacation. Things are looking better financially. Not perfect and plenty of room for debt to creep up but I'm feeling much more confident than I was a couple months ago.

 

Been pretty good about doing a walking meditation with the dogs daily. Yesterday I ended up having to squeeze the walk in between getting off work and making my dinner since I failed at going during lunch (I also ate lunch very late since I went down that rabbit hole and forgot to eat until the Man told me to). I've managed to get outside and Greet the Day, including today already, pretty consistently.

Yesterday I felt a block so I lit an incense and really focused on clearing it before grabbing my Runes, Oracle, and Tarot. I ended up doing my weekly Tarot card a day later but one day won't hurt. I still need to knock out runes and oracle today but I'm feeling good I can do that without issue. So long as weather cooperates, I'll do another walking meditation with the dogs around lunch as a break from work.

 

Alright, I need to go oil my hair before the Man takes over the bathroom again - I failed to do it last week so I'm knocking it out early this week. I won't miss it two in a row!

 

I hope today is beautiful and productive yet calm ❤️ 

[Sovalis]

I am so proud of you. ❤️ 

[Elastigirl]

I love my Well Fed cookbooks!  I do better with some carbs too, so when Paleo calls for cauliflower rice, I'll just use rice.  Since I can't do gluten or dairy, I find Paleo  recipes (with a few minor tweaks) a good fit for me.

[Sepherina]

Wow! It sounds super busy,  and I am glad you are finding some positives in all the busy.  Great job too on the PR!

[Darciana]

21 hours ago, Sovalis said:

I am so proud of you. ❤️ 

Thank you, Darling ❤️ I've been neglecting you, I am so sorry. But I appreciate you being here.

10 hours ago, Elastigirl said:

I love my Well Fed cookbooks!  I do better with some carbs too, so when Paleo calls for cauliflower rice, I'll just use rice.  Since I can't do gluten or dairy, I find Paleo  recipes (with a few minor tweaks) a good fit for me.

That's very good to hear! I'm excited to look through them and get ideas. I definitely will make some tweaks, like rice rather than cauliflower rice (ick, I keep trying but I cannot seem to force myself to like it). I don't seem to have any issues with gluten but definitely dairy. I want to remove gluten longer term and slowly reintroduce it to see if there's any minor reactions.

2 hours ago, Sepherina said:

Wow! It sounds super busy,  and I am glad you are finding some positives in all the busy.  Great job too on the PR!

Thank you! I'm trying!

 

Hi Friends,

 

Super quick update:

 

The Man joined me again for arms today. Nothing too spectacular, I'm dealing with cramps so I took it easy so I didn't overwhelm my body. The Man said something about going back tomorrow to do legs. I think I should run (it's my last Friday to run before the 10k next weekend since I'll give myself a rest). There's a chance I may have to stay up late tonight to join a meeting at 10pm my time so we can talk with the team in Mumbai and if so, I'll gauge how I feel in the morning or if I just take a rest day.

 

Food is okay. I have my books and I'll have to spend some time with them tomorrow to get ideas for next week. It's supposed to storm Saturday so I think I'll go shopping then and need to be prepared for that.

 

My meditation walks have been very beneficial. Knocking out 2 things at once has been helping me since I feel like I'm constantly running out of time. Today I decided to Greet the Day while the Man drove us home from the gym. He had the windows down (I was chilly but it is nice enough outside I could deal) and felt good and was able to get grounded despite moving. I'll still aim to get outside today, but at least I don't have that pressure on me to get it done.

 

Budget still the same as yesterday. No issues there.

 

Alright, gotta go! Hope a beautiful day with fresh, crisp air and the sun smiles down on you

[Elastigirl]

9 hours ago, Darciana said:

cauliflower rice (ick, I keep trying but I cannot seem to force myself to like it). I

Agreed, the only thing it has in common with rice is they're both white. I'd rather just skip the rice if I need to. 

[Darciana]

18 hours ago, Elastigirl said:

Agreed, the only thing it has in common with rice is they're both white. I'd rather just skip the rice if I need to. 

I like the way you think!

 

Hi Friends,

 

Another quick one here, I got some papers to edit!

 

I woke up and repeated the 60 minute walk + run from Peloton app. I felt much better about this one from the last one. Not sure if it was my mindset (I started to talk about dreading it and stopped it to tell myself it was going to be a good run and I can stop anytime if it becomes too much without there being an issue). Managed a solid 4.4 miles but in these hills that's a lot, especially since it's a pyramid and equal parts run and walk: 1 min walk, 1 min run, 2 min walk, 2 min run all the way up to 5 mins of each and then back down to 1 min each. Plus warmup and a minute cooldown. I took the dogs for a walk after to cool down further and make them happy (they were pouty and mad because I went on a "walk" without them)

 

Food is good. My beef (venison) and broccoli turned out really delicious and I have some left over for lunch today. The Man is going to make me some fish tonight for dinner (he makes it on the stove, I've only ever made it baked. His is delicious though). I had PB oats with blueberries this morning after my run and a banana before my run. The banana didn't sit well until about 20 minutes it, but at the end I was glad to have it since I didn't have my usual cramps or lightheadedness.

 

Editing papers for the Man today and getting an outline to better describe what the BigProject is which is due next weekend for the Man to do. He's got an A in both classes and we're coming up on the end! Whee~

 

Mundane Magic is going well. I've slacked these last few days on Rune and Oracle but the other habits and rituals are doing well which is important.

 

Budget .... well I spent a good chunk hiring a coach. It's $200 a month for 4 months or $700 for 4 months which is where we're starting me off. Typically it's 6 months but I'm ahead of the game with my knowledge and the fact I already have a fairly healthy routine in place. I took the discount and paid up front. Plus that locks me in for 4 months to get my money's worth and I need that level of accountability. Our primary focus is nutrition since it's where I feel the least confident and need the most help. I will have some help/guidance on exercise and mindset, too, though, which is nice.

This is an investment in my health. It's significantly pricier than my monthly gym membership but now that is switched over to the First Responder rate (free), that frees up a bit of money as well. I feel like I can pay off that card in a fairly short time and be able to take advantage of the discount over spending the $200/month. I'm also hoping getting help with nutrition (specifically meal planning in a way that I'm not tossing 2-3 days worth of food because I'm absolutely sick of it) will help me reduce my grocery bill to help make up for the cost. It all works together in the end.

 

Anyway, I gotta go edit this paper now so I can attempt to meal plan (coach gave me a great idea on our call today that I think I'm going to implement next week). Tomorrow is supposed to be rainy/stormy so I think I'm going to try to get groceries then in case Sunday turns out nice enough (supposed to be a bit chilly) we can kayak and/or fish.

 

Love you all sooooo much ❤️ Thanks for sticking with me through this super hectic time with work

[Sovalis]

Coach sounds like an interesting investment! I really hope they help in the ways you want them to! Yay for the Man getting A's, that's fabulous. 

 

You're stuck with me. 😘

[Darciana]

On 4/19/2024 at 10:44 PM, Sovalis said:

Coach sounds like an interesting investment! I really hope they help in the ways you want them to! Yay for the Man getting A's, that's fabulous. 

 

You're stuck with me. 😘

And I'm perfectly happy to be stuck with you, Darling. You make my heart happy and I'm glad we found one another despite the distance 😘

 

 

Hi Friends!

 

More PRs in the gym today for legs! I'm feeling really good and I was able to figure out my Coach's app to input my workout. Now that leg day is in there, I can click on that and simply add my weight/reps and adjust sets (right now I have a target of 4 sets of each). Later today I'll have to add in workouts for Chest, Back/Shoulders, and Arms so I can just hit "start workout" and input the information as I go (today I used my Hevy app as I had been previously. I'll likely still input the info there for when I'm no longer working with my coach/using her app so that I can continue to track).

 

Meals are prepped for this week within reason. To make things a bit easier for me to eat through the week without getting tired of said meal, I just batched cooked a bunch of chicken and shredded it. Then planned out meals I could make using said shredded chicken. Lemon orzo chicken tonight, chicken tacos/burrito bowl tomorrow, big salad with chicken Wednesday, and chicken pasta Thursday (but I can switch it up depending on what sounds best). Fish Friday since I have a surplus of frozen fish now that the Man has switched up his diet and isn't eating fish on it. I have macros set by my Coach and this week is simply focused on tracking my food at least 4 days so we know where I stand now. After this week, we can adjust and discuss how to better meet those macros. Within my prepped meals (breakfast and lunch are prepped, but they're small so I have room to expand on them), I am working to figure out how to get somewhat close to my macros just as an experiment and to learn. I'm not terribly upset if I'm not perfect since this is kind of like Week Zero for us, time to get settled in and figure things out. Things will be interesting since I'll be out of town Saturday night/Sunday morning for my 10k and I'll get to learn how to stay somewhat balanced while eating out.

 

I've got back to back calls this morning so I haven't gotten my weekly Tarot or my daily Rune and Oracle done yet. It's very cold this morning so I haven't gone out to Greet the Day. Hopefully it'll warm up enough for my planned lunch walk and I'll be able to Greet the Day then. Depending on how I'm feeling I'll either improvise a meditation on my walk, otherwise I'll listen to a walking meditation to knock that out. My coach planned me for daily 10 minute walks so habit stacking will be beneficial.

 

Budget is a bit haywire given the Coaching cost but I'm going to update things and re-work it. I know it is more than doable, I just need to be mindful of my spend, have patience, and make sure I'm checking in on my budget regularly to keep on track. I feel confident I can handle it without issue.

 

The Man and I didn't to start in on Big Project 3 which is due Sunday. I work this week Friday, I have to knock out grocery shopping Saturday morning, and then we're leaving Saturday afternoon out of town for the 10k Sunday morning and we won't be home likely until later Sunday afternoon and it's due Sunday evening. Will be busy after work all week which is going to be mentally tough since  this week is going to be rough work-wise, too.

 

I'm getting low on my day and night serum and I got a new Big Box with plenty of jars and roller bottles so I'll need to plan some time to do some In-Edible Alchemy work in the coming weeks. Hopefully the weekend after the 10k, I don't think we have anything planned and the Alchemy work doesn't take terribly long, at least not for the face serums. I'll be happy to get back into that.

 

Alright, back to work with me. I hope you all have a wonderful day and know that I truly appreciate you and am glad to have you in my life ❤️ You. Are. Amazing. Never doubt that.

 

 

 

 

[Sovalis]

I think ingredient prep is the way to go to stave off boredom. Good plan. 

 

Sending love and all the well wishes for grounded walks and Greeting the Day today when you get a minute outside! Hopefully it’s not to cold!

 

Great job on the PRs!! ❤️❤️❤️ 

[Darciana]

21 hours ago, Sovalis said:

I think ingredient prep is the way to go to stave off boredom. Good plan. 

 

Sending love and all the well wishes for grounded walks and Greeting the Day today when you get a minute outside! Hopefully it’s not to cold!

 

Great job on the PRs!! ❤️❤️❤️ 

Grounded walk was a win! It ended up being a very nice day - not too hot, not too cold. I was still in a sweater, but I wasn't freezing which was nice compared to the morning when I was!

 

Today started rough so far. I've been sleeping awful and, although I'm getting enough sleep, my sleep cycles are wonky and I'm not getting enough REM/deep sleep. This morning I didn't wake up to my watch vibration alarm (goes off about 20 seconds before the Man's) but I was jolted awake from a very intense dream by his obnoxiously loud alarm. I tossed and turned all night and know I was awake far more than I should've been simply trying to get comfortable (impossible it seems).

Chest day suffered a bit due to that. I just didn't have the energy or the care to really try. The only thing that increased was my finisher- dumbbell bench press. Even then, it wasn't really an increase, it's just that the 20lb weights were always taken when I was doing that so I had to drop down to 15s for 10-12 reps the last couple weeks. I did one set with 15lbs and then the guy returned the 20s so I finished my last 2 sets with those. An increase but not really an increase. My shoulder has popped out of socket a couple times today. I'm not sure if it's because I'm not focused, I'm weaker due to being tired, or because it's weaker after I accidentally popped it out last night working on the truck. No matter what, it's a bit sore even sitting here at my desk so I'll need to be mindful/careful of it since we have back/shoulders tomorrow.

 

Food is good. Dinner was less flavorful than I had hoped but I was also rushing it a bit. My own fault. Overall, I think the ingredient prep with a tentative meal plan is the way to go - I know what recipes I have ingredients prepped for and I can adjust from there. I need to start looking at meal prep for next week. I'm not going to have much time to prep at all since I'll be crunched even getting the groceries. I've been taking a look at the Coach's app for balanced macro meal idea and favoriting a few to try. I forgot to log the 1/2 mango the Man gave me at lunch (leftover from his lunch so it wouldn't go bad) so I ended up 20g over on carbs for the day. That's okay, this week is learning and seeing where I stand. I'm inputting my breakfast, lunch, and figuring out what sounds best regarding dinner (chicken burrito bowl, chicken burrito in tortilla, chicken taco salad, etc.) and logging that so I can see where I stand. Yesterday I should've had a piece of bread with my soup (along with the mango) rather than 2 slices of bread with my dinner which didn't quite fit well together. Today I'll see the basic meals and improvise the sides and snacks around them to meet macro goals as closely as I can.

 

Mundane Magic was all completed yesterday since it ended up being a nice day later in the morning. I was able to Greet the Day when I let the dogs out and then we went on a delightful walk after I finished eating lunch. I managed to squeeze in Rune and Oracle very late in the day yesterday, but got it done. I've already finished Rune and Oracle for today - I told myself I couldn't hop on here until that was done. I still have a Full Moon Ritual/Tarot spread to do today so I needed to knock out the other things right away if I was going to have any hope of finishing it all on top of work. Today is still supposed to be clear so I'll aim to take the dogs for a walk after lunch again and get that walking meditation. Yesterday it forecast rain starting tomorrow through the weekend but it seems tomorrow might be clear around lunch with rain starting later. Hopefully as I imagine a walking meditation is so much easier/better outside in nature than on a walking pad indoors. Plus the dogs can go with when I go outside hah!

 

Budget is good. As of today I have what we owe for our half of the summer vacation set aside - I'll just need to pull the money from an ATM before we go see Fam next (this weekend?). That will make me feel much better to not have that debt looming over me. It is much easier for me to deal with debt to banks than to friends or family. I've adjusted my budget to account for these things and feeling confident I can get it taken care of quickly.

My bank also refunded me the $13~ from the Uber charges I didn't make so my credit card is under $7k again.  I just have the other card with $700 I need to pay down as well. Very doable as long as I stay mindful. This weekend is the only travel plans we have until June that I know of so I should be okay there.

 

No work on MBA yet, the Man wanted to get started on the truck before the rain comes in so hopefully we can finish the big stuff before it gets too miserably hot to be working outside. I think maybe tomorrow I'll be able to get started helping him. We figured out a plan that he'll talk me through it (he's better at talking things through than writing) and I'll create an outline based on his talking points and the rubric for this paper. From there, he can expand on my outline to create the paper and I'll then edit the paper (using my outline as a reference to be sure we stuck to the rubric).

 

I think that's it. A lot of ramblings but I'm so exhausted and I had to take a lot of breaks typing this up. Wish me luck today, I'll need it.

 

I hope today is smooth sailing on a beautiful sunny day ❤️ 

 

 

 

 

[Ranger Hal]

1 hour ago, Darciana said:

Wish me luck today, I'll need it.

Good luck!

[Sovalis]

Good luck, Darling! You’ve got this! ❤️ 

[Darciana]

On 4/23/2024 at 9:55 AM, Ranger Hal said:

Good luck!

Many many thanks. It was needed for sure.

On 4/23/2024 at 10:17 AM, Sovalis said:

Good luck, Darling! You’ve got this! ❤️ 

Thank you, Dearest ❤️ I had it but it wasn't easy, that's for sure.

 

Quick update.

 

Been busy this morning. A bit better of a wakeup but still was quite groggy and dreading getting out of bed. Easier than yesterday and once I was up and moving, I felt better. Yesterday it took until nearly lunchtime to feel somewhat alive and coherent (just in time for madness to hit and hit all at once it did). Knocked out a back workout. I upped a couple exercises a tiny bit on the last set just for a bit of progress/progressive overload, but honestly I've nearly found my max for those sets/reps on back. Doesn't help my upper back has been horribly sore since Tuesday and I'm not sure why. Oh well. Arms tomorrow and I think the Man goes back Friday for a shorter legs part 2 workout that I might join him on. Maybe I can finally get on the machines I missed and knock out some hip thrusts I haven't been able to squeeze in like I wanted.

 

Food is good so far. Hitting macros even if the meals aren't so veggie filled. I'm learning what the balance looks/feels like in my body and next week I can get healthier recipes on the docket. That's assuming I don't travel which there's a good chance I will. It's still up in the air right now so I'm not sure if it's only a couple days or the full week. Will need to be flexible and quick reacting to whatever comes up. Hope I'll know before the weekend since I don't want to buy a bunch of groceries for them all to go bad because I'm not here to eat them. I have a tentative meal plan for the week but I may adjust it further to balance out waste (example: I'm using 1/2lb of ground chicken but it only comes as 1lb packs so I'm "wasting" 1/2lb of chicken if I don't find a way to sneak it into another meal). I hate this part of the job - last minute travel never goes smooth in the personal life. 

 

I didn't have a lunch break yesterday and had to stuff my face with lunch (so quickly my stomach hurt for 20 minutes after) between meetings (10 mins or less to prep/heat and eat). Ended up finally finishing up calls and tasks enough I could take a walking break at 330pm with the dogs. Due to the stress and the sheer amount of madness, meditation did not happen. I tried. Oh did I try. It just did NOT go well. Too much floating around. It did help recenter me, though, and I was able to come back to the computer a little more focused and alert.

I got everything except Meditation and Full Moon Ritual done yesterday, though. Whew.

Today I've knocked out Rune/Oracle and my Full Moon Tarot spread. I still need to "read" the spread, but the time consuming part is done. Will Greet the Day once I hit post and go let the dogs inside. Trying to walk during lunch again and hopefully can properly meditate today.

 

No MBA stuff. I worked late since the only time to have a call was after 5pm and then dinner. The Man wasn't happy but I gotta get this project done. Hopefully I can get something started tonight with him.

 

Budget is good. I'm going to the bank today to get the money to pay back Fam. My new credit card came in the mail so I activated it and immediately blocked the card so it cannot be used (by others or myself because I don't need to be increasing credit card debt any more!)

 

I think that's really all I have. I hope the lights aren't too bright but not too dim for you ❤️

[Darciana]

Hi Friends!

 

Today will likely be the day which determines whether I will be traveling next week or not. The meeting is in the morning so plenty of time to plan/prepare. Plus I work tomorrow so I can finish up any last minute travel stuff.

 

I was absolutely not feeling the gym this morning. I woke up okay, about the same as yesterday, but not horrible like Tuesday. Unlike the rest of this week, I didn't improve once I started working out. I dragged the entire time.  I'm still not feeling it. Just one of those days I suppose and arms are my least favorite to work out which doesn't help.

 

Good on food still. I've got today planned and I'm within the 10g of each macro goal again, which is what Coach wants for consistency. Hopefully I can follow it. It's nice to have a tentative plan (lunch is already done and dinner is a tentative plan for reference) I can input into the app and then adjust from there. I make most of my adjustments with 2 snacks, one morning and one afternoon. I've really only had afternoon snacks on occasion but I've noticed I'm hungrier right after my workout and then need a morning snack to hold me over until lunch. This works well for my macro balancing and ensuring I'm getting enough food in to support my workouts. Talked with Coach and she gave me some ideas for next week, especially if I have to travel. Frozen protein (I found fully cooked chicken breast, chicken breast slices, and chicken nuggets so they're quick heat and eat), frozen starch (sweet potato fries - mouth is watering thinking of them a quick oven or air fryer option), and frozen veg to steam or boil real quick. It'll be nice to have for days I'm home if I do travel only a couple days next week. It might even be nice if I'm not traveling to simplify things!

 

I got a tentative outline for the Man on the MBA. I'll help him through that hopefully tonight (assuming I don't have a last minute late evening meeting to finalize things since many people are off tomorrow for their 9/80 - I am not).

 

All my Mundane Magic was done yesterday!!! I'm hoping much the same today but we shall see.

 

Budget is still good. I spent $80 but got 3 pairs of leggings to work out in. If I don't do laundry today, I won't have any leggings to work out in tomorrow morning, eek! It's an investment in my health and I've been thinking of adding to my workout wardrobe anyway. Realizing I didn't have anything for tomorrow made my mind up I needed to invest and I know I have the money (to go towards debt, I'll just take from that pool). I found a pair that had various colors/designs and very very high ratings on Amazon. Only $25 a piece. I went ahead and got 3 pair so I have spares (for example if I didn't want to do laundry until after the 10k on Sunday I'd need at least 2 more pair to get through tomorrow and the 10k itself). Otherwise, I'm right on track!

[Darciana]

Hi Friends!

 

Bit of a late post but I was busy trying to set my afternoon up for success. I got a lot of my personal stuff done and managed a run to the bank to finalize something before the weekend after my first call without work absolutely blowing me up and keeping me locked down. Yesterday I had to find little moments within my back-to-back meetings to even use the bathroom or get water it was so non-stop!

 

Due to being up 2 hours later than our normal bedtime, we decided to forego the gym. I woke up naturally at 6am exact and had a slow morning. I ended up doing my Coach's required 10 minute walk on my walking pad and then did Rune and Oracle. Once it was light enough, I checked to ensure the sky wasn't about to open up with rain before taking the dogs on an impromptu walk (it was forecast to start raining right about the time it got light enough to go out for a walk, hence the walking pad situation). I feel content with a double walk, especially as it's is rainy now with no signs of stopping.

Also, not going to do the 10k. We are taking a loss on it, but it is better for it. Originally I was going to have to work Saturday night - by the time I got done and was able to leave to head to San Antonio, it'd be after 9pm before we even got there. Then to check into the hotel get settled, and sleep? I'd be so sleep deprived. Plus, it's supposed to be storming (not just raining) all day Sunday -- the race may be cancelled due to safety (lightning) anyway.

I'm not having to work this weekend afterall (except on the MBA stuff for the Man) so it'll be more of a relaxing chill time to try to recoup before travel next week. Luckily it should only be 2 days. Leave Tuesday (no schedule other than to arrive with enough time to get good sleep), meeting Wednesday morning and travel back (dependent on flight time/meeting time) Wednesday evening. If I can't do Wednesday evening for whatever reason, I can fly back Thursday morning. Monday will be hectic but fortunately Tuesday/Wednesday should be relatively calm with travel and the meeting itself. Thursday may be hectic if we can't finalize things on Wednesday but then I'm off Friday so that's okay. For once, travel might benefit me in the stress department!

 

Food is good. The Man decided to switch up his meal prep and they're all supposedly balanced macros so we can both eat them (I'll just need to pre-plan like I already have been this week to ensure I meet my macros). He's sweet. It's almost confirmed (just need to book which boss is opening travel charge code Monday) Given I'll be traveling Tuesday/Wednesday, I'm planning to just buy the stuff for him and help him prep. I'm doing as my Coach suggested and buying the frozen/microwavable foods and just making the quick dinners that way. I'll have to improvise lunches I suppose. It'll be a challenge, but I think I can manage! I have a call with my Coach this weekend so I'll chat with her about it more.

 

Budget is all good so far. Fortunately some meals will be paid for next week by my company (travel per diem) so that will lighten my grocery load a bit. What I do buy for myself next will likely be the bulk sizes of frozen stuff and I can make that last across several weeks then.

 

I've Greeted the Day and did a walking meditation (as best I could given stress. That is really not helping me). Rune and Oracle are complete. Look at me go!

 

I hope your weekend is restful, peaceful, and restorative.

 

 

[Darciana]

Hello again Friends,

 

Whew, the weekend was too short, even not traveling for the 10k. Glad we didn't go. The run was delayed over 2 hours due to lightning and hail. Then it was a "Run at Own Risk" due to flooding. My friend who ran the half marathon ended up running through calf-high water at several points and she's almost a foot taller than me! Although we lost out on money, we were able to knock some things out at home and even planned my birthday vacation (including getting the airline tickets and AirBnB scheduled). It will be the first time I ever leave the country!

 

This morning got in a solid leg day. I think starting tomorrow The Man is switching up our workout. Back/shoulders/biceps tomorrow I think, chest and triceps Wednesday and the Man wants to hit biceps again Thursday. I have to leave about 9-9:30am tomorrow so I should have no issue knocking out the workout at home. I'll be trying to squeeze in a hotel workout Wednesday morning and I'll skip Thursday. My plane lands right about my normal bedtime Wednesday night and I'll be home closer to 11pm (assume the forecast storms don't delay/cancel my flights). I'll aim to go again Friday if possible to make up my 4th day of lifts.

The Man requested to return the Peloton bike rental. We don't really use it all that much and I have a walking pad and my rowing machine if I need an indoor cardio workout. If we weren't paying such a high monthly rental payment, we'd keep it, but the price simply isn't worth it for how little we use it.

 

Food is okay. The Man improvised with doubling the meals he had found which are balanced. Since I won't be home a couple days, he tried to make it not quite doubled so we didn't waste food but had enough for me to eat on for the days I am here. I've got some work to do to meet my macros with snacks and such. I got things figured out for today. I'll need to be mindful for tomorrow since my boss wants to do a team building once I land in Tulsa (about 6pm) and it'll likely involve a dinner together. I won't know where and therefore cannot check menus/pre-plan for it so I'll have to stay as balanced as possible through the day and be mindful of what I choose while out.

Similar situation on Wednesday. I'm sure my team will want to get lunch together before I head out since they only have a vendor dinner that night (and my flight leaves 4:40pm) and, again, won't have much time to look at menus/pre-plan and dinner will be in DFW airport during my layover. I'll be able to plan my dinner a bit better since I'll have full control (within reason) and know where I stand with macros to at least get close based on estimations. I got some good snack and protein bar ideas from my Coach which I bought yesterday while grocery shopping and I have the graphics saved to reference while I'm out and about.

 

Budget is okay but about to get really tight. We currently should be able to pay off our travel expenses by June 1st and then can slowly save up for our mid-June travel (food and activities) and my birthday trip in October.

Unfortunately our septic has gotten worse. All the rain we've had has water logged it and now our toilets won't flush if the dishwasher has been ran recently or a shower has been taken within the last 2 hours or so. Luckily the bathroom on the office side of the house is on a separate septic so we have a bathroom/shower with no issues to use. We called our friends who own plumbing company (Oldest Step-son works there) to see if they can come work something out for us. Luckily since we're good friends, they'd be willing to do a payment plan since neither of us will get approved for a loan right now. More rain scheduled Wednesday-Sunday/Monday this week so it'll be rough. Want to get this done before kids arrive. Step-daughter doesn't know how to take a quick shower (her quick showers are an hour. Her normal showers are close to 2 hours) and her bathroom is on the same septic as the Man and I's, the washing machine, AND the kitchen. Not gonna work.

 

Mundane Magic has slacked a tiny bit. Early morning calls have kept me from my typical morning routine so far this morning. I'm going to try to squeeze Rune & Oracle in before this next call in half an hour. Did manage a walk with dogs outside to meditate and Greet the Day both Saturday and Sunday. Will aim to do that later today.

 

 

Overall this has not been a bad round. There were ups and downs, but I think things are starting to settle in with new routines and now a Coach.

I'm excited to start this next challenge and see where it takes me! Glad my travel is zero week so I can come back and start fresh. It'll be an interesting week for sure.

 

I'll miss you on my travels! I'll see about a quick check in on my phone if I get too lonely. ❤️ 

[Sovalis]

Rats that the septic is getting worse. I am so sorry to hear that. Otherwise this is a pretty decent update! I think returning the bike if you aren’t using it is a solid plan. We bought a treadmill that I am not really using now that I walk at work so much and I kind of regret the hit to my credit card. Just need to get back to it I guess. 😅 Make the most of the investment. 

 

I wish you safe, macro balanced travel. I’ll be thinking of you while you are gone! ❤️