[Artemis Prime]

Yay lifting! Boo taxes!

[Sepherina]

19 hours ago, sylph said:

Lifted on Saturday
Goblet Squat

Lat Pulldowns

DB Flies

Hanging Knee Raises

 

19 hours ago, sylph said:

Lifted this morning

Good Mornings

DB OHP

DB Rows

Calf Raises

And 2 for 2! Great Job!

[Mad Hatter]

Nicely done getting back to lifting after the trip!

[sylph]

On 4/8/2024 at 11:56 AM, Artemis Prime said:

Yay lifting! Boo taxes!

Yes, on both counts.

Fortunately our accountant is AWESOME and was able to give us some good advice. Just have to wait for his revisions now.

5 days until they're due--no anxiety here whatsoever 

I think this is the latest I will have ever submitted my taxes. EVER.

 

On 4/9/2024 at 7:19 AM, Sepherina said:

 

And 2 for 2! Great Job!

 

5 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

Nicely done getting back to lifting after the trip!

Thank you both! Here's hoping I can keep it up for another week.

[Mad Hatter]

1 hour ago, sylph said:

Thank you both! Here's hoping I can keep it up for another week.

I believe.  

[Mad Hatter]

Ohai! How are you doing?

[sylph]

On 4/15/2024 at 9:59 AM, Mad Hatter said:

Ohai! How are you doing?

Ohai! Thanks for checking... update incoming

[sylph]

What has even happened in the last almost-week?

Well, we finally got our taxes sorted. Our accountant helped us find some deductions and reduced the amount we had to pay pretty significantly, so that was good. Still a hefty bill, and still the latest I have EVER submitted my taxes (the payment still says 'pending' but the due date was made).

Our 16th anniversary was on Friday. Dinner was had.

Saturday, I worked out and walked, then we mowed/did other lawn work and enjoyed some margaritas on the lanai

Sunday, I think we lost most of the day playing Helldivers. Well worth it.

Monday, I had a dentist appointment in the morning. Workout afterward followed by a walk. Some laundry. More Helldivers in the afternoon.

 

Today I am back at work after being off all last week. I have spent the morning digging through a backlog of emails and making myself a task list.

 

As for goals:

• walks are on point,
• workouts are being had
• alcohol is pretty well in check
• snacks are slipping. Some of it is definitely related to boredom/mindlessness, but I do think there is some evidence to encourage me to increase my calories overall. Perhaps a planned mid-morning snack would be of use.

 

[Mad Hatter]

Happy anniversary! 

 

Nice work on the goals too, you're doing so well this challenge!

[Artemis Prime]

53 minutes ago, sylph said:

Our 16th anniversary was on Friday. Dinner was had.

Congratulations!

 

54 minutes ago, sylph said:

As for goals:

Well done on the goals! For the snacking - it is kind of surprising to me the difference it makes whether a snack is planned or not on how it affects the rest of my day, particularly my mindset.

[sylph]

1 hour ago, Mad Hatter said:

Happy anniversary! 

 

Nice work on the goals too, you're doing so well this challenge!

I'm not sure how it's been 16 years already...

 

And thanks! Making sure they are manageable/realistic has gone a long way to actually meeting them.

I'm unsure whether they were perhaps TOO low, but perhaps we will adjust that for next challenge rather than worrying about it now.

 

 

1 hour ago, Artemis Prime said:

Congratulations!

 

Well done on the goals! For the snacking - it is kind of surprising to me the difference it makes whether a snack is planned or not on how it affects the rest of my day, particularly my mindset.

Thank you!

 

And yes--"mindless handful of Oreos" hits a lot differently than "10.30a serving of cottage cheese"

heh.

[sylph]

Hrmph. I'm annoyed. I put aside all my procrastination and inertia to call my doctor's office to move my appointment sooner and they have nothing sooner than the appointment I already have at the end of next month. Dumb.

 

I really hope that when I do have my appointment, my doctor handles it well. This will be the first time I've come to her with a medical problem, as opposed to routine health stuff. She's been great for the normal stuff, but how she response with an actual concern is TBD.

[Mad Hatter]

15 hours ago, sylph said:

I'm unsure whether they were perhaps TOO low, but perhaps we will adjust that for next challenge rather than worrying about it now.

I think they're perfect, because they're working. There's nothing that prevents you from throwing in an extra workout, but it doesn't need to be a goal. Unless it's motivating for you to level up the goals each challenge, then go for it!

 

14 hours ago, sylph said:

Hrmph. I'm annoyed. I put aside all my procrastination and inertia to call my doctor's office to move my appointment sooner and they have nothing sooner than the appointment I already have at the end of next month. Dumb.

Unfair! 

 

[sylph]

5 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

I think they're perfect, because they're working. There's nothing that prevents you from throwing in an extra workout, but it doesn't need to be a goal. Unless it's motivating for you to level up the goals each challenge, then go for it!

They are working, in that I am doing them.

I question whether they are working as in having any effect. 🤔

 

 

 

The decreased alcohol consumption is definitely good/working.

Walks are good.

Any lifting is better than no lifting.

 

I suppose I need to keep from assuming that because my goals haven't been a struggle means they aren't worthwhile.

[sylph]

Lift. 2x week. It didn't work last time, let's try it again, eh? Monday & Saturday mornings. It doesn't even have to be the program, FFS. Just move something heavy-ish up and down a few times.

Walk. 2x week. Before work, when possible to avoid the heat.

Alcohol. None on weeknights.

Snacks. Think about when/why. This is often due to boredom. Fix the boredom with something other than food.

 

-----

 

Back to previous format, to help keep goals in mind for the last couple weeks of the challenge.

 

Yesterday was not a lifting day.

Didn't get a walk yesterday. Will probably try to do so after my morning meetings this morning.

No alcohol yesterday.

Snacking is getting a bit rough. We have a bag of mini (like single bite-sized) chocolate bars in the pantry. It's way too easy to grab one or two as I pass through the kitchen and then they are gone before I even realize it. In the future, I will refrain from buying such tiny chocolates, since I think if they were larger I would be (1) more hesitant to grab them more often and (2) I would have to spend some time actually eating them and could actually get some experience of enjoyment out of them rather than one bite and gone. Interesting (to me) thing to think about.

 

Stuff to do:

Work. Wednesday is always a heavy meeting day.

Walk. It's warm already and the sun is OUT so getting this sorted before lunch will be a good idea.

Dye hair. my roots are quite bad at the moment (why do I always feel like I'm behind on dying my hair?) I have a conference to present at in a couple weeks so I do need to get on this.

Dishes. They're starting to pile up a bit, so I need to clear them up.

Sew. I have a project for hubs that has been languishing. I'm getting a weird mental block about it so I just need to go get some progress on it sooner rather than later.

[Mad Hatter]

17 hours ago, sylph said:

I suppose I need to keep from assuming that because my goals haven't been a struggle means they aren't worthwhile.

This.  

[sylph]

5 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

This.  

Easier said than done! How do I feel like a worthwhile human being if I'm not suffering and struggling? 🙄

[sylph]

Lift. 2x week. It didn't work last time, let's try it again, eh? Monday & Saturday mornings. It doesn't even have to be the program, FFS. Just move something heavy-ish up and down a few times.

Walk. 2x week. Before work, when possible to avoid the heat.

Alcohol. None on weeknights.

Snacks. Think about when/why. This is often due to boredom. Fix the boredom with something other than food.

 

-----

 

Yesterday was not a lifting day. I did briefly noodle on what a routine would look like if I added a third day of lifting. And then promptly let it sit, since I don't want to distract myself by thinking about next challenge before this one is even finished.

I did get a walk yesterday after my morning meetings, before it got tooooooo warm out.

No alcohol.

Snacks were a bit out of control. Sharks are here and I have some other fun hormone things going on, so my urge to eat is somewhat all-consuming. I will attempt to be more thoughtful about this today.

 

 

Yesterday I did not do the dishes, dye my hair, or sew.

I did have a phone chat with my doctor so am feeling like there is some kind of direction there. She was thoughtful, listened well, answered my questions, and gave me what felt like a very individualized plan of attack moving forward. As I've only ever had 'routine' appointments with her in the past, I was happy with her approach when there is an actual issue.

[sylph]

Lift. 2x week. It didn't work last time, let's try it again, eh? Monday & Saturday mornings. It doesn't even have to be the program, FFS. Just move something heavy-ish up and down a few times.

Walk. 2x week. Before work, when possible to avoid the heat.

Alcohol. None on weeknights.

Snacks. Think about when/why. This is often due to boredom. Fix the boredom with something other than food.

 

-----

 

Yesterday (Thursday) was not a lifting day

I did not purposefully walk, but a couple errands in the morning meant my Garmin auto-detected one.

No alcohol yesterday

Snacks are.. snacky.

 

 

I did not do the dishes yesterday

I did dye my hair

I did sew. I would like to be done with this project sooner rather than later.

[Mad Hatter]

On 4/18/2024 at 2:13 PM, sylph said:

Easier said than done! How do I feel like a worthwhile human being if I'm not suffering and struggling? 🙄

LOL also this.

 

On 4/18/2024 at 2:17 PM, sylph said:

I did have a phone chat with my doctor so am feeling like there is some kind of direction there. She was thoughtful, listened well, answered my questions, and gave me what felt like a very individualized plan of attack moving forward. As I've only ever had 'routine' appointments with her in the past, I was happy with her approach when there is an actual issue.

Brilliant! Hope it works out.

[sylph]

Lift. 2x week. It didn't work last time, let's try it again, eh? Monday & Saturday mornings. It doesn't even have to be the program, FFS. Just move something heavy-ish up and down a few times.

Walk. 2x week. Before work, when possible to avoid the heat.

Alcohol. None on weeknights.

Snacks. Think about when/why. This is often due to boredom. Fix the boredom with something other than food.

 

-----

 

Yesterday (Friday) was not a lifting day.

I did get a short walk in (just over a mile)

Had a couple drinks with hubs before bed since it was Friday and thus allowable.

Snacks were better controlled-ish. Mostly because I got a bunch of sewing done in the afternoon.

 

 

This morning I lifted.

• Goblet Squats
• Lat Pulldowns
• DB Flies
• Hanging Knee Raises

 

Superset each pair of exercises, 4 sets each and blew through it in about 25 minutes.

Went on a walk afterward (2.5 miles)

It's only about 6p, so no drinks as of yet. I woke up from yesterday's two mixed drinks feeling cruddy, so I will likely not have any tonight.

Snacks have been minimal today as I did a bunch of sewing (again) and have finished my WIP, finally.

 

Still have not done dishes (though I did load and run the dishwasher).

[WhiteGhost]

Yay for getting the taxes (finally) done.  Also, happy anniversary!

 

 

[sylph]

On 4/22/2024 at 10:16 AM, WhiteGhost said:

Yay for getting the taxes (finally) done.  Also, happy anniversary!

 

 

Thank you!

[sylph]

Sunday and Monday dissolved into a blur.

• I think Sunday I spent mostly doing some background reading/planning for my next large sewing project (for ME!). That evening, the light in the laundry room went out. It's a 4ft fluorescent, so we don't keep bulbs on hand and it was late enough that things were closed.
• Yesterday morning I had an appointment for a haircut, after that, we went to get bulbs and also lumber to fix the wood rot of the well enclosure.
• Apparently whatever lumber the guy who we bought the house from built the enclosure from doesn't exist, because the dimensions do not match any commercially available piece of wood at a regular hardware/lumber retail location. More planning/thought needed.
  • Called the guy and he said he'd pop over and take a look. SCRAMBLE home to frantically clean/organize/make the house look a little bit presentable.
  • Spend 1.5 hours chatting about various and sundry things (including the well enclosure) with the previous owners of the house. No real solution, but at least some options.
• Install bulbs and the light still didn't work. After trouble-shooting, deciphering the fuse panel, and a lot of fiddling about with a multimeter, hubs determined that the ballast was probably dead.
  • Cue some frantic googling for the correct part and a quick run down to the Home Depot in the next town before they closed, and hubs had the new ballast installed and the new bulbs placed by around 10p.
• At this point, we'd barely eaten all day and there wasn't really time to make something reasonable while still having enough time to decompress and relax before bed. I had a PB&J sandwich and I think hubs had a premade frozen 'healthy' meal that we keep around for just this kind of situation.

 

Oh, also, Ollie has been a grumpy/anxious cat for the past couple days, hiding a lot, hissing at the other cats and hissing at us(!) periodically, so add some concern in over whether he's alright and may/may not need to go to the vet.

Blarghgh.

Fortunately, he seems to be handling things better this morning and be more like his regular goofy self.

 

Things I was planning to do yesterday and didn't:

• Lift
• Walk
• Cut out pieces for next bag sewing project
• Make dinner (there is ground beef defrosted in the fridge)
• Cut hubs' hair

Today is a full working day, so I don't know how many of those things I'll be able to rectify, but before Sunday, here's the list of things
 

Misc time/when possible:

• haircut for hubs--hopefully tonight.
• cook defrosted ground beef--hopefully tonight.
• cut out fabric for bags--maybe tomorrow night?
• grocery shop--Friday afternoon
• work on pattern for MY sewing project--maybe Friday evening?
• buy fabric for MY sewing project--maybe Friday afternoon? (Local shop has 40% of fabric this week so it would be nice to get there)

Scheduled things:

Tuesday: Work full day

Wednesday: Work full day

Thursday: Work half day, lunch w/ parents in afternoon

Friday: Work half day

Saturday: Group meetup event

 

Depending on how the rest of the day goes, I may or may not be able to cut out of work a bit early today and tomorrow. We'll see.

 

 

 

PS. Have I mentioned how grateful/lucky I am that my husband is a handy guy who knows about stuff? He's always willing to jump in to fix/repair things as needed and I am SO happy that he has this base level of knowledge and confidence. I have no doubt that I would be able to call my dad/YouTube/google my way to a solution in most cases were he not around, but I like not having to

[sylph]

On 4/23/2024 at 1:16 PM, sylph said:

• haircut for hubs--hopefully tonight.
• cook defrosted ground beef--hopefully tonight.
• cut out fabric for bags--maybe tomorrow night?

All of this got done yesterday afternoon/evening. Hubs' haircut and dinner wound up being later than I wanted, since I got lost in the black hole of time that is the sewing room, but hey, whatever works.

 

Ollie is back to normal for sure now, so that's all good.

I've gotten two walks in today (one longer, one shorter-- just to the PO and back).

Work day will be done shortly in which case I'll likely go back to my bag making.

 

Left on the list:

• grocery shop--Friday afternoon
• buy fabric for MY sewing project--maybe Friday afternoon? (Local shop has 40% of fabric this week so it would be nice to get there)
• work on pattern for MY sewing project--maybe Friday evening?
• And also let's add laundry. Going to have to be Friday afternoon. Though I suppose Thursday night after I get home from meeting up with my parents?
• And estimate on some paver repair that's just been scheduled for Friday right around lunch time.

Friday just got real busy, y'all.