Wandern goes back to the basics

[Wandern]

...*cheesy soap opera narrator voice* .....When we last tuned in, Wandern was recovering from a mild tweak to what she assumes is her quadratus lumborum. She made great progress in her garden, some progress on her quilt, and had been meditating every day for the last 2 weeks of the last challenge. ....*/cheesy soap opera narrator voice*

 

The past week was very lazy for me - the girls were on spring break, so I let myself sleep in and skip gym. So, the QL feels great, and it's back to the gym for me. I only managed to meditate 3 times this week, and didn't sew very much either. In the garden, the sugar snap peas are 4 inches high in the garden, some chard, lettuce and squash are starting to sprout. 

 

2014 Goal 1: Deadlift my bodyweight (170lbs/77kg)/do a pull-up. Currently deadlifting 125lbs/56.7kg/hanging 5 seconds

Challenge Goal:  do some sort of weight workout 3x/week. Since it's been a couple weeks, and since I seem to be injury-prone, I'm going back to body weight workouts for at least the first week of the challenge. I'm starting to think that maybe I should only lift heavy once a week, and focus on bodyweight workouts the other two times. The weather has settled in nicely, so I know I'll be walking just about every day, so getting in some exercise won't be a challenge. Getting in to the gym and lifting something will be. I'm assuming my lifting weight is about the same as the beginning of last challenge, since it's been a couple weeks:

• Deadlift: January Start: 125 lbs; Challenge Start: 125 lbs
  
• Squat: January Start: 105 lbs; Challenge Start: 105 lbs
  
• Bench Press January Start: 75 lbs; Challenge Start: 75 lbs
  
• Overhead press: January Start: 60 lbs; Challenge Start: 55 lbs (yes, I went backwards. sigh)
  

Grading: A= 15-18 days (+2STR, +2CON); B= 12-14 days (+2STR, +1CON); C= 9-11 days (+1STR, +1CON); D= 6-8days (+1STR)

 

2014 Goal 2: Make meditating a habit

Challenge Goal: Meditate for 10 minutes every day.

Grading: A= 36-42 days (+2WIS, +2CHA); B= 30-35 (+2WIS, +1CHA); C= 24-29 (+1WIS, +1CHA); D= 18-23 (+1WIS)

 

2014 Goal 3: Complete a king-sized quilt. Machine or hand pieced, hand quilted.

Challenge Goal: Work on a sewing project at least 10 minutes every day.

Grading: A= 36-42 days (+2DEX, +2STA); B= 30-35 (+2DEX, +1STA); C= 24-29 (+1DEX, +1STA); D= 18-23 (+1DEX)

 

2014 Goal 4: Read one non-fiction book outside of my comfort zone every month. For April it's A Short History of Byzantium by John Julius Norwich. I'm about 40 pages into it right now. May is still TBD.

[I am Eve]

Short, heavy and sweet; I like it.

And again, can I please come visit your garden?!

 

I hear you about the break btw challenges, this time I didn't actually take one but continued onwards:-) On the other hand my last challenge wasn't a normal one. (This one is rough!!)

 

I am in no way an expert regarding lifting but treading carefully sounds very smart to me!

 

How was day two?

[LittleTurtle]

Welcome back, Wandern!  I'm happy to see you here.  I'm liking your goals and grading system.  Everything looks solid.  I wish you the best of luck this challenge! 

[Wandern]

Week 1 Check-in

 

2014 Goal 1: Deadlift my bodyweight

Challenge Goal:  do some sort of weight workout 3x/week. 

Week 1: I made it to the gym only twice this week. Honestly, this bodyweight stuff is making me more sore than the heavy lifting! It hurt trying to straighten my arms after the second workout. That must mean I should do more of it, right?   +2

 

2014 Goal 2: Make meditating a habit

Challenge Goal: Meditate for 10 minutes every day.

Week 1: I meditated all 7 days! Yay! Time to step it up a notch and add a minute this week. Oooh - gettin' crazy here...   +7

 

2014 Goal 3: Complete a king-sized quilt. Machine or hand pieced, hand quilted.

Challenge Goal: Work on a sewing project at least 10 minutes every day.

Week 1: Again, I did some stitching at least 10 minutes every day this week: +7

 

2014 Goal 4: Read one non-fiction book outside of my comfort zone every month. For April it's A Short History of Byzantium by John Julius Norwich. I'm about 60 pages into it right now, so haven't made much progress here. This book is a condensate of a three-volume set, so he's trying to cover 1,000 years of history in a bit more than 300 pages. The emperors are coming fast and furious, and many of them have repeating names, so it gets really confusing. I kinda wish I'd gone with the 3-volume set, as he had to leave out many of the anecdotes and a lot of the stuff that makes history more interesting.  Atilla the Hun rated about a page. Which is fair, I guess, since he didn't actually make it into Byzantium, but he did make folks very nervous there for a bit.

[Wandern]

Week 2 Check-in: The first planting of sugar snaps are a foot high, the second 3 inches. The squashes are sporting secondary leaves, and the beans just sprouted. I put in leeks and parsley this weekend. I saw a family of geese on my walk this morning: Momma goose, followed by 6 brand-new goslings, followed by Papa. Or maybe Momma and Papa are reversed. Hard to tell with Canada geese.

 

2014 Goal 1: Deadlift my bodyweight

Challenge Goal:  do some sort of weight workout 3x/week. 

Week 1: I made it to the gym only twice this week  +2

Week 2: 3 weight workouts this week! and one of them was a barbell workout, and I used almost as much weight as before the injury. yay! +3

2014 Goal 2: Make meditating a habit

Challenge Goal: Meditate for 10 minutes every day.

Week 1: I meditated all 7 days!   +7

Week 2: 7 days of meditation. Adding another minute to the timer, this week, so 12 minutes a day for week 3! +7

2014 Goal 3: Complete a king-sized quilt. Machine or hand pieced, hand quilted.

Challenge Goal: Work on a sewing project at least 10 minutes every day.

Week 1: Again, I did some stitching at least 10 minutes every day this week: +7

Week 2: I missed one stitching session this week. I'm hand-piecing this portion of the top, so progress is slow. +6

 

2014 Goal 4: Read one non-fiction book outside of my comfort zone every month. For April it's A Short History of Byzantium by John Julius Norwich. I'm about 100 pages into it right now, and just finished reading about the first crusade and the sudden appearance of the Islamic army. They came out of nowhere and took over a huge portion of the western world in only 5 years. Granted, Byzantium (which used to be the Roman Empire) was busy trying to take over Persia and Persia was busy getting the stuffing knocked out of it (the crusade), so Mohammad didn't need to worry about the 2 major powers, but it was still quite the coup. I doubt I'll finish this book this week, so will have to finish it and another in May. And somehow, I've finished two novels so far this challenge - I really need to cut back on those!

[I am Eve]

I want your garden!!

Way to go on lifting and meditating! You are really rocking this challenge.

 

aaaand  - I will take time to sit and read tonight (today). I need it and I want it and I do not know why I don't do it...

[Wandern]

Week 3 Check-in: Feeling very whiney as I check in this week. I didn't have allergies growing up. Why now? Why? In other news, I had a minor procedure to remove a benign growth from the back of my dominant hand, and am told not to strain it until the stitches are removed in another 10 days. I think I can get back to some of the bodyweight stuff (push-ups, jump squats - just things that don't require my making a fist) tomorrow, but this week was a loss when it came to weight lifting. I'm having real trouble staying motivated here - last year was easier to get up at 5:30 am and get to the gym first thing. It's harder now, for some reason.

 

2014 Goal 1: Deadlift my bodyweight

Challenge Goal:  do some sort of weight workout 3x/week. 

Week 1: I made it to the gym only twice this week  +2

Week 2: 3 weight workouts this week! and one of them was a barbell workout, and I used almost as much weight as before the injury. yay! +3

Week 3: I could have gone once this week, but I did not. +0

 

2014 Goal 2: Make meditating a habit

Challenge Goal: Meditate for 10 minutes every day.

Week 1: I meditated all 7 days!   +7

Week 2: 7 days of meditation. Adding another minute to the timer, this week, so 12 minutes a day for week 3! +7

Week 3: 6 days of meditation. Going to hold at 12 minutes per day for week 4. +6

 

2014 Goal 3: Complete a king-sized quilt. Machine or hand pieced, hand quilted.

Challenge Goal: Work on a sewing project at least 10 minutes every day.

Week 1: Again, I did some stitching at least 10 minutes every day this week: +7

Week 2: I missed one stitching session this week. I'm hand-piecing this portion of the top, so progress is slow. +6

Week 3: I stitched a bit all 7 days this week. More slow progress on the quilt top. +7

 

2014 Goal 4: Read one non-fiction book outside of my comfort zone every month. For April it's A Short History of Byzantium by John Julius Norwich. I'm about 150 pages into it right now. I decided on the autobiography of Ben Franklin for May. I got the audio version, so I can listen and stitch at the same time. Whatcha wanna bet I finish May's selection before April's?

[Wandern]

So, even push ups were a bad idea. Pulled on a stitch a bit - enough so it started bleeding, even 5 days post-op. No weights for me for a couple weeks. 

[I am Eve]

If I'm not mistaking you wrote to me a while ago that we are allowed to whine - so feel free. It must be frustrating not being able to use your hand in those ways BUT it will pass, and that's the good thing to focus on 

 

Oh no, I'm not betting against you, I am certain that May will be finished before April 

[Wandern]

Week 4 Check-in: No whining this week! The garden is starting to sprout up nicely. Week 5 promises to be very busy- guests coming in for the weekend. Oh! and I start a new Taiji class today (Monday). 24-form, twice a week for 4 weeks. I've taken a 24-form class before, but it's been a while, and I'm looking forward to the refresher.

 

2014 Goal 1: Deadlift my bodyweight

Challenge Goal:  do some sort of weight workout 3x/week. 

Week 1: I made it to the gym only twice this week  +2

Week 2: 3 weight workouts this week! and one of them was a barbell workout, and I used almost as much weight as before the injury. yay! +3

Week 3: I could have gone once this week, but I did not. +0

Week 4: I went once this week, pulled a stitch. +1

 

2014 Goal 2: Make meditating a habit

Challenge Goal: Meditate for 10 minutes every day.

Week 1: I meditated all 7 days!   +7

Week 2: 7 days of meditation. Adding another minute to the timer, this week, so 12 minutes a day for week 3! +7

Week 3: 6 days of meditation. Going to hold at 12 minutes per day for week 4. +6

Week 4: Missed a day. +6

 

2014 Goal 3: Complete a king-sized quilt. Machine or hand pieced, hand quilted.

Challenge Goal: Work on a sewing project at least 10 minutes every day.

Week 1: Again, I did some stitching at least 10 minutes every day this week: +7

Week 2: I missed one stitching session this week. I'm hand-piecing this portion of the top, so progress is slow. +6

Week 3: I stitched a bit all 7 days this week. More slow progress on the quilt top. +7

Week 4: Missed a day. +6

 

2014 Goal 4: Read one non-fiction book outside of my comfort zone every month. For April it's A Short History of Byzantium by John Julius Norwich. I'm about 150 pages into it right now. I decided on the autobiography of Ben Franklin for May. And did not read or listen to either of them in Week 4. Shame on me.

[katastrophenkatzchen]

Ohhh poor you! That damn stitch! Hope you will be better soon!

 

I like... no, I love the sewing related goal

[Wandern]

Week 5 Check-in: It's appalling how much taiji I've forgotten. It's coming back, but it's almost like I never even took a class before. I harvested lettuce today - enough for a side salad for the 4 of us, and you can't even tell I picked any - it's that thick out there. Sugar snaps are blooming.

 

2014 Goal 1: Deadlift my bodyweight

Challenge Goal:  do some sort of weight workout 3x/week. 

Week 1: I made it to the gym only twice this week  +2

Week 2: 3 weight workouts this week! and one of them was a barbell workout, and I used almost as much weight as before the injury. yay! +3

Week 3: I could have gone once this week, but I did not. +0

Week 4: I went once this week, pulled a stitch. +1

Week 5: Still letting the hand heal - there's a 2-inch scar down the back of my hand, making a fist still pinches. I did get back to bodyweight workout today, so I should get back on track soon. +0

 

2014 Goal 2: Make meditating a habit

Challenge Goal: Meditate for 10 minutes every day.

Week 1: I meditated all 7 days!   +7

Week 2: 7 days of meditation. Adding another minute to the timer, this week, so 12 minutes a day for week 3! +7

Week 3: 6 days of meditation. Going to hold at 12 minutes per day for week 4. +6

Week 4: Missed a day. +6

Week 5:  Missed a day. +6

 

2014 Goal 3: Complete a king-sized quilt. Machine or hand pieced, hand quilted.

Challenge Goal: Work on a sewing project at least 10 minutes every day.

Week 1: Again, I did some stitching at least 10 minutes every day this week: +7

Week 2: I missed one stitching session this week. I'm hand-piecing this portion of the top, so progress is slow. +6

Week 3: I stitched a bit all 7 days this week. More slow progress on the quilt top. +7

Week 4: Missed a day. +6

Week 5: Missed a day. +6 (busy weekend - good, but busy)

 

2014 Goal 4: Read one non-fiction book outside of my comfort zone every month. For April it's A Short History of Byzantium by John Julius Norwich. I'm about 150 pages into it right now. I decided on the autobiography of Ben Franklin for May. And listened to about 2 hours of good old Ben. No progress on Byzantium.

[Wandern]

Week 6 Check-in: It was a busy week: I worked late a few days, planned and executed younger daughter's 13th birthday party. I did get in 2 weight work-outs, including one with bar, so next challenge I should be up and running again there. I'm starting to sound like a broken record with all these restarts, but what can you do except keep restarting? We ate lettuce out of the garden all week, the sugar snaps should be coming in later this week, and I really ought to pull the few beets I planted. I don't really know what to do with beets.

 

2014 Goal 1: Deadlift my bodyweight

Challenge Goal:  do some sort of weight workout 3x/week. 

Week 1: I made it to the gym only twice this week  +2

Week 2: 3 weight workouts this week! and one of them was a barbell workout, and I used almost as much weight as before the injury. yay! +3

Week 3: I could have gone once this week, but I did not. +0

Week 4: I went once this week, pulled a stitch. +1

Week 5: Still letting the hand heal - there's a 2-inch scar down the back of my hand, making a fist still pinches. I did get back to bodyweight workout today, so I should get back on track soon. +0

Week 6: +2, including one with the bar. +2

Challenge Total: 8. D +1STR

 

2014 Goal 2: Make meditating a habit

Challenge Goal: Meditate for 10 minutes every day.

Week 1: I meditated all 7 days!   +7

Week 2: 7 days of meditation. Adding another minute to the timer, this week, so 12 minutes a day for week 3! +7

Week 3: 6 days of meditation. Going to hold at 12 minutes per day for week 4. +6

Week 4: Missed a day. +6

Week 5:  Missed a day. +6

Week 6: Missed a day. +6

Challenge total: 38 A +2WIS, +2 CHA

 

2014 Goal 3: Complete a king-sized quilt. Machine or hand pieced, hand quilted.

Challenge Goal: Work on a sewing project at least 10 minutes every day.

Week 1: Again, I did some stitching at least 10 minutes every day this week: +7

Week 2: I missed one stitching session this week. I'm hand-piecing this portion of the top, so progress is slow. +6

Week 3: I stitched a bit all 7 days this week. More slow progress on the quilt top. +7

Week 4: Missed a day. +6

Week 5: Missed a day. +6 (busy weekend - good, but busy)

Week 6 Missed a day. +6

Challenge total: 38 A +2DEX, +2STA

April 14:

 

May 26

 

 

2014 Goal 4: Read one non-fiction book outside of my comfort zone every month. For April it was A Short History of Byzantium by John Julius Norwich. I finished it last night just before bedtime! YAY!  I decided on the autobiography of Ben Franklin for May, and am about 1/2 way done with it. Without Byzantium hanging over my head, I should finish that this week. June's book is Sister Wendy's Story of Painting. Lots of pretty pictures, and hopefully no blinding and castrating of children. Byzantine emperors were, as a whole, not nice and serve as a marvelous example of why religion and politics should not mix  .  I'm calling a Pass on this goal. +1 WIS, +2 CON

[I am Eve]

I wish I could restart like you, well done! And the quilt looks absolutely amazing.

 

Do you mean beetroot when you write beets?

I just boil them and eat them with butter and salt. 

Or - make a salad or any combination with goats cheese (chevre).

[Wandern]

I wish I could restart like you, well done! And the quilt looks absolutely amazing.

 

Do you mean beetroot when you write beets?

I just boil them and eat them with butter and salt. 

Or - make a salad or any combination with goats cheese (chevre).

How many times have I restarted now? Seems like every challenge is a new start for me!

 

Yes, it's the beetroot I struggle with. I didn't like them at all growing up, but recently had a salad with them that was wonderful - which is why I tried growing a few. The greens I pretty well treat like chard - tasty!