petefeet's Fifth Challenge

[petefeet]

Hello kids and welcome to my fifth challenge!

 

This will be a reboot (of a reboot) challenge for me since I ended a 7 year relationship last fall and the fallout affected me (and still is) more than I realized.

 

A little about me... I'm 40, live in Nova Scotia (east coast), Canada, unattached, no kids (one cat), have WAY too many books and proud of it.

 

I'm a boiler and refrigeration operator by trade, though my dream is to have a "bricks & mortar" used bookstore. I currently, have a part-time one that I run out of my basement in my spare time and my whole inventory is science fiction & fantasy (my passion). Should be a link to my stores facebook page in my signature.

 

 Main Quest:

 

 In August 2013 I weighted 267 lbs and my doctor said I had to shut up about my sore knees or die (great guy, bedside manner of a doorknob).

 

 So, I started trying to get healthy and since I'm a type "A" person I use www.loseit.com as my food log and calorie counter. I have hit my goal weight of 180 lbs and am working to keep it off.

 

 So my main quest is to continue my healthy lifestyle and improve my fitness level.

 

 To do that...

 

Side Quests: (Easing back into this)

 

 1. Keep my daily food log and weigh-ins

 

 2. Do at least 2 Cardio workouts a week, even if its just walking around my sub-division

 

 3. Do at least 1 BBWW a week, this has been hard for me, I think because strength training is foreign to my nature <g>.

 

Life Quest:

 

My long term life quest is to finish my basement (couple current pic's in my gallery) and turn it into a bookshop/rec-room.

 

To help keep me sane (ish), I also like to write. So I will be continuing the adventure of petefeet as he explores the world around him. I try and take parts from my real life and weave them into a story.

 

 So far.... (Check 1st,  2nd, 3rd and 4th Adventure's for written story)

 

Petefeet is a halfling who was kidnapped by raider's as a small child and taken to a large human city and sold as a slave to the people running the cities gladiator arena. For much of his young life he was used as a servant, used to fetch and carry for the Masters and the gladiators.

 

After many years of this, petefeet starts to realize that he wants more out of life and starts to secretly steal better food meant for the Master's and starts trying to copy the exercises done by the gladiators.

 

Just when the Master's start to realize that something is changing with their normally meek and cowardly Halfling slave, an outside (?) force intervenes. How and when it happens is still a blur to petefeet, but one day he finds himself waking up in the middle of a crater out in the middle of the wilderness wearing nothing but his slave robes, which are now tattered and singed.

 

Found by a young human girl named Jan and her Grandfather, petefeet had his burned skin tended, feed and dressed in old work clothes. In an effort to repay them for their kindness, petefeet offered to rid them of an giant rat that had taken up residence in their work hut. With nothing to protect his hands, our little Halfling wrapped the burned and tattered remains of his slave robes around his hands (like boxing mitts) and went into battle. It was during the battle with the giant rat that petefeet realized that the old robes held some magic (or was the focus for an innate ability), for when he became scared, tiny sparks formed on the old robes covering his hands and when he punched the giant rat burns were also left upon the beast though petefeet received no damage. The more is was able to control his fear, the better he was able to hurt the beast.

 

Since that day, petefeet has wandered the land, helping out where he came, getting into the odd bit of trouble and making new friends. He isn't quite sure where he is going, though is sure he will know it when he finds it. 

 

Characters within the story

 

petefeet = Me

Giant Brown Bear = My friend Hal

"Lady in Flames" (figure in petefeet's dreams) = Friend who I realize I'm falling in love with...

Black Dog (figure in petefeet's dreams) = Depression

Mickey the Cat = My cat named Mickey!

[RES]

Subbed to see what happens next

[Kareesh]

*hugs* Subbing to cheer you on.

[petefeet]

When last we saw petefeet...

 

With the approach of winter near at hand, our halfling adventurer petefeet gave up the open road and sought out a warm and tidy place to hole up. Temporally forsaking  civilization for the peace and quiet of his own thoughts, petefeet stumbled upon an old abandoned (?) manor house with the help of Mickey the Cat, which is now nothing more than a series of roofless walls, overgrown with trees and moss.

 

Since then petefeet has cleaned out three adjoining rooms in a wing of the old manor house, one of which looks like it was part of the servants quarters and features a built-in fireplace.

 

Continuing on...

 

     The last few weeks has seen the winter solstice come and go for petefeet as the days slowly start to get longer as he notes by the shadows cast by the crumbling stone walls around him.

     He has been lucky, while the weather has been cool, little snow has fallen to make life really difficult, but his good luck can't last forever. Realizing this, petefeet has been frantically seeing to his future survival. With fire and shelter taken care of (after a fashion), our little halfling now focuses on his ever rumbling belly.

     In this, the manor house is still giving if you know where to look. The ornamental garden have long since run wild and become overgrown, but taking his time petefeet is able to find several herbs still growing to aid in the preserving of meat as well as several fruit trees still hanging on to wizen fruit. With these, as well as the discovery that a artificial pond on the manor grounds still contains carp, the odd flash of gold signaling their presence, our halfling starts to breathe a little easier.

     Realizing the prospect of heavy snow seems likely where he is, he uses all the meager spare time he has to shore up his roof and weave in stronger and fresher evergreen boughs to provide shelter for he and Mickey the Cat who rarely wanders far from the ever burning fire.

 

Hey kids,

 

While the challenge hasn't officially started, I figured I would get ahead of the game. 

 

It was a long and lonely Holiday for me for the most part, I had to work Christmas Day, coupled with the fact that it's the first holiday I've been "single" in seven years put me in a bit of a "funk". I texted briefly with "Lady in Flames" on Christmas which cheered me up some.

 

Around work, I've been putting an extra effort into my basement reno, lately that being strapping the basement ceiling (evergreen branches) and building bulkheads. Not the easiest thing to do with only one set of hands, though I have gotten creative with clamps and stacked boxes of books <g>.

 

I put on some holiday weight, and now am up to 186 lbs, with my challenge goal of getting back down to my goal weight of 180 lbs. With the holidays over, and treats/extras gone, I think it's completely doable as long as I stay focused. 

[Cledbo]

Would you consider your bookshop to be at all like The Eloquent Page? Lol. Sorry, just finished reading that series and I keep fantasizing about owning a sci-fi/fantasy bookshop myself sometimes.

congratulations on all you've achieved so far, and I'll be stalking to see what you get up to next :-)

All spelling mistakes are auto correct's fault, especially the dirty ones. Sent from Tapatalk.

[pyrite_philter]

Hi! I decided to pop in after you had written in my challenge board and I'm so happy that I did! I'm so proud of you for reaching your goal weight of 180! (Congrats on that front) and it won't take you too long to lose the 6 lbs from holiday goodies! I'm sorry that it was a lonely time of year for you, but I am happy that Lady of the Flames was able to comfort you when you needed it

 

I think I've mentioned this multiple times, but I LOVE reading! It has always been my hobby! I used to have a dream of owning a used bookstore... but I decided that I couldn't because it would be hard for me to part with the books...

 

Whats BBWW?

Also, HIIT exercises are awesome! I like the quick ones that kill you but in the end you are beaming with pride!

 

 

I'm excited about the story (grabs popcorn)... staying tuned!

[Rooks]

Subbed to follow a fellow CoC'er! 

[petefeet]

     It looks like petefeet's luck has finally worn out.

 

     No sooner had he reinforced his woven evergreen lean-too roof, then mother nature came knocking in full force. Strong winds blew through the trees and crumbing stone walls around his camp sounding like he was surrounded by crying spirits seeking revenge for past deeds.

 

     With the wind, the temperature dropped and snow and ice slashed through the cracks between the stone blocks, striking the halflings body like knives of ice. No matter how much of his precious firewood he tossed onto the fire, he couldn't get warm and sat huddled with knees drawn up under his chin shivering.

 

     Finally, near dawn the air warmed and the heavens opened and thunder and lightening ruled the sky. The snow turned into rain and ran through petefeet's campsite like tiny rivers looking for a new home.

 

     While the danger of freezing to dead appears to have passed in the short term, petefeet realizes that he still has lots of work to do to survive the winter.

 

Hey Kids,

 

Day off work so spent morning working on Basement Reno (strapping ceiling and bulkheads). Realized I have to redo one section since I screwed my starter piece on the WRONG side on the caulk-line and now it's 3 1/2 inchs too low! Oh well, live and learn.

 

On that note, my brother came over after lunch and we started re-wiring the basement (thunder and lightening). It's partly done and another half day should do it (I hope!)

 

Main Quest: Did daily weigh-in and food log

                  : 0 of 2 Cardio for week done (was going to do recumbent bike tonight, but really tuckered out)

                  : 0 of 1 BBWW (Beginner Body Weight Workout) for week done.

 

Life Quest: 5 hours on basement/bookstore reno done today.

[Rooks]

Basement renovations sound like fun!  Granted I know house renovations can be super stressful too.  Hope it all goes well.  Make sure to post some pics so we can see the improvement! 

[petefeet]

 

So you can see what I'm up against Rooks <g>

[Rooks]

Looking good so far.

[petefeet]

     The storm finally passes and a frozen and miserable petefeet forces himself away from the dying coals of his fire to survey the damage.

 

     His roof of evergreen boughs appears to have held up, though it's clear it will need to be reinforced again. His rabbit skins stretched over rings made from birch branches have fallen from their drying rack and lay in the frozen mud, though still salvageable with a bit of effort.

 

     It's just as well he burned most of his firewood, since petefeet finds the few remaining sticks water logged and useless.

 

      So for the rest of the day, petefeet works some of the warmth back into his body with physical activity. The halfling stuffs the numerous cracks in the stone walls with moss to seal them, uses a branch broken off in the storm as a hoe and diverts the water course away from his section of the ruined manor house and uses ever ounce of strength in his weak limbs to shift stones from other sections of the house to enclose the fire pit, hopefully to store and direct more of the fires heat into his living space.

 

     By the end of the day, a tired and hungry petefeet collapses in front of his improved fireplace and dreams...

 

     The Black Dog stalks the halfling through the forest, its coat of dark fur melding into the shadows that surrounds them. If that wasn't enough, it seems the Black Dog is herding petefeet towards a storm. Knowing his fate if the Black Dog catches him, petefeet excepts the danger and heads towards the storm. Winds lash his skin like the Masters whips from his days as a slave, hail beats a steady drum against his face making it hard to see and breath.

     Just as he is about to give up, a warm glow envelops the halfling and the "Lady in Flames" appears. She takes no notice of the halfling as he curls up at her feet protected by her warmth and light and falls asleep.

 

Hey kids,

 

Bloody cold and windy here in Nova Scotia, too cold to do anything outside unless forced. Spent day puttering in basement with bulkheads, seems I screwed up a couple and they need to be redone. Brother was over for a couple hours and made some progress doing the re-wiring on the basement.

 

Main Quest: Over did it with late night treats and went over my calorie budget last night, felt hungry all day. Weighted myself and kept food log though to keep me honest.

                     0 of 2 Cardio's for week done.

                     1 of 1 BBWW for week done. (Did it while at work here tonight = petefeet's moving of stones and storm damage)

 

Life Quest: Spent day on basement reno, though I didn't do much other than run "fetch & carry" for brother as he did the wiring.

 

Visited "Lady in Flames" at her work tonight before I came into my work. Been a week since I've seen her and had a nice visit. She is still aloof in personal matters, though I think I might be making headway with her. Still concerns me that my emotional wellbeing seems tired to her for the most part.

[Peace]

Tomorrow is a new day.  How are you going to spend it?  

[petefeet]

Tomorrow is a new day.  How are you going to spend it?  

 

My tomorrow will probably be sleeping til noon (get off work at 7am) and spend the rest of day sorting books for my used bookstore! And if I feel up to it go see the new Hobbit movie.

[petefeet]

     Tired and sore from the lack of sleep and a busy day repairing his campsite due to storm damage, petefeet wanted nothing more than to take a rest day, but it wasn't to be. If he was going to survive the rest of the winter on his own he needed to get moving and look for food and restock his wood pile.

 

     In one respect petefeet could almost be thankful for the storm since many old dead trees lost their branches and broken upon the ground. It looks like firewood won't be a problem at least for the near future, the same couldn't be said for his snares... The same storm that supplied him with the firewood, seemed to have destroyed several of his snares. So with nothing but a couple handfuls of chestnuts to roast in his new fireplace and cold spring water to fill his belly, our little halfling heads back home.

 

Hey kids,

 

Sore from my BBWW yesterday, not used to it, or at least my legs aren't! <g>

 

Main Quest: Kept daily food log and weigh-in, at 184lbs with goal of 180 by end of challenge.

                    0 of 2 Cardio's for week done

                    1 of 1 BBWW for week done, might try and do more before end of week.

 

Life Quest: Brother over and worked on wiring my basement, getting closer to drywall time, just need to figure out where to put 90+ boxes of books...

    

[Glacier]

When I first did the BBWW, I almost couldn't make it up and down the stairs the next day! It did get easier... But blast those blasted lunges.

[Ahyar Dreamspark]

90+ boxes of books? Wow. And here I thought I was a Tetris master because I was able to jam 9 boxes of books into my room's crawlspace (along with a bed).

 

A+ on the BBWW! Soreness just means you're doing it right XD

 

 

... But blast those blasted lunges.

 

[pyrite_philter]

[petefeet]

     With the weather a more reasonable temperature, petefeet's spirits get a lift.

 

     It is with a smile on his face that our halfling goes about making some more improvements to his new home. Using some of the more manageable stones from various fallen walls of the deserted manor house, petefeet constructs a wind break to help better protect him from the elements. It took several hours, but his efforts are bound to pay off, already the mournful sound of the wind as it races through the crumbing walls is lessened, that alone is worth it.

 

     To work out his stiff and sore muscles, petefeet takes some time to properly survey his surroundings. His walk isn't long, but he does find a cache of acorns which he thinks he can grind between two stones and use the nut meal to make a kind of nutritious cake which he can bake on a hot stone.

 

Hey kids!

 

Day off work and snowy/rainy here in Nova Scotia.

 

Spend most of morning moving my bookstore inventory (stones for windbreak) from one part of the basement to the other to make room to hang drywall. Best guess was 100 boxes of books, and my back feels every one of them!

 

To work out some kinks, I spent 25 minutes on my recumbent bike (walk around manor house) rather than go outside on the slippery roads. Thought it was safer all around.

 

And for those interested, I visited "Lady in Flames" today and was able to spend 10 minutes with her alone. We just chatted, and she turned me down for hanging out over the weekend (says shes busy, which is fair), but never-the-less, I left feeling happy.

 

Main Quest: Holiday weight is slowly coming off, made the mistake of buying these new salt & vinegar peanuts (YUM), salty snacks are a weakness of mine.

 

Side Quest: Kept food log, and daily weigh-in

                  : 1 of 2 Cardio's done (today)

                  : 1 of 1 BBWW done

 

Life Quest: Spent 3+ hours moving boxes of books and trying clean up basement for drywall. I "hope" to get some of it Thursday, if I can find an extra set of hands and the weather holds.

    

[pyrite_philter]

I've been wanting to share this website with you, it has a TON of awesome body weight workouts for all levels. Enjoy!

 

http://neilarey.com/

 

P.S.

I'm glad that you got to see Lady of the Flame. It's always nice when you are basking in the radiance of someone you care about

[T2sarahconnor]

Great start to your challenge. So feel you with the basement! Renting a lift for the drywall was one of the best things I did. Good luck and I can't wait to hear more about your success.

[petefeet]

     The weather again has been a factor for petefeet, first it warms up to create soggy mud within his shelter, then the temperature drops and the mud turns into ankle breaking lumps. For comfort and serviceability, our halfling goes to the edge of the carp pond and rips out several armloads of bull rushes to lay upon his shelters floor. Not only does this make it easier to walk around, but also seems to warms the area.

 

     Pleased with himself, petefeet takes out his sling and with minimal effort is able to bag himself a pheasant, looks like spit roasted pheasant stuffed with herbs for our friend tonight.

 

Hey kids,

 

Served at my lodges (I'm a Freemason) monthly Community Fundraiser Breakfast. The roads were crap, but 88 people made it out to support us.

 

Right afterwards, I changed my clothes and booked it into Home Depot, they have the flooring for my basement project (Bull rushes) on sale this weekend. I'm several months away from using it, still need to hang drywall, but when it's 20% off, you jump at it, thank you line of credit! <g> I lugged 23 boxes down into my basement, and after moving all those boxes yesterday, my back sure is tender. I must be getting old!!!

 

Doing herb roasted chicken legs for supper with a dry as sawdust (way I love it) butternut squash, might have over did it, but it was tasty.

 

Main Quest: Slowly getting back to goal weight of 180lbs, holiday weight coming off slowly.

 

Side Quest: Weigh-in done and food log kept, though went over calorie limit for today (mostly due to lodge breakfast)

                    1 of 2 Cardio for week done, hope to do the second tomorrow, too tired tonight.

                    1 of 1 BBWW done for week.

 

Life Quest: Lugged in rec room/bookstore flooring today. 23 boxes of Golden Maple Vinyl 3ft planks

[Ahyar Dreamspark]

 

Right afterwards, I changed my clothes and booked it into Home Depot, they have the flooring for my basement project (Bull rushes) on sale this weekend. I'm several months away from using it, still need to hang drywall, but when it's 20% off, you jump at it, thank you line of credit! <g> I lugged 23 boxes down into my basement, and after moving all those boxes yesterday, my back sure is tender. I must be getting old!!!

 

Haha! Amen to that. I've lost count of how many times I've bought things that were 50% off just because I knew I'd be needing them like 1+ year from now. Especially fabric for epic clothes and cosplays.

 

Are you counting the moving of boxes as mini-workouts in your log btw? Because boxes filled with books are freaking heavy.

[petefeet]

     With most of the short term effort at his new home at the ruined manor house done for the moment, petefeet decides to bundle up in his new cloak made from stitched rabbit pelts and explore more of the countryside around him.

 

     The woods are filled with games running around the underground and birds bounce from branch to branch in the trees over the halflings head. Petefeet is able to find some edible mushrooms and under a thin blanket of fluffy snow some wild kale to help fill this belly.

 

     The day ends with petefeet catching the faint odor of woodsmoke being carried on the wind, but it disappears too quickly to track it's source.

 

Hey Kids,

 

Nothing too exciting in my world, had a lodge practice after lunch and then visited my folks.

 

Wasn't too keen on doing it, but forced myself to do a bit of cardio on my recumbent bike (walk in woods).

 

Main Quest: Holiday weight not coming off as easy as it went on, but I know I can do it.

 

Side Quests: Food log and weigh-in kept

                     2 of 2 Cardio done (second was today)

                     1 of 1 BBWW done

 

Life Quest: Nothing today, maybe later in week, working next few.

[Peace]

Ok... I've got to ask,  what is BBWW?  When I google it, I get ... interesting... results.