Bookish Badger Learns to Love the Grind

[Bookish Badger]

Stamina: activity (gym, walking, yard work, etc.) = 1 point
Health: Eating LCHF for the day = 1 point
Magicka: Abstaining from alcohol, reading 1 hour per day, and writing my affirmations are each worth 1 point per day.

Here is my current point breakdown:

 

Stamina: 19

Health: 15

Magicka: 62

 

New total:  96

 

Progress has been slow, but it should start picking up now that I have an activity challenge going. I've also modified my Stamina requirement to a point for "activity" in general, rather than a qualifying threshold. I can modify it again later, when activity is a habit again and I'm doing more of it.

[Bookish Badger]

Looking forward to the cat challenge, see you there!

[Severine]

I will so see you there!

[Bookish Badger]

Update as of March 18:

 

Stamina: activity (gym, walking, yard work, etc.) = 1 point
Health: Eating LCHF for the day = 1 point
Magicka: Abstaining from alcohol, reading at least 1 hour per day, and writing my affirmations are each worth 1 point per day.

Here is my current point breakdown:

 

Stamina: 24

Health: 15

Magicka: 66

 

New total:  105

 

I made it to Level 1! Since I've done so little in the Health (diet) and Stamina (exercise) areas, and my improved reading habit mostly accounted for my progress, I decided to apply the level bonus to my Magicka stat.

 

I've been thinking about creating a "skill build" similar to Oblivion's that gives some fantasy shape to my mundane goals. Also, some "perk trees" similar to those found in Skyrim, on the theory that experience gained makes future experience easier. In other words, a more convoluted and fantasy-ish Epic Quest structure.  

 

If nothing else, it will be a fun thought experiment for a rainy day - of which we have an abundance!

 

[Bookish Badger]

I've come to a minor (but disappointing) decision: I can't try for the Warrior Dash this year.

 

This is a huge milestone on my Epic Quest to get in shape. I'd planned to complete an OCR before my 50th birthday in November.

 

I'd hoped to be running a 5k distance by now and making serious progress on my strength work, but I'm not. My health issues, while common and more inconvenient than anything, have inhibited my exercise efforts to a ridiculous degree. And rather than focusing on my eating, I chose to eat my feelings instead. At any rate, I don't think it is realistic to try to get ready in the time left. 

 

Better to spend this summer getting my health sorted.

[NeverThatBored]

Oh no! When was the race you were targeting?

[Bookish Badger]

September. Which sounds like plenty of time to prep, except at this point I'm not sure I can walk a 5k, much less run/jog/slog one and there's no way I can heft myself over a hurdle right now. And even if I could, there's that other female issue I'd rather not contend with on an obstacle course.

 

I estimate that it will take at least another 3-6 months of getting things sorted before I can commit to serious training.

 

I'm disappointed, but there are plenty of regular 5k races in the fall that I could enter (even if I walk most of the route). That's probably a more realistic goal right now. Then I'll have the winter to really work on my strength and agility, and be ready for OCRs and mud runs when they start up again in the spring! 

[Bookish Badger]

As hinted at previously, I've reworked my tracking scheme. It's a lot more convoluted, which in a weird sort of sense works better for me. It will conform more closely to the TES: Oblivion Nightblade standard skills:

 

Magicka:

•  Alteration: "Spells that change the physical world." In the game, this would mean spells to open locks, etc. For my purposes, it refers to creative activities. Sketching, making jewelry, gardening, and so forth. Also, decluttering the house! (If only there were a Banish Clutter spell IRL).
• Restoration: "Healing oneself and others." Relaxation activities, such as reading for pleasure, coloring, stretching, foam rolling. The key is that it involves restful activities; vegging in front of the TV doesn't count.
• Destruction: "Fire, frost, shock used against enemies." I'm stretching the metaphor here, but this is where I count my reading-with-a-purpose and learning/improving new skills. Destroying (my) ignorance!

Stamina:

• Athletics: "How fast you can run without fatigue." Standard cardio type exercises and movement: walking, elliptical, lawn-mowing/leaf-raking, etc.
• Acrobatics: "How high you can jump or fall without damage." Taken literally, jump rope & box jump drills; less literally, anything improving balance and range of motion like yoga, any dance movement, tai chi, and so on.
• Blade: "One-handed weapons." Since in the game this skill supports Strength, weight-lifting or bodyweight strength workouts. Also, memory work (playing with the metaphor of 'staying sharp'). Boy, my memory isn't what it used to be and I'm not happy about it.!

Health:

• Light Armor: "How well light armor (leather, glass, etc.) protects you." In this case, I'm trying to reduce my "armor," aka my fat. LCHF eating habits.
• Alchemy: "Brewing potions and poisons." It is a good minor skill for Nightblades. Trying new recipes, new ingredients, general food experimentation gets points here.

[Bookish Badger]

The ultrasound results came in, and it seems I have some hyperplasia - abnormal growth but not cancer, altho it could become cancer if not treated. Good news is that it should respond to the progesterone 10-day/month cycle I'm currently taking. Doc wants to do another biopsy in 6 months to confirm progress. So that drama is over for now.

[Bookish Badger]

A friend sent me this video today. It makes me think of the hog and quarter beef that will be in my freezer soon....

 

 

[Severine]

Checking in! I can't seem to find a current thread for you (unless you moved to another guild, or I'm blind?) and I'm just wondering how you're doing.

[Bookish Badger]

Thanks for the check-in. I don't have a current challenge thread going; guess I should take the old one out of my signature. I'd planned to do one and then didn't, which could sort of be a summary of my life recently.  I've mostly been lurking on other threads.

 

I do plan on jumping back in with the next challenge, ready or not.

[fleaball]

1 minute ago, Bookish Badger said:

Thanks for the check-in. I don't have a current challenge thread going; guess I should take the old one out of my signature. I'd planned to do one and then didn't, which could sort of be a summary of my life recently.  I've mostly been lurking on other threads.

 

I do plan on jumping back in with the next challenge, ready or not.

I'm glad I'm not crazy! I was wondering where you went as well. 

[Bookish Badger]

On 5/16/2017 at 0:20 PM, fleaball said:

I was wondering where you went as well. 

I've just been distracted and not focusing on goals right now.  

 

I do have plans for the upcoming challenge so as soon as the new challenge forums go up, I'll be there.

[Bookish Badger]

New challenge thread is up and can be found here:

 

[Bookish Badger]

Ongoing musings:

 

I'm not going to go into a lot of detail here because privacy/it's not my story to tell, but Mr. Bear is getting counseling. I'm relieved that he's doing this.

 

Aaaannd we need to start taking steps to help his mom move into a situation where she'll have more support - she's been widowed for about 7 years now and lives alone several hundred miles away. She's still in good health physically, but her memory is starting to be unreliable, and her mood swings drastically from Mrs. Happy to Ms. Hyde, often with severe panic attacks. Part of the problem is that she has medication but often refuses to take it, or she'll take it for a while then stops when she "feels better." Also, she has pain from joint replacement surgeries but won't take painkillers (including OTC) because "she'll get addicted."

 

There are a number of independent living communities nearby but to her, senior living means straitjackets and locked wards - not the apartment-with-housekeeping situation it really is. We're going to check out a few of the closest and get some brochures to send her, try to help shift her thinking a bit. One place even has individual cottages instead of apartments - god only knows what that would cost, but maybe it will help adjust her preconceptions - locked wards usually don't have separate entrances and attached garages, after all.

 

Fingers crossed that she'll come to a decision on her own before we have to force one on her.

 

Needless to say, neither of us have the faintest idea how to deal with the situation, just that it needs dealing with.

 

On the one hand, dealing with all of this makes my little "move more and lift some heavy things" challenge seem pretty unimportant in the whole scheme of things. On the other, it makes that challenge all the more important, because I'm going to need some strength to deal with everything else.

[Sloth the Enduring]

Good luck with everything.

[fleaball]

That's a lot to deal with at once. I hope it works out.

[Bookish Badger]

On ‎6‎/‎5‎/‎2017 at 9:15 AM, Sloth the Enduring said:

Good luck with everything.

 

On ‎6‎/‎5‎/‎2017 at 11:22 AM, fleaball said:

I hope it works out.

Thank you!

 

Why I love deadlifts, Reason 147:

The look of dawning respect on the face of the Home Depot employee when I declined his offer/order to let him load my bags of mulch into my car, then smiled serenely at him ("No thanks, I've got this") as I did it myself.

[Bookish Badger]

Books I just read:

 

Unpacking My Library: Writers and Their Books by Leah Price. Bookshelf porn.  One thing that stood out to me was how many authors managed to have Watchmen on their top 10 list, or photographed somewhere on their shelves. Sort of like they were saying, "Yes, I've won a Pulitzer and read philosophy for fun, but I can be cool too!" It seemed like a touch of insecurity that I found endearing. 

 

Gardens of Awe and Folly: A Traveler's Journal on the Meaning of Life and Gardening by Vivian Swift. A sweet little book that reads like, well, a traveler's journal with notes of interest and personal impressions. I especially liked her writing about visiting Dunbar's Close in Edinburgh during winter. But what really stands out to me about this book is the author's watercolor illustrations. I'm no artist so I don't have the vocabulary to describe it properly, but there is something about her style that resonates with me. Her illustrations seem to have a precision that that I don't expect in watercolors. It made me think that this would be a good style to aspire to if I ever take up fantasy mapmaking like I keep telling myself I'm going to do.

 

Books I'm reading:

The Productivity Project by Chris Bailey. I procrastinate terribly at home and at work, and I'm ashamed of it. It's staggering even to myself how much time I waste. I'd be fired in a heartbeat if my boss ever figures it out. Since I really like my job and don't want that to happen, I need to make some deep changes in my habits.

 

This book is a compilation of other books that Bailey read, as well as other research. For that reason, a lot of what he says isn't new to me, but I really like the way he puts it all together. It's concise and has some fresh insight.

 

For example, there's nothing new to the idea that if you want to be really productive, you should focus on your highest-return tasks when you have the most energy and focus to give them. And, there's nothing new to the idea that we are most likely to procrastinate on tasks that are aversive: boring, frustrating, unstructured or ambiguous, difficult, lacking in intrinsic rewards (not fun or interesting), or lacking in personal meaning. 

 

But guess what? Our highest-return tasks are also highly aversive. BINGO! That clicked for me, big-time. When faced with an aversive task, our brains would literally rather do anything else - and there's always "something else" to do - reply to emails, follow-up with a coworker, do yet more "necessary" internet research - which never, ever leads down rabbit holes of clickbait "news," right?

 

It's all low-return busywork that feels productive but isn't. "Just because you're busy doesn't mean you're accomplishing anything." 

 

There was another really good insight about procrastination, but this post is already long and besides, I'm saving it for the next challenge. So more about that later.  

 

Wired to Eat by Robb Wolf. I've just started it, but so far I'm enjoying it. He has a fairly irreverent style that I like. He also doesn't mind correcting himself. "Yeah, I used to think that people who did X were crazy, but the past 10 years of research proved that the joke's on me." He also takes the Paleo true-believers to task for "...mindlessly asking 'Is this Paleo?' instead of asking the more important question, 'Is this a good food for me to eat?'" It's refreshing. 

 

Grit by Angela Duckworth. Just brought it home from the library yesterday, and I'm looking forward to tucking into it. 

 

Aaaand there are several others that I may or may not get to before I have to return them to the library.  

[Bookish Badger]

Weekly Points Update (this is a new thing  )

 

Cleared blackberry brambles on the 14th & 18th, plus minor other gardening tasks: 2 Alteration points.

Packed lunch, ate appropriate dinners according to challenge rules: 1 Light Armor point.

Walked every day according to challenge rule: 1 Athletics point.

Lifted weights according to challenge rule: 1 Blade point.

Read for pleasure: 1 Restoration point.

[Bookish Badger]

Woohoo! The hog & steer I reserved months ago have met their ends and are being processed. Soon my freezer will be full of pastured bacon, steaks, and other goodies!

[Bookish Badger]

Weekly Points Update

 

Gardening tasks: 1 Alteration point (Skill Level-Up!)

Packed lunch, ate appropriate dinners according to challenge rules: 1 Light Armor point.

Walked every day according to challenge rule: 1 Athletics point.

Completed The Productivity Project: 1 Destruction point.

[Severine]

On 6/26/2017 at 10:40 AM, Bookish Badger said:

Gardening tasks: 1 Alteration point (Skill Level-Up!)

 

I originally read this as "altercation point" and I had a mental image of you winning an epic gardening battle.

 

Also I just remembered I forgot to answer your question about ground cover a second time! Sorry, I'm the worst. I will take a look this week!!

[Bookish Badger]

6 hours ago, Severine said:

I originally read this as "altercation point" and I had a mental image of you winning an epic gardening battle.

Given the Great Blackberry Wars I'm fighting, you aren't far off. Except that it's still going on - 100 degrees is way to hot too dig blackberry roots so I didn't make much progress last weekend.

 

Maybe this weekend I'll have the last of the little bastards out of there.  

 

And you're far from the worst! At this point, the soonest I'll do any planting will be September anyway - assuming I even have a budget for it. So no rush.