Juliebarkley puts one foot in front of the other

[juliebarkley]

Julie closed the book in front of her, sighed, and added it to the large pile of discarded books stacked on the table. She had exhausted all of the library's tracking manuals, and come up empty. Following a hunch, she had dug into a few mythological bestiaries. She now had a suspicion of what had caused the tracks in the swamp, but no way to be sure. And no way to know how worried she should be. What should she do now?

 

Hoping to clear her head after so much reading, Julie took the swamp path home. It was wet and muddy at this time of year, so she was pretty confident that she would be alone. As she squelched down the path, a sudden breeze rustled the leaves. She closed her eyes, and tilted her head up, enjoying the wind on her face and the warm sunshine of a spring afternoon. As she opened them, she saw something black dropping toward her. As it landed on the ground in front of her, she saw that it was a solitary crow. Julie touched her necklace, from which hung the feather she had received when she was chosen as Midnight. The crow cawed once, and stared, unmoving. Was it the same bird?

 

Julie crouched on the pathway, lifting her skirt to keep it clear of the mud. The crow hopped closer. It had to be him. I'm afraid I don't recognize you yet, she thought, but I will someday. I promise. She reached out a hand to the bird and it hopped up, never breaking its gaze.

 

The moment its feet landed, a new vision began. A long journey sweeping down paths, over fields, and through forests, but moving so fast that the effect was dizzying. And finally, swooping downwards, towards a tower rising over a rocky shore. The scene faded away. The crow looked at Julie, expectantly it seemed.

 

I don't understand, she thought. The crow cocked its head to the left, then fluttered its wings. The vision began again. It was the same as before, but slower this time. And Julie felt, though she could not hear, the message. A long journey, but now running slowly enough that she realized she recognized some of the landmarks. The perspective dipped and tilted, and she could see that it was from a bird's eye view. You will not find answers in the books you have. You must seek help elsewhere. She watched the journey unfold. The tower came into view again: a lighthouse? Speak to Master Tun Tiang. He will know. And I will show you the way. The vision faded away again. The bird dipped its head, and with a leap, gained its wings and flew out of sight.

 

Now Julie knew what to do next. She continued squelching home, more purposefully now. It would be a long journey, but all she had to do was keep putting one foot in front of the other. And she wouldn't be alone.

 

 

[juliebarkley]

Better late than never! I may run the challenge into the next zero week to make up for it; we'll see.

 

Challenge goals:

 

Physical: Reach the lighthouse.

1. Walk every day. Each week, walk further than the last week. I have no set distances here, because I am still waiting on the shoes I need to walk longer distances without blistering. Plus, my hips are still sore from (I presume) the walking I did in Toronto. I wish I knew why that is happening. I shall probably use a step counter rather than trying to measure distances. I may alter this later when I have a better idea of what I am capable of, to give a gauge of pass/fail, but at the moment pass is 7 times per week, any distance. Fail is a day skipped without good reason.

 

Health/Spiritual: Stay healthy physically and mentally on the trail.

2. Make and eat one container of yoghurt per week. Carried over from last time. Pass is eating the whole thing over the course of the week; fail is not finishing it. Others can help. I feel much more confident about this this time around as I am fasting, and yoghurt mixed with cereal makes a great pre-fast meal.

3. Brush teeth and do rinses twice per day. Carried over from last time. Pass is 5 days out of 7, with no days of no brushing. Fail is <5 days per week, or a day with no brushing (same as last time). I failed this one partly from laziness and partly from not adhering to my 1pm/1am guideline, so I am going to be more vigilant about that this time.

4. Do 3 prayers per day, 4 times per week. Carried over from last time. I am hoping Ramadan will be a good motivator here. Pass is 4 or more times per week, fail is < 4 or any day with fewer than 2.

5. Follow daily Quran reading schedule. I made a schedule (that I've been ignoring) which goes through the Quran in one year. It's traditional in Ramadan to read through the whole Quran in just one month, but I know I can't do that. But I should be able to read 2 pages a day. Pass is reading 5 times a week or more (even if I don't read the whole section); fail is less than that.

 

Write about my journey:

6. Enter homeschool subjects into Firetask. I am at the point that I can't do one a week consistently, as the remaining subjects are time-consuming and need research. My goal is to do two during this challenge. More if I can.

7. Record for Librivox. My goal this time is to submit four recordings. I already have a couple recorded but not edited, so I am hopeful that I can make my goal this time!

 

Random Encounters!

8. Do 5 random encounters per week. No journey would be complete without a chance of random encounters! I've made a list of small jobs that need doing (or small steps of bigger jobs) - none of them longer than 15 minutes. To do a random encounter, I roll my giant d20 and see what the dice gods have in store for me today!

[WhiteGhost]

Following!

[Manarelle]

LOve the setup. Following again for the awesomeness. You've got this!

[Taffter]

Following Nice story!

[juliebarkley]

Obviously I won't reach targets this week, but I'm feeling good so far:

 

Physical: Reach the lighthouse.

1. Walk every day. Each week, walk further than the last week. Walked every day since the start of the challenge. I just learned about an app called The Walk; going to see if this will help me measure my walking. If anyone has advice for training for longer distance walking, I would be happy to hear it! Also, my huarache kit is now here, so I have that to look forward to as well! I may modify this goal in the near future.

 

Health/Spiritual: Stay healthy physically and mentally on the trail.

2. Make and eat one container of yoghurt per week. I think I'm going to finish the current batch this week, so I need to make a new one tomorrow.

3. Brush teeth and do rinses twice per day. I didn't do the rinses in the evening, but I did brush both times!

4. Do 3 prayers per day, 4 times per week. Both days now!

5. Follow daily Quran reading schedule. Did yesterday, but not Thursday.

 

Write about my journey:

6. Enter homeschool subjects into Firetask. Nothing yet.

7. Record for Librivox. Not yet.

 

Random Encounters!

8. Do 5 random encounters per week. When I looked for it, I realized that someone moved my list and my dice while I was away for the weekend, so my first random encounter will be to hunt them down (the items, I mean, not the mover!).

 

I have been busily digging myself out from the pile of email I left undone during the week before my big weekend. Plus, my son is in a play this weekend, so there were rehearsals and other excitement. Once those is done, I should be ready to get on with numbers 6 and 7.

[Varelse]

I like the idea of carry goals achieved from past challenges. About the walk challenge, have you done the "Walking to Mordor" challenge? I find it very motivating.

 

It seems that you are doing great. Stay the same!

[juliebarkley]

Sorry for the lack of reporting in week 1; it felt almost like zero week, and I just couldn't remember. Suffice to say, it wasn't perfect, but it was pretty good.

 

Physical: Reach the lighthouse.

1. Walk every day. Each week, walk further than the last week. 2/7 I have walked every day, and by default if I keep doing it, I will go further than last week. I am still trying to figure out the best way to train for my little walking adventure. And I make my huaraches!

 

Health/Spiritual: Stay healthy physically and mentally on the trail.

2. Make and eat one container of yoghurt per week. 0/1. I haven't made the new yoghurt yet, but the old one will be gone by tonight!

3. Brush teeth and do rinses twice per day. 1/5. I have been lazy with the rinses, better with the brushing.

4. Do 3 prayers per day, 4 times per week. 0/4. But I can still get this for today!

5. Follow daily Quran reading schedule. 1/7. Doing right after this post.

 

Write about my journey:

6. Enter homeschool subjects into Firetask. 0/2. I plan to start this Thursday.

7. Record for Librivox. 0/4. I plan to work on this Thursday as well. I have three sections recorded but not edited, so that will be the way forward.

 

Random Encounters!

8. Do 5 random encounters per week. 0/5. Found my stuff! Now to actually do some...

[Manarelle]

How's week 2 treating you? Are things improving? 

[juliebarkley]

Sorry for the confusion - that last post was actually for day 2 of week 2. Week 1 went much better than that.

 

Week 2, day 4:

 

Physical: Reach the lighthouse.

1. Walk every day. Each week, walk further than the last week. 4/7 I actually jogged (well, a very slow jog) for the walk yesterday!

 

Health/Spiritual: Stay healthy physically and mentally on the trail.

2. Make and eat one container of yoghurt per week. 0/1. I have to wait until this milk bag has run out, so that there is room for more milk.

3. Brush teeth and do rinses twice per day. 3/5. But I am cutting myself some slack, as not all of those days had rinses as well as brushing.

4. Do 3 prayers per day, 4 times per week. 2/4. I'm feeling good about this. I have noticed that I do tend to remember more often now. When I miss, it's more often due to procrastination than forgetting.

5. Follow daily Quran reading schedule. 3/7. Need to work on remembering, but it is fast to do at least.

 

Write about my journey:

6. Enter homeschool subjects into Firetask. 0/2. No work on this yet, as I have been working on #7.

7. Record for Librivox. 0/4. The already-recorded files I have are long (>30min), and I am working on my oldest one. I'm not sure how far in I am as it gets shorter the more I work on it, and I might have to rerecord a little bit. These things are gonna take like 6 hours each to finish!

 

Random Encounters!

8. Do 5 random encounters per week. 3/5. So far...

1. Julie was carrying too many items with her, so she decided to jettison some (get rid of 5 things)

2. A tree fell across the path and had to be moved (10 pushups).

3. A monster leaped out of the bush and had to be evaded! (Zombies, Run! session, and I decided to jog the whole time except while they were talking).

 

The random encounters are a lot of fun! I need to do more of these.

[Manarelle]

46 minutes ago, juliebarkley said:

1. Walk every day. Each week, walk further than the last week. 4/7 I actually jogged (well, a very slow jog) for the walk yesterday!

 

[WhiteGhost]

8 hours ago, juliebarkley said:

4. Do 3 prayers per day, 4 times per week. 2/4. I'm feeling good about this. I have noticed that I do tend to remember more often now. When I miss, it's more often due to procrastination than forgetting.

 

 

[juliebarkley]

Week 2, day 5:

 

Physical: Reach the lighthouse.

1. Walk every day. Each week, walk further than the last week. 5/7 Woo!

 

Health/Spiritual: Stay healthy physically and mentally on the trail.

2. Make and eat one container of yoghurt per week. 0/1. Still no new milk.

3. Brush teeth and do rinses twice per day. 4/5. Because I will do it tonight.

4. Do 3 prayers per day, 4 times per week. 3/4. Also woo!

5. Follow daily Quran reading schedule. 4/7. Need to work on remembering, but it is fast to do at least.

 

Write about my journey:

6. Enter homeschool subjects into Firetask. 0/2. No work on this yet, as I have been working on #7.

7. Record for Librivox. 1/4. Took me all day, but my section of Haunted London is done. It's a sort of street by street guide to places in London where interesting things happened and interesting people lived. It gets really gossipy at times!

 

Random Encounters!

8. Do 5 random encounters per week. 3/5. No new encounters today.

 

I feel like I was productive today, and I didn't end up having to rerecord anything (somehow even the clipped stuff came out sounding okay). Tomorrow, I'll have to get to work on #6. I've also got to try out some new ties for my huaraches and take them out for another spin. Thanks for the support!

[juliebarkley]

Week 2 summary:

 

Physical: Reach the lighthouse.

1. Walk every day. Each week, walk further than the last week. 6/7 Not yet today. But maybe still - woo nighttime walking?

 

Health/Spiritual: Stay healthy physically and mentally on the trail.

2. Make and eat one container of yoghurt per week. 0/1. I have milk now, so this happens tomorrow.

3. Brush teeth and do rinses twice per day. 5/5. Success, but there was a lot of laziness in there. I will try to do brushing with rinses, properly, next week!

4. Do 3 prayers per day, 4 times per week. 4/4. Maybe 5 by bedtime!

5. Follow daily Quran reading schedule. 5/7. Getting there, but room to improve.

 

Write about my journey:

6. Enter homeschool subjects into Firetask. 2/2. Yes, I am done this. I couldn't believe it. I worked on the two language subjects (French and Esperanto) that have a lot in common, but I wasn't sure when I began how I wanted to arrange the studying. Once I worked that out, it all fell into place quickly. Like, two hours for both subjects (in the past subjects have taken 3-5 hours to set up). I feel like I should do another one, because it was so much less work than I thought.

7. Record for Librivox. 1/4. Finished one chapter (prerecorded). I have two sections remaining that are prerecorded, then I will have to get a new chapter started.

 

Random Encounters!

8. Do 5 random encounters per week. 5/5. Finished off two more encounters (not interesting ones; both involved checking my supplies to see if I needed to order things).

 

I also finally sent some work-at-home info to a friend in Venezuela. I met up with her about two weeks ago, and she was telling me about what they are dealing with down there as a result of government corruption, failed socialism, and resulting hyperinflation of the bolivar. She said that even $40 a month would make a huge difference for her family, so although nothing I sent is high-paying stuff, I hope it will help her to get a few dollars for food and necessities. This was how I spent my designated walking time, and I think it was worth it.

[WhiteGhost]

Looks like a lot of targets on track this week.  Way to be improving!

[juliebarkley]

Sorry for the lack of updates. I will try to do a proper one tomorrow. I am still alive!

[juliebarkley]

Week 3 summary:

 

Physical: Reach the lighthouse.

1. Walk every day. Each week, walk further than the last week. 6/7 And I do believe I walked farther than last week. My walk today was thwarted because I accidentally put a tray of peas outside the other day and forgot about it, and then it rained. So I had a tray of peas starting to sprout, that I had to find a place to plant in a hurry. Like, 300 seeds. In pots. At least I did a lot of digging and lifting...

Health/Spiritual: Stay healthy physically and mentally on the trail.

2. Make and eat one container of yoghurt per week. 0/1. Ahem.

3. Brush teeth and do rinses twice per day. 3/5. I have been finding this very hard to do this week, for some reason. Must defeat laziness.

4. Do 3 prayers per day, 4 times per week. 4/4. Though unfortunately, there was much laziness.

5. Follow daily Quran reading schedule. 2/7. I sort of forgot about this goal. Oops.

 

Write about my journey:

6. Enter homeschool subjects into Firetask. 2/2. All done!

7. Record for Librivox. 1/4. Unfortunately, no new work. I do, however, have a fully prepared and planted garden! I'm going to have to cram so hard next week to make this target!

 

Random Encounters!

8. Do 5 random encounters per week. 5/5. I kept poor track of my encounters, but I definitely did at least 5.

 

My week was thrown a bit by the need to garden when the opportunity arose, and by a sucky Friday of no sleep, followed by 3-hour meeting (zzzzz...), followed by lactose tolerance test (you sit in a room for two hours, and they take your blood every 30 minutes). I felt awful after the test, so I slept most of the rest of the day. I didn't think I was lactose intolerant going in, but now I am not so sure.). This messed with my workouts a bit, and my editing, but shouldn't have affected anything else. Those failures are just due to laziness and forgetfulness, and I'm going to have to hold myself to account better in week 4.

[juliebarkley]

Week 4, day 4:

 

Physical: Reach the lighthouse.

1. Walk every day. Each week, walk further than the last week. 3/7 I was not feeling well on Tuesday, but have been walking every other day.

Health/Spiritual: Stay healthy physically and mentally on the trail.

2. Make and eat one container of yoghurt per week. 0/1. Haven't emptied the container, but am making good progress!

3. Brush teeth and do rinses twice per day. 3/5. Trying to defeat the lazy this week!

4. Do 3 prayers per day, 4 times per week. 3/4. I am doing much better with this this week. I feel like I'm making real progress here.

5. Follow daily Quran reading schedule. 3/7. Improving, but still not where I'd like to be.

 

Write about my journey:

6. Enter homeschool subjects into Firetask. 2/2. All done!

7. Record for Librivox. 1/4. Working on this AS SOON AS THIS POST IS DONE!

 

Random Encounters!

8. Do 5 random encounters per week. 0/5. I probably did do some, but I can't be sure, so I'm leaving it at zero. It just gives me an excuse to do more, anyway! I rolled "make food in the solar oven" at the end of last week, and there hasn't been a day of sun since, which amuses me :).

[juliebarkley]

Week 4, day 7:

 

Physical: Reach the lighthouse.

1. Walk every day. Each week, walk further than the last week. 5/7 Walking will not be happening today, unfortunately, as the weather is bad enough that it would be dangerous (lightning, hail). Plus, you know what I had scheduled for today? A 5k walk and a picnic. Oops, no. So I won't beat last week's total, either.

Health/Spiritual: Stay healthy physically and mentally on the trail.

2. Make and eat one container of yoghurt per week. 0.5/1. Eating progress has been slow this week. But new yoghurt was made!

3. Brush teeth and do rinses twice per day. 5/5. If I do my brushing tonight, I have made my goal for the week!

4. Do 3 prayers per day, 4 times per week. 5/4. Unlike my brushing goal, I am making good progress on this one.

5. Follow daily Quran reading schedule. 6/7. Getting better...

 

Write about my journey:

6. Enter homeschool subjects into Firetask. 2/2. All done!

7. Record for Librivox. 3/4. I'm going to be generous and call this a pass. I spent literally all day yesterday editing. I have a couple of bits to rerecord, but due to the thunder and intermittent power outages, I don't know that I can pull it off today. I need to play with my recording settings and technique, as in my last recording I spent far too much time removing mouth sounds and swallowing, and had a lot of background noise. I will adjust my sensitivity down, work on good positioning, practice more, and remind myself when I am discouraged that this is a learning experience where getting better is the goal, not being perfect right away. I started at zero, so if I am improving, i am succeeding.

 

Random Encounters!

8. Do 5 random encounters per week. 2/5. Ok, lots of these don't involve the computer or electricity, so how about I make meeting this goal my focus today?

[Manarelle]

What were the results of the lactose tolerance test? I diagnosed myself by not eating any dairy for a week and feeling 100% less gaseous and crampy, so I'm curious how the official test went. Looks like, overall, you've made some serious progress on this challenge. How do you feel having come out the other side? 

[juliebarkley]

On 26/06/2017 at 0:05 PM, Manarelle said:

What were the results of the lactose tolerance test? I diagnosed myself by not eating any dairy for a week and feeling 100% less gaseous and crampy, so I'm curious how the official test went. Looks like, overall, you've made some serious progress on this challenge. How do you feel having come out the other side? 

 

Sorry I never replied! I still don't know the results of the lactose test - my followup appointment is not until the middle of July. I feel like the habits are making progress, but I keep letting them slide during zero week, so they are not as ingrained as I would like. The ones that keep going in the off-week, I know are solid. I should probably cut down a bit, but it's hard to pick what to cut out, you know?

[juliebarkley]

New challenge! I shall try to post updates more often this time:

 

https://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/index.php?/topic/99692-juliebarkley-is-a-tidying-tornado/