[Salinger]

Couscous salad sounds very nice

 

I may make that for a late lunch

 

Sending love AP x

[RES]

That rack is a thing of beauty

Thought I was following before, but was wrong  but I'm here now!

[Harriet]

2 hours ago, Artemis Prime said:

I was mostly interested because my gym progress has slowed

 

 

You guys are making progress?

 

 

 

2 hours ago, Artemis Prime said:

I was trying to think of ways I could fish for the information, but then my sister suggested I just straight up ask, which is probably the best move here. So Monday I will email HR and just say, "Got this notice, heard a rumor there might be a new position in the works, is this the end of my hopes and dreams, or is there still a chance?"

 

ooh. Good luck. 

[Sovalis]

I am glad you asked and hope you get the answer you want. 

 

Good job Mother Nature. I appreciate you looking out for my friend. ❤️ Rest up, AP, you are worth of it!

[Artemis Prime]

21 hours ago, Salinger said:

Couscous salad sounds very nice

 

I may make that for a late lunch

 

Sending love AP x

Thanks, Sal! The couscous salad turned out really nice, and it's super easy to make.

 

20 hours ago, RES said:

That rack is a thing of beauty

Next challenge is probably when I'll get my apartment's interior walls up, and then we'll know if it will fit. ? I could always put it out in the open living/dining/kitchen space, but I don't really want it to be the focal point, so into the bedroom it goes.

 

20 hours ago, RES said:

Thought I was following before, but was wrong  but I'm here now!

Happy to have you!

 

20 hours ago, Harriet said:

You guys are making progress?

I know, I know, should be content with what I've got going.

 

20 hours ago, Harriet said:

ooh. Good luck. 

Thanks.

 

20 hours ago, Sovalis said:

Good job Mother Nature. I appreciate you looking out for my friend. ❤️ Rest up, AP, you are worth of it!

Thanks, Sov. ♥️ I just get so impatient sometimes to be in my own fully functional lair. Now and then I need someone else (like Mother Nature) to pull me back for a  bit.

 

22 hours ago, Everstorm said:

Sounds like a wise woman

Yeah, people who have been at the county for a long time tend to develop this habit of vaguely referencing things or dancing around a topic without outright saying anything, and it's easy to get sucked into feeling like some things just can't be discussed plainly (which really isn't helpful to anyone.) It's one of the things I appreciate about my current boss so much - he has always told me things plainly, and never made me feel like I couldn't be equally straightforward with him. But it's helpful to have someone outside the system point like my sister point out "Why can't you just ask?" and make me realize certain things about the system don't really make sense and if I really want to know what's going on, I should just ask the person who is most likely to have the answer. Lori is one of the worst ones at not really giving direct answers, but even if she doesn't fully answer my question, I'm still liable to get more from her with a straight question that some vague fishing expedition.

 

 

Good morning and Happy Sunday, nerds! I had a pretty good Saturday. Women's Bible study was a bit weird, only 3 of us came, so we mostly talked about the retreat coming up and making plans for that. We also noticed a broken window which we reported to the junior warden (congregation member whose job it is to oversee building maintenance stuff) but then later noticed a closet had been broken open and gone through, so that meant we had to file a police report on a break in. Probably not much they can do about it, but someone went to an awful lot of trouble for nothing, since anything actually valuable is kept more secure. So got home, ate some lunch, did some barn work, napped for a bit, then over to my friend's house for a picnic. Stayed later than I meant to, but was having a really good time. I don't really miss the job I was doing when I worked with these guys, but I do miss seeing them more often.

 

Today, off to a slow start. Have to go feed animals as soon as I type this and get ready for church. No real plans this afternoon, barn work and napping/reading, have to clean the chick brooder. Maybe exercise my horse, but we'll see how much energy I have. Haven't decided yet if I'm going to put the first official Villain post up over in PvP today or tomorrow, but I'm pretty excited about it, so will probably end up doing that this afternoon or evening.

 

May your Sunday be full of sun, if not literally then at least metaphorically!

 

[Snarkyfishguts]

On 9/7/2024 at 8:27 AM, Artemis Prime said:

Feeling much better after about 10 hours of sleep

Whoa! This is amazing! Studies show women need more sleep, especially during monthlies, so I am thrilled you got to sleep and feel good. 

[Artemis Prime]

Ok, official challenge launch! First up, weekly goals:

 

Ordination - submit my policy paperwork and ask how to set up a psych eval.

Strength - Workouts on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday (or Friday if I want an extra rest day in there.) It's a lower, upper, lower week.

Barndominium - Should get good deck progress. In the interest of setting goals too small to fail, this week's goal is to use up the first pile of decking (6 boards left) and ask my cousin when he'll be available to dig the electrical trench, as that will determine the timetable on the rest.

 

What's cooking this week:

Monday - workout at lunch, decking in the evening

Tuesday - workout at lunch, dinner with sister

Wednesday - Spiritual Direction at lunch, helping my neighbor in the evening

Thursday - workout (or class work) at lunch, decking in the evening

Friday - class work (or workout) at lunch, Forbidden Lands in the evening

Saturday - class in the morning, decking in the afternoon

Sunday - church in the morning, chilling in the afternoon

 

Work is being annoying this morning on several fronts, but my boss, who is possibly the most laidback man I have ever met, is pretty angry on my behalf at the lack of communication that's happening regarding the potential move downstairs, which is helping me feel a little better. Think I'm going to go make myself a cup of tea, review this week's schedule, and try to shake off the frustration from other work stuff that is just the state system not working the way it's supposed to.

[Heidi]

On 9/3/2024 at 9:11 PM, Artemis Prime said:

It's probably going to be another year before I hit this milestone, but I am working on enjoying the process and not being too impatient.

 

Hi, and well-met!

I like this approach. I, too, am on an intellectual-spiritual journey that will take more than a year to finish up. I am here to cheer you on, and to support you in taking your time as you go.

 

On 9/5/2024 at 8:38 AM, Artemis Prime said:

a dice advent calendar

I'm going to need a link.  

 

On 9/6/2024 at 9:28 AM, Artemis Prime said:

One or two skeletons in the closet is just normal, but nobody needs piles of zombies strewn helter-skelter in every room.

 

RIGHT?!?!

I'm very affected by the condition of my environment, and I grew up with a lot of environmental chaos. It was a lot, and your analogy of zombies is far too accurate.  

 

4 hours ago, Artemis Prime said:

Work is being annoying this morning on several fronts, but my boss,

I'm new to your threads, but this boss sounds great. Maybe the Universe is conspiring to keep him as Your Boss, becuase all the other bosses are suboptimal.

 

May you have a beautiful day!

?

 

P.S. I'm totally stealing your Zero Week breakdown of D&D things. I already had a similar (and similarly color-coded) breakdown of the stats and the goals, but your write-up of the Actions is really nice.

[Ranger Hal]

Following! (I mean, I'm usually lurking, but this time I'll make it official.)

[Artemis Prime]

47 minutes ago, Heidi said:

Hi, and well-met!

I like this approach. I, too, am on an intellectual-spiritual journey that will take more than a year to finish up. I am here to cheer you on, and to support you in taking your time as you go.

 

Hail and well-met, indeed! It is a long journey, but it does not seem so arduous with companions like yourself along the way.

 

48 minutes ago, Heidi said:

I'm going to need a link.  

I take no responsibility for any dice purchased as a result of this.

Advent Calendar – Dice Envy

There are other ones on the market, but I like this one a lot.

 

50 minutes ago, Heidi said:

I'm new to your threads, but this boss sounds great. Maybe the Universe is conspiring to keep him as Your Boss, becuase all the other bosses are suboptimal.

He is a pretty fantastic boss. Unfortunately, there are very limited opportunities to advance within his department. Lori's email, as predicted, was not terribly helpful, although it did confirm that Mark is still working on creating a new position. I ran into Mark on my lunch break, and he told me basically the same thing, but in a much nicer, more personal style. I think he is also a good boss, but likely to overlook smaller details like touching base with me over this. I suspect this is the type of thing he expects Jan to take care of, but I kind of get the sense Jan is more concerned about getting her office staff squared away and not very worried about creating transition plans for higher up positions. It still sounds pretty promising that if/when the new position is approved, I have the inside track on it, but I really don't know what the timetable for such a thing might be.

 

1 hour ago, Heidi said:

P.S. I'm totally stealing your Zero Week breakdown of D&D things. I already had a similar (and similarly color-coded) breakdown of the stats and the goals, but your write-up of the Actions is really nice.

Yes, have them and welcome! I am so happy with all the D&D challenges!

[Artemis Prime]

43 minutes ago, Ranger Hal said:

Following! (I mean, I'm usually lurking, but this time I'll make it official.)

Official lurking, noted! You are officially welcome.

[Radost]

Hey, fellow spider-botherer! Following along!

 

[Sepherina]

On 9/3/2024 at 9:26 PM, Artemis Prime said:

Will be running a Forbidden Lands game which counts (but maybe half credit since it's a virtual game?)

Eh…give yourself full credit as running virtual games is just as taxing. 
 

Here and reporting for cheering duty!  Following

[Artemis Prime]

9 hours ago, Radost said:

Hey, fellow spider-botherer! Following along!

Hello and welcome!

 

8 hours ago, Sepherina said:

Eh…give yourself full credit as running virtual games is just as taxing. 

That is a good point. I was thinking virtual is not as socially satisfying as face to face, but it's the same amount of work (it actually feels like more work to me) so points should be awarded. Thank you for that insight.

 

8 hours ago, Sepherina said:

Here and reporting for cheering duty!  Following

Always a pleasure.

[Artemis Prime]

So, Monday, as you've already heard, did not get off to the best start, but a cup of tea, a quiet hour in the office, and a lunchbreak workout did wonders, along with bumping into Mark and getting his update. I added 5lbs to the squat and it felt good, so probably going to add again next week. I added 5lbs to the deadlift and it was doable, but *heavy*. Will not be adding weight next week. I also did Morning Prayer, but the Vampirate saved from the cantrip and I missed with the attack. Grrr. At least I landed a good hit on it with Morning Prayer today.

 

I got one row of decking down after work. On a spot that needs some notching, so it was satisfying to go slow and get it cut properly, versus trying to get more rows done, since I only need 3 total to hit my goal for the week. I think these tiny goals might be good for me. Had dinner, did some classwork, tidied up a bit, read a couple chapters. A good day.

 

Today's plan: workout at lunch. Probably going to skip lat pull downs because my lats are sore. Why, I'm not sure. Heavy deadlifts? The lats are definitely engaged there, but I've never had them hurt after deadlifting. First time for everything, I suppose. OHP might be on the chopping block as well, since heaving all the decking up is a lot of overhead pressing, but I'll at least do a warm up set or two and see how it feels. Would like to sneak some class work into work time, we'll see if I manage it. Then dinner with my sister tonight.

 

What with all the themed challenges going on around here, I'm feeling inspired to throw some narrative up here. The rough idea is to include it on weekly wrap-up posts, but I'm not going to stress about it if it falls by the wayside.

 

"Spend the summer at the coast," Artemis mutters under her breath. "Enjoy the sea air, soak up some sun on the sand." She circles the Vampirate, keeping her mace between them. Of course the lonely stretch of beach that she thought she'd have all to herself was overrun with undead pirates. She almost trips over a piece of driftwood, distracted by a brief flash inside her brain. It also just followed that her one attempt at beachcombing ended with a cursed object. She might have been a bit slower to pick it up if she'd known ahead of time that shipwrecks littered this stretch of shore, the inviting beach providing the bait for the jagged rocks that lurked just out of sight at high tide. She'd have to find some way to free herself of its influence, but first. She holds up her holy symbol and whispers a prayer, radiant energy gathering in her palm before blasting the Vampirate squarely in the chest. She smiles in satisfaction. "This is actually rather fun."

 

The cursed object is my phone. Inspired by the West Marches campaign, along with George's prompts in the Chaos Cave, I've realized I really need to curb my evening phone use. And it is like a cursed object. I don't want to be on it, but I can't seem to muster the willpower to avoid it. So at 9:30, it is banished to the charging corner and I cannot touch it. If I do, I take 1d4 psychic damage. The biggest temptation to break this rule is the play by post D&D game I'm running on discord. My players tend to be night owls who are far more likely to post later rather than earlier. Which is fine, we run the game in 24-hr cycles, so they can psot whenever they want. The problem is on my end, feeling like I have to respond to player posts asap. And then once I'm on my phone, I get sucked into other things. So the game will just have to wait, and I'll resolve anything posted after 9:30 in the morning. *nods resolutely*

 

Have a great Tuesday, all!

[Artemis Prime]

Welcome to Wednesday!

 

Had a good workout yesterday. Added 5lbs to bench and row, both felt fine but probably won't add weight next week. Did warm up sets for OHP and it felt a bit rough, so decided not to do work sets and instead switched to warm up sets for lat pull downs, which felt good. Got a bit of class stuff done. Hung out with my sister. Not a big day points-wise, but a good day. Missed the Vampirate with my attack, which is frustrating, but just keep picking away at it.

 

Got my Light and Word of Radiance point this morning. Spiritual Direction at 11. Work is a bit busier today, but brought along some class stuff I'm hoping to carve out a little time for. Helping my neighbor tonight, so that's Bless points. Found out my cousin probably won't be able to dig my electrical line until next month, but that's fine. Gives me time to get wires run and organize things with the electric company. 

 

Forgot that tomorrow is the office book club, but I think I'm going to skip it. I feel like I need a lunchbreak dedicated to catching up on class work. Also have a dentist appointment on Friday I forgot about, so will get some Aid points there. Things feel a little slow right now, but I'm working on letting things come to me rather than chasing after them all the time.

 

May what you are waiting for come to you today.

[sylph]

45 minutes ago, Artemis Prime said:

Added 5lbs to bench and row

This is always a good feeling. Nice work.

[Salinger]

Hey AP! GREAT job adding weight to the exercises!! Did it feel good? xx

[Artemis Prime]

21 hours ago, sylph said:

This is always a good feeling. Nice work.

 

4 hours ago, Salinger said:

Hey AP! GREAT job adding weight to the exercises!! Did it feel good? xx

 A good feeling indeed, although it was a struggle. Will not be adding to rows next week. Could maybe add to bench, but I won't. I figure there's no point on rushing to max out just to have to drop back down to where I'm at now.

 

Wednesday - had a productive Spiritual Direction session. I mentioned to her how smoothly sessions are going, and she commented that she thinks it's because of all the introspective work I'm doing in between sessions. Which kind of makes me think I could do this without her, but I like her and being in Spiritual Direction is an ordination requirement, so continue on we shall. She does some Franciscan Spiritual Discipline coaching as well which appeals to me, but it's more time consuming and there just isn't room in my schedule for it right now. But it stays on my "hopefully someday" list. Missed with my Guiding Bolt attack, which is frustrating, but reminding myself that a productive session is more valuable than a fake attack against an imaginary monster. 

 

Helped my neighbor after work for Bless points. Got some class reading done in the evening after game prep. All in all, a good day.

 

Today's plan - nothing urgent on my desk at work, so going to finish up a few small things and then hopefully dive into class work. Lunch break - head to the library for more class work. On the walk over, maybe lecture myself a little on the importance of staying up to date on assignments because doing two weeks of work in one is not fun.

 

My quarter horse is handling solitude better than I feared he might, but he's still looking lonely, so going to bump getting a second horse a little higher up on the list. Would like to get some fence work done before introducing a new animal, so after work the plan is to clean the chick brooder, put one row of decking down, and then start pulling up fence posts that are still there from when I tore down the interior fences. In the evening, game prep, maybe a little more class work depending on how much I've gotten day earlier in the day, start clearing my desk off so I have room to run Forbidden Lands tomorrow, and then a chapter or two of fun reading to close out the day.

 

It's kind of feeling like a lot at the moment but taking things one step at a time.  I did a bit of snooping on the county calendar, and I think the board meeting to approve a new position is Sept. 26, which is a bit of a longer wait than I had hoped for, but at least I can put it out of my head for a couple of weeks and focus on other things. It's out of my hands for now, so no use fretting over it, right?

[Heidi]

On 9/10/2024 at 7:38 AM, Artemis Prime said:

a cup of tea, a quiet hour in the office, and a lunchbreak workout did wonders

This is straight up magic. 

Nicely done.

 

On 9/10/2024 at 7:38 AM, Artemis Prime said:

The cursed object is my phone. Inspired by the West Marches campaign, along with George's prompts in the Chaos Cave, I've realized I really need to curb my evening phone use.

Hear hear!

I too have taken a long look at my phone engagement, even though I'm not battling this as an explicit goal. I deleted several apps this week, and set my phone charger on a shelf in the Library outside my bedroom door. No doomscrolling after dark for me! I like how the various quests are inspiring us all.  Sending TurnUndead vibes your way in solidarity.

 

On 9/11/2024 at 10:06 AM, Artemis Prime said:

I'm working on letting things come to me rather than chasing after them all the time

#DruidApproved

I really like this for you.

 

There is a lot going on in your world, and I think you're handling it well. I also admire how you are taking big projects (barn renovations, new horse and new fencing) in small pieces. I think this speaks volumes to your bility to be an amazing employee. Waiting is so hard, and feeling powerless is also hard. Breathe. The Universe loves you and wants you to be happy.

 

Thank you for the Cantrips piece of Activity tracking, by the way. I knew I was losing sight of all the small things I do every day that make the difference in having a smooth functioning world versus a chaotic one, but I hadn't figured out how to capture that in a way that felt authentic. 1 point for a Cantrip feels like just the right scale in comparison to a 20 point weekly Druid task. Bonus: It has also helped me see how I was not acknowledging all the many little steps that are involved in simply living my life, and I feel like the Cantrip point is allowing me to focus on these pieces in a genuine way with gratitude. Thank you.

 

About your narratives: I like them! Have you considered putting them together as a single page after the challenge? Could be fun to read the narrative itself.

[Salinger]

How are you feeling today AP? xx

[Artemis Prime]

20 hours ago, Heidi said:

I really like this for you.

Thanks, I really like it for me, too.

 

21 hours ago, Heidi said:

I also admire how you are taking big projects (barn renovations, new horse and new fencing) in small pieces.

It is a relatively new skill for me, but one that I think is serving me well. This barn project has been great for that, because every time I try to think of everything that is yet to be done, it feels like an insurmountable wave, but I do the next step, and then the next step after that, and somehow I have a building and if I just keep doing the next thing, I will eventually have an apartment in that building.

 

21 hours ago, Heidi said:

Thank you for the Cantrips piece of Activity tracking, by the way.

You're welcome! I'm glad you are finding it useful.

 

21 hours ago, Heidi said:

About your narratives: I like them! Have you considered putting them together as a single page after the challenge? Could be fun to read the narrative itself.

Thank you! At various times I have tried keeping a battle log to compile long term challenge goals and narratives, but maintaining two threads has always felt too repetitive for me. Plus I tend to not be consistent with the narrative, so I just let it come and go in pieces. Creative writing has always been a hobby of mine, but I just don't have the brain power to pursue a larger project at the moment, so this is a fun way for me to keep my hand in until I can prioritize it again.

 

7 hours ago, Salinger said:

How are you feeling today AP? xx

I'm good, Sal. A little tired, but I have plans to mitigate that.

 

Yesterday did not entirely go according to plan, but not in a bad way. My sister called at 11 to say she was near my work and wanted to grab lunch if I was available. So I moved my break, said the heck with the library or the gym, and met my sister for some delicious duck pastrami on rye. Giving myself social points here because even though it was just my sister (sounds harsh, doesn't it? What I mean is, I see my sister 2-3 times per week so one of the goals of social points is for me to go see people I don't already see all the time.) but this was a spontaneous outing, which is something I'm not always good at embracing, so 20 points for a fun and last-minute hour with my sister. Also, I am grateful to have a job that gives me the flexibility to take my lunch an hour early with no forewarning. I am not certain I will have that much freedom if I get the new position I am waiting to hear about (I don't think Mark would have a problem with it so much as I'm just not sure that my schedule will be so loose down there) so I especially wanted to take advantage of it now.

 

So anyways, unexpected lunch meant no workout or library time. After work, I cleaned the brooder, got one row of decking done pretty easily, and then tackled the fence posts. And got nowhere. It is hard ground and those posts have been in it for the better part of 20 years, my little post puller wasn't touching them. I'm not surprised, just means this is going to be a two-person job. My dad is busy Saturday morning, but in the afternoon we're going to take another stab at it. Thought about doing some more decking or going up to the house for classwork/game prep, but instead decided to just hang with my horse for a while. It was nice, and he appreciated it. After dinner, got my desk cleared for gaming tonight, did some game prep, and got a chunk of classwork done. A good day.

 

Today was originally scheduled to be a gym day, but I'm a bit tired and want to keep my energy up for Forbidden Lands tonight, so instead I'm going to head to the library for classwork on my lunch break. I can do my workout at home tomorrow morning. Leaving work early for the dentist. Depending on how long that takes and what time I get home, I may do a tiny bit of deck work (would like to get 1 board laid, to get the landing even with the rest of the deck and set me up for smooth sailing tomorrow, and/or clean out the chicken coop, since I plan to move the meat birds in tomorrow. Might also keep picking away at classwork.

 

I should have slightly less going on after next week, the women's retreat is the 21st, and it will be nice to have that over and done with. Also, I put myself in a bad situation with having to play catch up with class work, but once I am up to date, that will slow down as well. 

[Heidi]

I think you're doing great.

Glad you got to spend time with your horse.

What breed of meat bird do you have?

[Cheetah]

7 hours ago, Artemis Prime said:

hang with my horse

 

We should all spend more time with our horses.

[Artemis Prime]

21 hours ago, Heidi said:

What breed of meat bird do you have?

I used to always get Cornish Crosses, but they're not very healthy birds and I had some ethical concerns over raising them. This year I'm trying Color Yields, which is some proprietary hybrid that I don't know the exact lineage of, but I'm guessing there has to be some Rhode Island Red in there, unless they went really old school and found a breeding flock of New Hampshires. (I guess that's not really old school, since NH was originally bred from RIR, but they're a much less common breed these days.) Anyways, the Color Yields don't grow quite as fast as the Cornish Cross, and they don't develop nearly as much breast meat, but they get to be a decent size in 10 weeks and they're healthy, active birds. I'm on my second batch now and so far pretty happy with them.

 

15 hours ago, Cheetah said:

 

We should all spend more time with our horses.

How some people hang out with their horse:

 

Me with my horse:

 

Friday was pretty good. Instead of going to the library at lunch, I walked to a park and did some class reading in the sunshine. Dentist appointment went smoothly. Got home and discovered that my chicken coop is a bit rougher looking than I realized. The plan is to replace all the siding before my laying hens move in for the winter, but I thought I'd get another batch of meat birds through it. And I will, but had to do some quick and dirty repairs on it first. Had a little time I could have worked on decking, but need to make some pretty exact cuts on the next board and was feeling a little keyed up, so I did some class work instead. Forbidden Lands went well last night. It's the first time I've ever run a game in a system I've never played in before, so there were some slight flubs on mechanics, but the rules are mostly straightforward enough that my players were getting the hang of it pretty quick and helping me figure stuff out. If I had the full ruleset and was planning a longer game with them, I'd have given a bit more description to each hex and maybe had a few more encounters planned, but they got to get a taste of travel and camping, had one combat (wherein my ogre rolled terribly, grrr) and have made it to their destination for the next session. 

 

One of the things that attracted me to Forbidden Lands is all the random tables you roll on, which means I didn't have to do a ton of prep for laying out what would happen, just let me players roll and see where the dice fall. But letting the dice decide everything does lead to some fun unexpected moments.

Me: Do you guys want to try this new system? Life is dangerous in the Forbidden Lands, anything can kill you, not just the monsters, but the environment itself, you risk cold and hunger and exhaustion and if you get a critical injury-

My players: We adopt the puppies!

...welcome to my gritty and realistic exploration game.

 

So anyways, we wrapped up in good time since they had arrived at Weatherstone and it was a natural stopping point, but I was a bit too hyped to go right to sleep so I ended up staying awake longer than I meant to and am kind of dragging this morning. The plan was to get a workout in before class, but that's now just 1 hour away, so we'll see. If I don't do it this morning, I could still maybe fit it in later today or tomorrow. 

 

So, for today - maybe workout (squats at least I think, then I can probably deadlift before church tomorrow) then class at 10. After class, move meat birds to coop. Work on deck. Eat lunch. Pull fence posts. More deck work. Prep for small group leader discussion tomorrow. At some point in there maybe make time for a nap. 

 

All right, I've got an outline of a plan. Let's do this!