My shoulders were a bit achy from days of swimming and reading, so tonight we dusted off the old routine.

15 minutes walking (about a mile)
Weight Room:

• 32 twisted angels
• 32 inclined twisted sit ups
• 24 swimmers presses, 7.5# each hand
• 16 kettlebell squats, 20#

20 minutes in the sauna.

Life is good.

Walked over three miles checking out exhibits and the library in Richmond.
I miss the pool.

Challenge 36: Wow, August

Wow, August.

Wow. The end of the last challenge went through my life like a meat grinder. Mediation Workshops, threats of nuclear war, Personal Relationship Crumbling, Charlottesville. Thank goodness I have the NF community and the habits I've built with you guys over the past few years. One of the things that I know is that we will do it together, and we will go farther than we ever could have imagined. 

#Writing: After attending the Tinker Mountain Writers Workshop, I applied for and got accepted into the Queens University MFA in Creative writing. This means that I have to read and write every day. I started a scheduled structure, and stick to it mostly. I need to continue it so that it is a solid habit. First submission due: September 1. I also need to submit a piece to a contest or so, since it would be a wonderful thing to get a cash award, and the validation wouldn't be awful. But the writing is the thing. Feel free to check out my progress in my tracking spreadsheet (two tabs).  Also, I have a paper on American Exceptionalism to write that I got an extension on, and that needs to be swept up. #Writers Life

#Mediation certification: I took all the required training seminars last challenge, and will spend this challenge getting the required practicums -- observations and co-mediation -- taken care of. Hopefully the court certification will be finalized by the end of this challenge. #FingersCrossed. 

#Communication with Vivian. My daily calls with my daughter were suspended when we went to court on July 6. This hurts, and she was in tears over it. The appeal hearing was moved to the end of October (two challenges from now, I think, but maybe three -- this is how I measure things). I'm now limited to calling on Monday and Wednesday. I wrote her a Garden Report and included a garden word search along with the pictures I took and mailed it to her, and thus began a habit of mailing her something most days. Harvey mails some days too. It's our way to stay in touch now. I send a puzzle or coloring page or whathaveyou. And then I'm going to write my pen pal, who is in prison. #SnailMailRules

#Employment I interview for a position to teach GED classes at the regional jail. This resonates with me in ways that don't really make any sense, but in a very positive, contributory way. Part time. I'm thinking of it as a work-study component to the writing classes. #WishMeLuck

#Self-care 

• Nightly sleep I need to take care of myself by making certain I'm getting enough rest. If I'm worn out and exhausted, I can't be a good student / parent / friend. I need to be in bed no later than 9 p.m. 
• Daily Sauna or hot bath
• Meetings A few meetings a week, especially on Wednesday, then therapy on Thursday and then the Friends Meeting every Sunday.
• Water reestablish the habit.
• Walking. My steps fell to hell as the office job progressed. I went from a ten mile a day habit to barely a mile, and lost the habit of walking thirty minutes every day as well. I'm hoping to put it back. 
   

#FinancialPlanning with the attorney: Financial worry is soul-crushing. Bankruptcy filing in Monday, August 14. #Acceptance leads to #balance. #Balance leads to #harmony. #Harmony leads to #peace.

Challenge 35: The Hashtag Challenge

35: The Hashtag Challenge

I don't have a clue when I last posted -- I know that the #BigHeavyWeight of it all wrapped itself around my shoulders on June 19 and I have been working my way through a bit of hell ever since. Anton Chekhov wrote that "Any idiot can handle a crisis. It's the day to day living that wears you out." And I've had about three weeks of living in that space. The good news is that I am brave enough to say I'm tired, brave enough to quit pretending all is well, brave enough to rest and to begin to heal. Another wonderful man once said "This is not the end, and not even the beginning of the end, but it might be the end of the beginning." #KeepSwimming

My employment ended on June 3o, the afternoon after a demonstration by a company that can do everything I do, only from India. I texted my partner that I was pretty certain that I was going to be outsourced, and sure enough, I was shown the door the next day. #MoreTimeToWrite.

#Writing: After attending the Tinker Mountain Writers Workshop, I've decided to formalize my path as a writer. This is weird and vulnerable and scary for me. I need to keep a log of pieces that I have submitted (a New Thing That Just Happened on Monday) and pieces that need rework. I hope to have a submission, rework and new work every day, along with reading. Stay tuned. Feel free to check out my progress in my tracking spreadsheet (two tabs).

#Mediation certification: I will be taking the Domestic Violence and the Family seminar on July 21, and then the Family Mediation Training in Richmond in August (next challenge). I'm still waiting to make progress on the General Court observation, but it will come in due time. The Family Mediation Certification will likely come at the end of August (also next challenge). It feels good to have progress on this.

#Communication with Vivian. My daily calls with my daughter were suspended when we went to court on July 6. This hurts, and she was in tears over it. We go back to court in September (two challenges from now, I think, but maybe three -- this is how I measure things). I'm now limited to calling on Monday and Wednesday, which doesn't really make any sense, since the argument they presented was that I was inappropriate on the phone, so why would it be ok to be inappropriate two times a week? #MovingOn. When we were on the phone on Monday, we started talking about the garden and how it's coming along and she got a little sad. I said I could send her pictures, and she brightened up and said she would love that. So there it is, in the midst of the dark, the single star to guide me through. I wrote her a Garden Report and included a garden word search along with the pictures I took and mailed it yesterday. I'm going to write her every day, including a puzzle or coloring page or whathaveyou. And then I'm going to write my pen pal, who is in prison. #SnailMailRules

#Self-care 

• Nightly sleep I need to take care of myself by making certain I'm getting enough rest. If I'm worn out and exhausted, I can't be a good student / parent / friend. I need to be in bed no later than 9 p.m. 
• Daily Sauna or hot bath
• Daily Meetings Reason 417 that not having a job is grand for me is that I get to return to my lunchtime meeting. It meets at 12:15 seven days a week, and I'm thinking of adding Saturday to the mix when my partner has overtime or a seminar. It fits perfectly after my writing workshop meeting at 9:30 at the local library, and then the Friends Meeting every Sunday.
• Water reestablish the habit.
• Walking. My steps fell to hell as the office job progressed. I went from a ten mile a day habit to barely a mile, and lost the habit of walking thirty minutes every day as well. I'm hoping to put it back. 
   

#FinancialPlanning with the attorney: Financial worry is soul-crushing. I recently read a report on the effects of poverty sapping nearly an entire standard deviation from a person's intelligence, and I can completely believe that. The mental peace that will come from financial clarity is huge. I have until July 31 to wrap this up, and am hoping that it will be done much sooner than that. It's only waiting on me at this point, so pester me for updates.

Challenge 31: Frost

Frost, or Isa, the Rune of Ice

Attention to small things gives us real results in large things.
This is my Why, and the Tao is my Way. The Rune Isa indicates stillness and reinforcement, a great theme for me this round.
I'm going with a 3x5 (+1) for this, three goals with five elements each plus one life goal.

1. Act (daily elements) - keeping in action to sustain the healthy foundation. Improvements are bonus, a happy accident of continued use over time.
   1. Morning walk -- 20 minutes
   2. Steam room and sauna meditation -- 20 minutes
   3. Hydrate -- 2+ litres throughout the day
   4. Sleep - 9p.m. to 5 a.m.
   5. Journal
2. Connect (daily elements) -- nurture and be nurtured by my community
   1. Meetings daily
   2. Call Paula daily
   3. Call Vivian daily
   4. Friends group weekly
   5. Monthly newsletter thought of the day
3. Sustain (weekly / monthly elements)- these are the things that keep me centered and whole, no matter what life throws at me. And trust me, life has a wicked curve ball these days.
   1. Katrina - weekly therapy
   2. Greg - weekly acupuncture
   3. Sunday - weekly reset routine
   4. Erin - monthly yoga therapy
   5. Candy - monthly hair appointment
4. Freedom -- leveling up on financial freedom is a huge deal for a reason. It takes a lot of willpower over time, but it reaps long lasting rewards.
   1. Assess the landscape -- so much has changed since October that it needs a thorough reevaluation (Week 0-1)
   2. Plan (Week 2-3)
   3. Execute (Week 4)
      1. Weekly
      2. Monthly
      3. One-offs

Ice

Heidi’s Yuletide 2016 Challenge

The Big Why

Attention to small things gives us real results in large things.
This is my Why, and the Tao is my Way.

Objectives: What I Want

1. A peaceful mind. I value balance in all things, but especially in my heart and mind. Peace of mind vanquishes all.
2. A healthy body.
3. Happy family time.
4. A clean and orderly home.

Activities: What I’m Willing to do

1. Attitude Awareness and Adjustment:
   1. Read the Tao daily, preferably with my partner, sharing our thoughts on the passage of the day.
   2. Go to work with a positive attitude, grateful wherever and whenever possible
   3. Sauna meditation daily
2. Take care of the body that I have been given:
   1. Physical workout once a week
   2. Maintain a restful and restorative sleep schedule
      8+ hours, with a gentle buffer for falling asleep and waking up
   3. Make time for activities that help
      1. Walking
      2. Acupuncture
      3. Therapy
      4. Yoga Therapy
3. Play with Vivian
4. Uphold the house system in place with love and care
   1. Clothing set out each week
   2. Dinner prepared and dishes washed with love and mindfulness.

Wow, what a great day.

This morning we all went to the gym. I was starting to really feel the effects of adding in squats, and weighted squats at that, so I kept it pretty light.

• 1 mile walk
• 32 inclined twist situps
• 32 back extensions
• plank
• 1 sun salutation
• bridge
• C100
• 2 jackknifes
• 2 plow
• 20 minute sauna meditation
• .5 mile walk while my partner swam

Then home for eggs, swiss, basil, tomato, shrimp and pepperoni brunch and a hand of cards before going to tinker cliffs for a hike with the family and the neighbors. It was good all around, and a mile and a half all told, so fun and not overly strenuous. The kids played in the creek halfway through, and were absolutely soaking wet and exhausted by the time we got back to the car, which is a beautiful thing. There was great conversation with the adults, too.

Now, I'm pretty tired, and I realized after the hike that I keep accidentally forgetting to eat any carbs, like at all (the meal above had less than 5g carbs -- that's just not enough to fuel a person). It's tough for me to eat enough. Even adding in a half cup of pistachios after the hike only brought the calorie count today to 800 something. Looks as though I need to start throwing rice in with the eggs after the gym.

Over 11k steps so far today, and I loved every one of them.
Life is good.

Take Two

Harvey and I went back to the gym and walked two miles on the track before heading into the Power Core class. Spoiler alert: it was pretty easy for us. That was new.

7.5k steps yesterday, but managed to forget to eat, probably because of all the weird emotional roller coaster stuff that has been going on internally since Monday evening.

Vivian and I played some this morning, and now she is working in her workbook while I type and catch up on threads. When I get tired or cranky, my parenting ability goes out the door along with everything else, and I am making a conscious effort not to fall back into the electronic babysitter habit that my lazy-brain wants to develop.

It's rainy and grey again today. It's my partner's turn in the sauna, and then yoga for me.

Yesterday marked three weeks of not smoking, and I can honestly say that the support here has made a huge difference. I've had great support in my real life too, but even so, sometimes more is needed, and you folks were there in my mind, so thank you.

Ended up with a scary amount of steps on Tuesday (15k+) because I was at the voting center all day (5 a.m. - 9 p.m.) and whenever there weren't any voters, I was walking around trying to avoid the other election officials. No plank yesterday, because that would have been too wried in the polling station.

So far today has been ok, though rough emotionally. I went to the library, contacted my professor, contacted the writing center to make certain I could get the essay printed on the right paper, contacted the farm shares to let them know i felt ripped off and hoodwinked by the meat share delivery, asked a library patron to either take his ten minute plus long phone call out tot he patio or to go rent an office somewhere, and now I'm off to go pick up the clothes I had altered and drop off another round of clothes for altering.

I'm feeling problematic, by which I mean that no one else seems to be having a problem with what is clearly wrecking my peace and serenity.

And I'm writing weird poetry, to boot.
O wait. All poetry is weird.

5k steps so far.

Gave my partner a half pound of handmade chocolate for being awesome and putting up with my weirdness while I quit smoking.
Then sauna.
5500 steps so far.
Walking now before meeting with my sponsor.

Went out on the parkway and stopped a few times to walk and take in the views, despite the cold, rainy, grey weather. Totally beautiful out, and we saw some amazing things -- a sea of trilliums, a yoga tree, canals and locks on the james river.

Dinner in Bedford, then home to curl up in front of a fire.
Life is very, very good.

10000 steps yesterday and today, with kettlebells both days.

Funeral for a friend this late morning.

Lots of water and love and gratitude.

Woke up stiff and sore, so a long hot shower was in order before heading out to yoga, where we did lots of stretching and hip work. Afterwards, I mostly rested until we took Vivian to swim lessons. Still sore, I stuck to arm weights while walking, five pull ups and some abs work.

Only 5800 steps, but still not bad for a stiff and sore day.
I'm a little concerned about tomorrow, so I took some arnica.

I got some rest, then enjoyed walking more while Vivian was in the pool. All told, I got in over six miles yesterday. Walking is my center, and when I forget to keep it central, my headspace gets all wonky.

I looked up fitbit distance badges, and the next one is the Monarch Migration badge - only 150 miles to go. Probably not this challenge, but quite possibly this summer.

Went to the gym this morning. Ten minutes elliptical, one mile walk (20 minutes), one km row (6:15), a quarter mile walk, 2-5 pound kettlebell workout: 20 each gunslinger, overhead press and deep squat, then twelve back extensions with 8 pounds and 16 inclined twist sit ups with 8 pounds.

Picking up where I left off

Went to a couple yard sales with the family, bought a writing desk and a new to me chair, and then walked over a mile in a park.

Lunch and cards and naptime.

Went for a walk in the neighborhood, then on to the gym with my partner this morning. Ten minutes elliptical, walk, 1km row (6:12), walk to finish the mile, weights: triceps 10@40, glute extension 10L/10R@70, inclined sit ups 12@10 lb medicine ball, 5 pull ups, one minute plank, glute curl 10@40.

Eggs with cheese and hot tea and toast, then the library for a new book and to return a couple movies. Picked up some fresh eggs and produce at a local market before resting. What a great day.

Easy Saturday

The gym doesn't open until 8 on Saturday, but we were up before dawn anyway. It continues to amaze me that children live to be school aged.

Ten minutes of elliptical, a half mile walk, inclined sit ups, glute machine and back extension, both at higher weights.

Fifteen Degrees

It was super cold and dark this morning, and I didn't want to get up. I did anyway. The stuff in the dryer was still slightly damp. I wore it anyway. At the gym, the pool was closed, so I walked the track for a mile instead, and then did the glute machine, inclined sit ups, and the back machine at higher weight.

Because it was more important to do it than to come up with reasons not to.