Rainbow Dragon's Lair

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

October 26:

1000 Calf Raises:
Push & Pull (modified):
Better Arms:
Flex Hang:
Power Grip:
yoga:
meditation:
running:
hiking: 7 km
wellness workouts:
other stuff: dancing

We interrupt our usual programming this day to bring you Hallowe'en in the Village.

A friend had asked if he could stop by on his way to the festivities. I said, "Sure!" Then I hopped in the bath. My friend arrived while I was still in the tub, and Shelby, lacking opposable thumbs, was unable to let him in to the house. I got dressed quickly to try to catch my friend before he got too far away. If my neighbour had put a longer poem on her poetry tree* this month, we might have been able to catch him. As it was, he was too far ahead by the time I had Shelby and myself both ready to go, and we lost sight of him in the crowds at the festival. We did, however, find a live musical performance underway when we arrived. A local band called "Betamaxx" was performing (as you might have guessed from the name) New Wave covers. All the hits from my junior high and high school years! The sound system was a little hot and squelchy. But the band was fun. So I got waylaid by dancing for about an hour.

We never did find my friend. But Shelby made lots of new ones. There were people there in costumes. Dogs in costumes. People giving treats to the dogs (whether in costume or not). Poor Shelby had been having digestive issues again that morning and the night before. So I had to decline the treats on her behalf. But she still received many head scratches, shoulder rubs, and butt massages. So she was pretty happy.

One of the event organizers was there snapping photos. Even though neither Shelby nor I was in costume (unless you count "leggings, shirt and sandals I threw on because they were the fastest clothes to get dressed in, hair disheveled and half falling out of the bun I'd put it up in for the bath" as a costume) we still drew the photographer's attention due to our dancing. So somewhere my messy, hurried-tub-exit look is now immortalized for the world to see. But we had fun.

* One of my neighbours a few houses down has this little display case fastened to a tree near the sidewalk in front of her house. Inside the display case is poem, which she switches out (I think) monthly:



After the Village Hallowe'en dance party I did laundry and work on organizing our home. There was a lot of climbing and lifting involved in moving things around. So I decided that, plus the dancing, was good enough for my workout for this day. I will double up on the calf raises on Sunday to get caught up with everyone again there. But I need to switch my pulling days to Monday/Wednesday/Friday/Sunday for the coming week anyhow. (Next Saturday is my house-warming party. I'll be doing prep all day and then partying all evening with no time to get up to the park with the pull-up bars. On Thursday a friend with a car is helping me to collect all the groceries I will need for the party. So I won't be able to make it to the pull-up bars that day either.) So it suits my schedule to have just taken this day off from the new Challenges and to pick them up again on Sunday.


writing:
new fiction words: 0
fiction YTD: 136,051
story-a-week challenge: 40 of 52 completed
40 stories in my 54th year challenge: 40 of 54 completed

French: CBC Gem

GOBOT
SOOT - although I wasn't looking at my screen for most of the evening as that is when I did all the unpacking & organizing
GBOT

Streaks:

Consecutive days of working out: 48
Consecutive days of French study: 1440
Consecutive days of no solo video games: 36
Consecutive days of SOOT: 0
Consecutive days of GBOT: 0

Move-in progress: Got quite a bit accomplished in terms of sorting through things and getting them squared away where they belong. (A good thing since my house warming party is now only one week away!)

 

[Damer]

Love the poem! @Laura Rainbow Dragon

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

Love the poem! @Laura Rainbow Dragon

Just one of many interesting and cool things people in my neighbourhood do. It is a true blessing to me to be able to live here once again. (And a blessing to Shelby also. This is a very dog-friendly neighbourhood.)

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

October 27:

Am switching things up a bit here. Since postponing Power Builder to focus on upper body Challenges for now, I decided I should pick up some additional work focused on my lower body and core to round things out. Since I already have a few Challenges on the go, I decided adding more Challenges is the way to go. Then, to assist me in adhering to a schedule which includes a high volume of very short workouts daily, and because I've not been good lately at taking breaks from my desk-sitting, I've decided to break up my daily workouts into three time-of-day groupings.

Morning Routine:
First Thing Water Challenge: Day 1
Unplugged Workout: *
1-Minute Cardio Challenge: Day 11 (did Day 11 instead of Day 1 to help Defend the Hive)
1-Minute Plank Challenge: Day 1
1-Minute Yoga Challenge: Day 1
1-Minute Meditation Challenge (modified to 5 min/day): Day 1

* I've decided to try one set of the Unplugged Workout as a get-my-body-moving warm-up each day. (Because this 53-year-old bag of bones does not like to do high impact exercises first thing out of bed!) I may stick with doing Unplugged daily if I like it. (It certainly looks like it will give me what I need for a wake-up routine.) Or I might start switching it up with other workouts if I get bored with doing the same one all the time. (Posture is another good choice for me for waking up the ol' back.) On this day I skipped it because I didn't actually do my Morning Routine workout until the afternoon.

Le Plat Principal:
Push & Pull (modified to body rows in place of pull-ups): Day 3
Better Arms: Day 3
Flex Hang:
Power Grip: Day 3
1000 Calf Raises (modified to 1 min holds on hold days): Days 26 & 27

Before Bed Routine:
Daily Kicks Challenge: Days 1 & 2 (did 2 days to help Defend the Hive)
Squat Hero Challenge: Day 1
Iron Core Challenge: Day 1
Glutes of Steel Challenge: Day 1
Daily Gratitude Challenge: Day 1 (I do this anyway. But there's no harm in setting a specific time of day to be intentional about it.)

Mileage:
running:
hiking: 6.2 km

Writing:
new fiction words: 2304
fiction YTD: 138,355
story-a-week challenge: 41 of 52 completed
41 stories in my 54th year challenge: 40 of 54 completed

French:
CBC Gem

Scheduling Habits:
GOBOT
SOOT
GBOT

Streaks:
Consecutive days of working out: 49
Consecutive days of French study: 1441
Consecutive days of no solo video games: 37
Consecutive days of SOOT: 0
Consecutive days of GBOT: 0

Move-in progress:
Nothing.

 

[TopNotch]

All the best with that. I love reading people's plans - inspires me to make my own.

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

October 28:

Morning Routine:
First Thing Water Challenge: Day 2
Unplugged Workout: *
1-Minute Cardio Challenge: Day 1
1-Minute Plank Challenge: Day 2
1-Minute Yoga Challenge: Day 2
1-Minute Meditation Challenge (modified to 5 min/day): Day 2

* skipped Unplugged again as "Mornine Routine" once again happened later in the day.

Le Plat Principal:
Push & Pull (modified to body rows in place of pull-ups): Day 4
Better Arms: Day 4
Flex Hang (modified to active hangs**): Day 1
Power Grip: Day 4
1000 Calf Raises (modified to 1 min holds on hold days): Day 28

** I was able to hold the flexed hang position for the first one, but not after that. So I will work through the Flex Hang Challenge protocol doing active hangs this time through with the goal to build enough strength to repeat the challenge with pull-up grip flex hangs in the future.

Before Bed Routine:
Daily Kicks Challenge: Day 3
Squat Hero Challenge: Day 2
Iron Core Challenge: Day 2
Glutes of Steel Challenge: Day 2
Daily Gratitude Challenge: Day 2

Mileage:
running:
hiking: 15.1 km

Writing:
new fiction words: 0
fiction YTD: 138,355
story-a-week challenge: 41 of 52 completed
41 stories in my 54th year challenge: 40 of 54 completed

French:
Fluenz

Scheduling Habits:
GOBOT
SOOT
GBOT

Streaks:
Consecutive days of working out: 50
Consecutive days of French study: 1442
Consecutive days of no solo video games: 38
Consecutive days of SOOT: 0
Consecutive days of GBOT: 0

Move-in progress:
Nothing. Need to get a move on with this!

 

[WolfDreamer]

Power Grip: Day 4

People underestimate how difficult this action can be. I genuinely think the worst burn I have ever had in my arms was while holding them over my head and clenching my fists.

Well done on getting shit done and having grace with yourself while still getting better every day!

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

People underestimate how difficult this action can be. I genuinely think the worst burn I have ever had in my arms was while holding them over my head and clenching my fists.

For sure. Fist clenches work a lot of small muscles, and this exercise asks a lot of them when we really work it.

Well done on getting shit done and having grace with yourself while still getting better every day!

Thank you @WolfDreamer .

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

October 29:

Morning Routine:
First Thing Water Challenge: Day 3
Unplugged Workout: *
1-Minute Cardio Challenge: Day 21 (switched up the day again to help Defend the Hive)
1-Minute Plank Challenge: Day 3
1-Minute Yoga Challenge: Day 3
1-Minute Meditation Challenge (modified to 5 min/day): Day 3

* skipped Unplugged again as "Morning Routine" once again happened later in the day.

Le Plat Principal:
Push & Pull (modified to body rows in place of pull-ups): Day 5
Better Arms: Day 5
Flex Hang (modified to active hangs):
Power Grip: Day 5
1000 Calf Raises (modified to 1 min holds on hold days): Day 29

Before Bed Routine:
Daily Kicks Challenge:
Squat Hero Challenge: Day 22 (switched up the day to help Defend the Hive)
Iron Core Challenge: Day 3
Glutes of Steel Challenge: Day 3
Daily Gratitude Challenge: Day 3

Mileage:
running:
hiking: 11.3 km

Writing:
new fiction words: 0
fiction YTD: 138,355
story-a-week challenge: 41 of 52 completed
41 stories in my 54th year challenge: 40 of 54 completed

French:
Fluenz

Scheduling Habits:
GOBOT
SOOT
GBOT

Streaks:
Consecutive days of working out: 51
Consecutive days of French study: 1443
Consecutive days of no solo video games: 39
Consecutive days of SOOT: 1
Consecutive days of GBOT: 1

Move-in progress:
Nothing. Started to get a sore throat this day. I cannot be sick now! Not now! Went to bed early in the hope of warding off whatever might be brewing.

 

[JCU]

Preemptive healing vibes!

 

[NancyTree]

hopefully it went away over night

 

[Fremen]

Healing vibes

 

[TopNotch]

Hope you're feeling better.

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

Thank you @JCU @NancyTree @Fremen @TopNotch .


Tuesday night I did not sleep well at all. Finally decided to suck on an analgesic throat lozenge in the middle of the night. Not awesome for my teeth. (Though I did at least get up and rinse my teeth with mouth wash once the lozenge was done.) But I needed to sleep.

The lozenge worked, and I got a couple of hours' sleep. But then I awoke early with a headache.

At that point I was thinking: Crap. Crap! Serious crap!
Because I don't get headaches. (It's not that I never get headaches. But even counting this one I think the total number of headaches I have had in my life is still in the single digits.)

Respiratory tract infections always begin for me in my throat, then they move around for a bit (often with the throat soreness lessening or even clearing up for a bit), and finally end with a sore throat--possibly for several days--after all of the other symptoms have cleared up. So the fact that my throat was largely better by Wednesday morning did not surprise me. But the fact that my only new symptom was a headache? That was weird.

The day the sore throat developed I had eaten a stupidly large quantity of jalepeño-flavoured potato chips. And then remembered after the fact that that flavouring irritates my throat. So I'm hoping the sore throat was that. I'm hoping the headache was lack of sleep and low blood sugar. I did not eat well on Tuesday, and the headache did ease off some after I ate breakfast Wednesday morning. I tried to sleep the rest of the headache off by napping Wednesday afternoon. But that didn't work. (My head hurt too much to allow sleep.) So eventually I got up, put on a mask, and dragged myself out to the drug store to purchase ibuprofen.

The ibuprofen worked, and I did nap after taking it. I awoke in the evening with my head feeling fine and my throat only mildly irritated. I did my workout, took Shelby out for a walk, took more drugs (for the head and the throat) prophylactically, and went to bed. I slept well last night, and this morning my head is fine and my throat only very mildly irritated.

So I now think everything is fine. The speed with which my symptoms cleared up, and the complete lack of any other respiratory tract infection symptoms--including almost no cough, which is weird considering how rough my throat was--would suggest this was a self-inflicted illness. Also: I haven't done anything in recent weeks that would put me at high or even moderate risk of contracting a contagious illness. Here's hoping I will remain symptom free and will be able to host my party on Saturday as planned. (I really don't want to have to postpone it. Rates of respiratory infections in my community are on the rise, and all of the people coming to my party engage in riskier behaviours re: exposure to infections than I do. A later party makes it more likely someone else will show up unknowingly contagious with something.)

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

October 30:

Morning Routine:
First Thing Water Challenge: Day 4
Unplugged Workout:
1-Minute Cardio Challenge: Day 2
1-Minute Plank Challenge: Day 4
1-Minute Yoga Challenge: Day 4
1-Minute Meditation Challenge (modified to 5 min/day): Day 4

Le Plat Principal:
Push & Pull (modified to body rows in place of pull-ups):
Better Arms:
Flex Hang (modified to active hangs):
Power Grip:
1000 Calf Raises (modified to 1 min holds on hold days): Day 30 -

Before Bed Routine:
Daily Kicks Challenge: Day 4
Squat Hero Challenge: Day 3
Iron Core Challenge: Day 4
Glutes of Steel Challenge: Day 4
Daily Gratitude Challenge: Day 4

Mileage:
running:
hiking: 5.5 km

Writing:
new fiction words: 0
fiction YTD: 138,355
story-a-week challenge: 41 of 52 completed
41 stories in my 54th year challenge: 40 of 54 completed

French:
Fluenz

Scheduling Habits:
GOBOT
SOOT
GBOT

Streaks:
Consecutive days of working out: 52
Consecutive days of French study: 1444
Consecutive days of no solo video games: 40
Consecutive days of SOOT: 2
Consecutive days of GBOT: 2

Move-in progress:
Nothing. Was a sleeping day.

 

[JCU]

Congrats on the challenge!

 

[Obsinosterous]

Congratulations!

 

[Sólveig]

Congrats on 1000 Calf Raises!

 

[NancyTree]

Congrats on 1000 calf raises!

 

[Syrius]

Congrats on 1000 Calf Raises!!

 

[Maegaranthelas]

Happy Badge Day

 

[Fremen]

Congrats

 

[HellYeah]

Congratulations

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

Thank you @JCU @Obsinosterous @Sólveig @NancyTree @Syrius @Maegaranthelas @Fremen @HellYeah .

 

[TopNotch]

Congrats on the challenge. Hope you enjoyed the sleeping!

 

[Anek]

Congrats on the challenge!!

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

October 31:

Morning Routine:
First Thing Water Challenge: Day 5
Unplugged Workout:
1-Minute Cardio Challenge: Day 3
1-Minute Plank Challenge: Day 5
1-Minute Yoga Challenge: Day 5
1-Minute Meditation Challenge (modified to 5 min/day): Day 5

Still not done in the morning though. I may just be kidding myself on this whole "Morning Routine" thing.

Le Plat Principal:
Push & Pull (modified to body rows in place of pull-ups): Day 6
Better Arms: Day 6
Flex Hang (modified to active hangs): Day 2
Power Grip: Day 6
1000 One-Legged Calf Raises (modified to 30 sec holds each leg on hold days): Day 1*

* I'm repeating this challenge doing one-legged calf raises now. For rep days I will complete the set # of reps on each leg. For hold days I will do 3 x 30 seconds on each leg.

Before Bed Routine:
Daily Kicks Challenge:
Squat Hero Challenge:
Iron Core Challenge:
Glutes of Steel Challenge:
Daily Gratitude Challenge:

Mileage:
running:
hiking: 13 km

Writing:
new fiction words: 0
fiction YTD: 138,355
story-a-week challenge: 41 of 52 completed
54 stories in my 54th year challenge: 41 of 54 completed

French:
Fluenz

Scheduling Habits:
GOBOT
SOOT
GBOT

Streaks:
Consecutive days of working out: 53
Consecutive days of French study: 1445
Consecutive days of no solo video games: 41
Consecutive days of SOOT: 0
Consecutive days of GBOT: 0

Move-in progress:
A friend took me shopping to get groceries for Saturday's party. (Usually I walk to the store and carry my groceries home on my back. But when one is laying in a large amount of food, it is wonderful to have the help of a friend with a car!) I also took advantage of the car transportation to lay in a good supply of food for Shelby. (This is sold in large bags which are not easy for me to carry on my back. I do have a push-cart. But they do not function all that well in Canadian winters.) Miss Shelby's bottom has apparently decided it will no longer perform its job adequately unless pumpkin is a regular part of her diet. So I had planned to take advantage of my friend's car to stock up on canned pumpkin. But the price was outrageous! $7 for a $796 ml can! And this was at the discount grocery store! (I used to be able to purchase these cans for < $3 just a couple of years ago.) I ended up not buying the canned pumpkin as my friend said she had a bunch of frozen pumpkin I could have as she was not using it. Then we went to the bigger, usually more expensive store, and they were selling whole pumpkins for 74¢ each! These were not huge pumpkins. But they were a pretty decent size. So I stocked up.



Shelby should be happy for a while now!

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

Thank you @TopNotch @Anek .

@TopNotch the sleeping was much needed. I am much better now.

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

Boreal just released their first single and music video of a beloved song from their upcoming (very soon--I hope to have it in my hot little hands in a month and a half!) CD. It's a song about the kindness of strangers and the resourcefulness sometimes necessary to make it through a cold, snowy, winter night.

Shepherd of the Road
Written by: Angie Nussey
Performed by: Boreal (Katherine Wheatley, Tannis Slimmon, Angie Nussey)

I saw this literally immediately after I'd just finished clearing the clutter out of my dance hall.

 

[MadamMeow]

Belated congrats on 1,000 Calf Raises!

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

Thank you @MadamMeow .

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

We once again interrupt our usual programming for:

PARTY WEEKEND​

Friday: ~ 4 hours of climbing and lifting and hauling. A lot of things got shoved randomly into closets with an absolute pinky-swear promise to organize things better soon. (A lot of things.) But I cleared enough space in every room of my home for dancing. Then I did a wee bit of dancing to celebrate.

Saturday: Workout this day was the dancing. Other than that, I cooked all day, and enjoyed my friends' company in the evening. A most excellent day.

Sunday: One friend stayed over after the party, and this day we went for a nature hike. 10.3 km on our trail hike (up and down a river valley, so there were actual hills, including some quite steep spots) plus some shorter walks with Shelby in the Village. Shelby, of course, did awesome on some quite challenging terrain.

Workout, French study, and no solo video game streaks were all maintained. SOOT and GBOT not so much.
SOOT and GBOT will fail again tonight too, as I still need to complete my story for the week. (I will update my writing numbers tomorrow.)

Monday will be a recovery (of some of the weekend's lost sleep) day. So a partial return to my regular programming. But I'm not going to try to fit everything in. (I really will need the sleep!) Monday I'll just do what I can while actually hitting SOOT and GBOT, with the intention to return to my full regular program on Tuesday.

 

[JCU]

So glad your party was a success!

 

[PetiteSheWolf]

Glad you had fun!

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

Thank you @JCU & @PetiteSheWolf .

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

Sunday Writing:
new fiction words: 2406
fiction YTD: 140,761
story-a-week challenge: 42 of 52 completed
54 stories in my 54th year challenge: 42 of 54 completed

Now that the Lair has been properly blessed, I need to get serious about actually working on my writing 5 days/week.

Streaks (as of end of day Sunday):
Consecutive days of working out: 56
Consecutive days of French study: 1448
Consecutive days of no solo video games: 44
Consecutive days of SOOT: 0
Consecutive days of GBOT: 0

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

November 4:

Morning Routine:
First Thing Water Challenge:
1-Minute Cardio Challenge:
1-Minute Plank Challenge:
1-Minute Yoga Challenge:
1-Minute Meditation Challenge (modified to 5 min/day):

I did first thing water this day and every day throughout the weekend. I did meditation most days too. Skipped planks over the weekend but did do one as part of my yoga practice this day. I'm not counting them towards the Challenges however, to keep all of my Morning (LOL) Routine Challenges on the same schedule.

Le Plat Principal:
Push & Pull (modified to body rows in place of pull-ups):
Better Arms:
Flex Hang (modified to active hangs):
Power Grip:
2000 One-Legged Calf Raises (modified to 30 sec holds each leg on hold days)*: Day 2

* I'm repeating this challenge doing one-legged calf raises now. For rep days I will complete the set # of reps on each leg. For hold days I will do 3 x 30 seconds on each leg.

Before Bed Routine:
Daily Kicks Challenge:
Squat Hero Challenge:
Iron Core Challenge:
Glutes of Steel Challenge:
Daily Gratitude Challenge:
yoga:

Gratitude happened every day over the weekend and today. But as with water, planks, and meditation, I won't count those days towards the Challenge so as to keep all of my Before Bed Challenges lined up.

Mileage:
running:
hiking: 10.6 km

I so wanted to do a run this day. The weather was gorgeous for it! But I needed sleep!

Writing:
new fiction words: 0
fiction YTD: 140,761
story-a-week challenge: 42 of 52 completed
54 stories in my 54th year challenge: 42 of 54 completed
writing days this week: 0/5

French:
Fluenz

Scheduling Habits:
GOBOT
SOOT
GBOT

So, so tired. Slept in. Did my check-ins on here while eating. Took Shelby for a long walk. Slept again from 5PM until 10:30 PM. Then got up, fed Shelby, ate dinner, did more check-ins on here and elsewhere, then my workout. Another super late night as a result. So my schedule is definitely not yet back on track. But the evening sleep was good and necessary.

Streaks:
Consecutive days of working out: 57
Consecutive days of French study: 1449
Consecutive days of no solo video games: 45
Consecutive days of SOOT: 0
Consecutive days of GBOT: 0

Move-in progress:
Nothing today. But this will need to remain in my log for a while due to all the shoving of things randomly into closets that happened last Friday.

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

What do you all think of this little Mama's Girl?



After the first few people arrived for Saturday's party, I did introductions all around. Then I left everyone sitting in the office, chatting amongst themselves, to return to the kitchen to finish the food prep. Three of the early arrivals were new friends for Shelby. But one was our next-door-neighbour who she knows and who has given her very good massages on multiple occasions.

Shelby has a futon in the office (shown above) beside my desk. She also has a cushion bed on the floor in the feast hall. But she hardly ever uses the cushion bed. This girl likes her creature comforts, and the futons are where it's at! So when I'm in the kitchen, even though the feast hall bed is the closest one to where I'm at, Shelby stays on the futon in the office, or else will go on the futon in our bedroom. (She will use the cushion in the feast hall when I'm actually in that room. But mostly I eat at my desk unless I have company.)

Well on Saturday, all of our guests had greeted Shelby, and dutifully given her butt massages, and two of them were sitting on the futon with her, showering her with affection. Yet when I left the room to finish my work in the kitchen, Shelby abandoned our guests too to go and hide out in the feast hall and be closer to me. I did not realize she had become so shy!

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

Photos from Sunday's hike:







This is an ESA in London. Not one I have been to before, since it's a bit of a hike from where Shelby and I live (~9km), and we have nice hikes a lot closer. But my friend had a car with her and wanted to check out this place. So we did! We are well blessed here to have such gorgeous places to hike, right in the city!

As you can see, most of the colour is down on the ground now (and was wonderfully crunchy underfoot on this day!). Just a few trees still hanging on to their leaves.



Hopefully whoever did this will clean it up soon. (Yes. Alternating orange and white mini pumpkins lining the edge of the trail is cute. But it's not appropriate for humans to "decorate" conservation lands. Even though these are organic, and will eventually break down, this is protected land, meant to preserve sensitive habitat for native species. It messes with fragile ecosystems and can lead to illness in wild animals and habitat degradation when humans leave their junk behind.)

 

[JCU]

Gorgeous pictures!

Shelby is a great Momma's Girl! She did such a great job with all those people!

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

Thank you @JCU .

And I agree: Shelby did do a great job at the party. It was Laura who was silly, abandoning our guests to go and work in the kitchen. Of course Shelby had to check up on me!
She helped us to dance in all of the rooms too! (Except for the bathroom. I think that was a bit too crowded for her! But she did dance in all the other rooms.)

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

Shelby is offering free opportunities to pet a dog to anyone who might need that today.

If you do not have physical access to a dog, Shelby offers you these photographs:





You may use them to visualize your intention to give Shelby some loving. Then post here the type of puppy-loving you are sending (head scratches, shoulder rubs, butt massages, and/or tummy tickles) and I will pet Shelby on your behalf. In this way we will create actual acts of love together and begin the work of countering all the hate.

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

November 5:



I mostly pissed away my day watching endless talking heads blathering on about an election I could do nothing about that didn't even take place in my country.
Then I went to bed exhausted, sad and afraid for my neighbours, sad and afraid for us all.

Morning Routine:
First Thing Water Challenge:
1-Minute Cardio Challenge:
1-Minute Plank Challenge:
1-Minute Yoga Challenge:
1-Minute Meditation Challenge (modified to 5 min/day):

Le Plat Principal:
Push & Pull (modified to body rows in place of pull-ups):
Better Arms:
Flex Hang (modified to active hangs):
Power Grip:
2000 One-Legged Calf Raises*: Day 3

* I'm repeating this challenge doing one-legged calf raises now. For rep days I will complete the set # of reps on each leg. For hold days I will do 3 x 30 seconds on each leg.

Before Bed Routine:
Daily Kicks Challenge:
Squat Hero Challenge:
Iron Core Challenge:
Glutes of Steel Challenge:
Daily Gratitude Challenge:

I am grateful for my super wonderful most awesome best friend Shelby.
I am grateful for my health.
I am grateful for all of you here in the Hive. No matter what ugliness goes down in the rest of the world, we still have this community here where people seek to understand one another, to be helpful, and to act out of love. We need this now more than ever.


Mileage:
running:
hiking: 5.6 km

Writing:
new fiction words: 0
fiction YTD: 140,761
story-a-week challenge: 42 of 52 completed
54 stories in my 54th year challenge: 42 of 54 completed
writing days this week: 0/5

French:
CBC Gem - even the French movie I watched this day was depressing.

Scheduling Habits:
GOBOT
SOOT
GBOT

Tomorrow is another day. (And we have to keep fighting for good, no matter what.)

Streaks:
Consecutive days of working out: 58
Consecutive days of French study: 1450
Consecutive days of no solo video games: 46
Consecutive days of SOOT: 0
Consecutive days of GBOT: 0

Move-in progress:
Nothing.

 

[JCU]

Please give Shelby a hug, kiss, and scritches wherever her favorite places are from me. I will gladly do the same to at least two of my cats in return.

 

[Maegaranthelas]

Long-distance hugs to you and lovely Shelby

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

Thank you @JCU & @Maegaranthelas . @JCU yes please! Make those kitties purr!

Shelby insisted on a proper long walk today, in service of her mission. (Or perhaps because she was unhappy about being short-changed yesterday.) In any case, she did find several people who needed to pet her, including one lady who she found after we had arrived back home (while I was digging out my house keys) who has a dog of her own but who needed to pet Shelby anyhow because Shelby has silkier ears. I think Shelby was happy with how her mission went overall.

Also: we saw a beautiful big White-tailed Deer stag with a full rack, standing out in the open in one of the ponds. I had one of my cameras in my hand when I saw the stag. And I didn't even turn it on. Just stood there staring at it until the stag bolted. At which point I did try to get a photo. But it was too late. All I managed to get was the stag's butt, half-obscured by trees, as it ran up the side of the ravine on the far side of the ponds.






We also saw a turtle. One lonely turtle still out basking in November.



Sadly, this is a Red-eared Slider. (Which means a human dumped it here. Sliders are not native to these parts.) I don't begrudge it trying to survive where it can. I just wish I saw more native turtles in these ponds.

 

[MadamMeow]

Sending belly rubs to sweet Shelby.

 

[JCU]

Casper and Nobu have been hugged and kissed! Nobu has not forgiven me yet