Rainbow Dragon's Lair
- Thread starter Laura Rainbow Dragon
- Start date
Thank you !
I live in a city now where Boreal have pretty reliably been able to get a gig--at least for their winter tour--in a venue I can now walk to from my home. And they put me on their guest list!
Yes! They are the perfect medicine for whatever ails me! (And even better when I get to see them already happy!) Like a warm, musical hug on a cold winter's night. (Actually probably going to be a wet winter's night tonight. But that works too!) Plus, of course, there will be actual physical hugs from the band and from other friends who are attending the concert with me.They're your healing artist, like Damian Wilson is for me
December 14:
This day there was dancing!
And also:
Challenges:
Squat Hero: Days 20 & 24
+ one extra squat
punches: 900
Mileage:
running:
hiking: 9 km
ORNAMENTS Progress:
Pinecone: 2000/2000 punches
Snowglobe: 600/600 squats
Hot Cocoa: 203/200 push-ups
Star: 1000/1000 jacks
Stocking: 660/500 kicks
Writing:
worked on short story
new fiction words: ? - writing was handwritten--not even going to try typing this up until I have glasses on and no music playing!
fiction YTD: 152,795 + ? (still have some hand-written stuff to type up)
story-a-week challenge: 47 of 52 completed
54 stories in my 54th year challenge: 47 of 54 completed
writing days this week: 3/5
French:
CBC Gem
Scheduling Habits:
GOBOT:
SOOT:
GBOT:
GR:
Cumulative Habit Scores:
Gaming Rules: 48
SOOT: 40
GBOT: 40
Streaks:
Consecutive days of working out: 97
Consecutive days of French study: 1489
This day there was dancing!
And also:
Challenges:
Squat Hero: Days 20 & 24
+ one extra squat
punches: 900
Mileage:
running:
hiking: 9 km
ORNAMENTS Progress:
Pinecone: 2000/2000 punches Snowglobe: 600/600 squats Hot Cocoa: 203/200 push-ups Star: 1000/1000 jacks Stocking: 660/500 kicksWriting:
worked on short story
new fiction words: ? - writing was handwritten--not even going to try typing this up until I have glasses on and no music playing!
fiction YTD: 152,795 + ? (still have some hand-written stuff to type up)
story-a-week challenge: 47 of 52 completed
54 stories in my 54th year challenge: 47 of 54 completed
writing days this week: 3/5
French:
CBC Gem
Scheduling Habits:
GOBOT:
SOOT:
GBOT:
GR:
Cumulative Habit Scores:
Gaming Rules: 48
SOOT: 40
GBOT: 40
Streaks:
Consecutive days of working out: 97
Consecutive days of French study: 1489
FlowersandPetals
Well-known member
Congratulations on the ornaments! 
MadamMeow
Well-known member
Fae
from
Central NJ
Posts: 1,593
from
Central NJ
Posts: 1,593
"I see my vision burn, I feel my memories fade with time, but Im too young to worry..."
Congrats on earning all of the ornaments, but taking the Hot Cocoa! 
Mamatigerj
Well-known member
Happy Ornaments Day! 
Looking forward to hearing about the concert.
Looking forward to hearing about the concert.
Sólveig
Well-known member
from
You got them all! 
Anek
Well-known member
Sorceress
from
Bavaria, Germany
Pronouns: She/her
Posts: 2,916
from
Bavaria, Germany
Pronouns: She/her
Posts: 2,916
"If the time should come when you have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy, remember Cedric Diggory."
Congrats on catching them all!! Impressive!!
Syrius
Well-known member
Valkyrie
from
The Sonoran Desert
Pronouns: she/her
Posts: 1,159
from
The Sonoran Desert
Pronouns: she/her
Posts: 1,159
"Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities... because it is the quality which guarantees all others."
Congrats on your ornaments!!! 
Obsinosterous
Well-known member
Well done finishing all the ornament challenges!
Saffity
Well-known member
Scout
from
Southern Ontario, Canada
Pronouns: She/Her
Posts: 271
from
Southern Ontario, Canada
Pronouns: She/Her
Posts: 271
"Getting strong enough to keep two tiny humans from unaliving themselves."
Congrats on all the ornaments! Also yay for dancing to your favourite group, to be on their guest list... you must be a number 1 fan!
I am a happy dragon.
My heart is full.
I will write more later.
(Must take Shelby out for a proper walk this morning as the weather will be unfavourable here later in the day.)
Love to you all!
My heart is full.
I will write more later.
(Must take Shelby out for a proper walk this morning as the weather will be unfavourable here later in the day.)
Love to you all!
NancyTree
Well-known member
Congrats on the ornaments! 
Thank you!
Maegaranthelas
Well-known member
from
congrats on all your ornaments and your dancing
December 15:
This day there was dancing!
(But of course you knew that!)
The Boreal concert was so, so, so, so AMAZING!
Remember how I said I expected the audience would be packed in tightly and there might not be room to dance? Well...
I arrived at the venue for 6:50 PM. Doors were to open at 7:00 PM. For a 7:30 PM concert start. This was a concert hosted by an organization called "The Cuckoo's Nest Folk Club". It is a long-standing not-for-profit org in London (established in 1973, I believe). So they have a decent mailing list of loyal supporters. Most of whom are senior citizens.
The band, Boreal, is comprised of three singer-songwriters who are amazingly talented, individually and together. They have a mailing list of loyal supporters too. (You may have heard me mention them a time or two over the years.
) But they are indie musicians. They do not have the cultural/publicity clout of Taylor Swift. And most of their fans are older than me. They're not typically the sort of people who will camp out outside a venue hours in advance in the hope of getting good seats. When I show up to a Boreal concert ten minutes before the doors to the venue even open, I am typically guaranteed front-row-centre seats.
But not this night.
Nope. When I arrived at the venue there were at least ten people in line ahead of me, waiting outside in the cold and almost-freezing rain. One of them was leaning on a walker.
And none of those people got front-row-centre seats. Because Cuckoo's Nest shows take place in a pub which is attached to a restaurant. And people who eat dinner in the restaurant first get to claim their seats in the pub before us poor people who cannot afford restaurant meals even get to enter the venue.
By the time I got inside the venue the only front row seats left were wrapped so far around the side of the performance area, sitting in them would have put me behind Angie's back. (Angie being the band member who performs stage left.) Also: you will note I wrote "performance area", not "stage". The performance area was on the same level as the audience seating and was separated from the audience only by the performers' monitors and the mess of cables for the sound system. Seeing as how the monitors and most of the cables were in front of the musicians, not wrapped around the sides of them like the audience was, the only front-row seats still available were close enough to Angie's stage spot, she could almost have played her keyboard while sitting in one of them. Almost.
Naturally, these were the seats which I chose.
But as the venue started to fill up, it became clear there were not going to be enough seats for everyone. The concert was oversold. (In a "please nobody tell the fire marshall" kind of way.) One of the concert volunteers was bringing extra chairs in from an upstairs room. But there were still not enough seats for everyone. And there wasn't enough space left in the room to add any more chairs.
So I told the concert organizer I would give up my seat if he found me a corner somewhere in which I could dance.
He replied, "Are you Laura Rainbow Dragon?"
This was the first concert I have attended since being back in London. And already I have a reputation!
(In fairness it could have been the hair. And the fact that my name was on the band's guest list.)
Anyhow... I ended up standing at the back of the room, in front of the bar. A position which translated to "fourth row, centre". Except the 4th row contained no seats. It was all standing room only. And I was not the only person standing in it.
So I danced for the entire first set. But my "dance floor" was teeny tiny. And I had to be mindful to stay within it because--unlike in other venues I have been in where I managed to eke out a tiny dance floor surrounded by walls or stairs or the exit to the kitchen which I needed to vacate whenever wait staff needed to walk past--this was a teeny tiny dance floor surrounded by people. Even so: it was completely and utterly wonderful!
But hot. Oh so hot. And I had just coloured my hair the day before. I was afraid I would end up with rainbow rivulets of sweat running down my face! Also: the person standing on one side of me was clearly someone who requires more personal space than the venue was able to provide to her. And she was super uncomfortable about the fact that the person closest to her was moving as much as I was. So at intermission I moved to the opposite side of the hall. Which was by the exit and also where the concert organizer and his volunteer were sitting behind the CD table. The concert organizer told me I could prop open the door to the vestibule if I wanted and dance in there. So I did!
Dancing in the vestibule was even more awesome because a.) it was several degrees cooler in there and b.) although the space was still tiny, I was now surrounded not by people but by walls and food bank donations. So I could let loose without freaking anybody out. I even broke out my dance scarf for the second set!
Everything was so wonderful! The performance. My ability to dance. The energy in the room. It felt like being enveloped in a giant group hug!
(It's been almost 48 hours now, and I still feel like I am being hugged!)
I was definitely one of the youngest people in the room. And London audiences--of any age really, but definitely the older crowd--can be kind of stiff. But not this crowd! They were singing along. Clapping. Waving arms.
There's been many a time I have worked a crowd to get a standing ovation for the performers at the end of the night. The main reason I try to take a seat front-row-centre, even when I know I'm not going to be sitting in it, is because if I stand in front of that seat at the end of the performance and clap enthusiastically with my hands above my head, everyone else in the audience can see me. And it gives them permission to stand up too. But this audience did not need my help. I honestly do not think I have ever seen an audience on its feet faster than this crowd was! It was something else!
So, of course, we got our encore. Without the band ever having left the "stage". (It was impossible for them to leave their spots, with everyone in the audience on their feet!)
Alas, the concert was eventually over for real. At which point I was stuck in the back corner of the room, by the CD table, the concert organizer (who most people in the house knew--he has been organizing these shows for decades) and the door. There was no way I was getting back to my coat--which had been shoved onto the table with the sound board, at the far side of the room, when I'd given up my seat--before most of the audience had left the building. Which was fine by me. I never leave without first thanking and saying goodbye to the band anyway. And being stuck in the corner by the door meant I got to meet a lot of people as they were leaving. Lots of people told me they love my hair. (I first started colouring my hair because I thought it would be fun for me. But I soon learned that bright rainbow-coloured hair makes a lot of people happy.) Lots of people told me they appreciated my dancing. (One woman had wanted to come and join me when she saw me dancing in the vestibule. But the audience was packed in so tightly, there was no way she could get to me from where she was sitting. "But I was with you in spirit!" she said.) A met a woman who had just celebrated her 95th birthday. And I met a guy who was actually younger than me.
Eventually the room had cleared enough I was able to fetch my coat and bag, and give my goodbye hugs to Katherine and Tannis and Angie. And then I headed for home and took Shelby out for her walk.
Mileage:
running:
hiking: 13 km
Writing:
finished my short story for the week
new fiction words: 3014 (includes all my words for this week, but not the handwritten stuff from a previous week I still have not typed up)
fiction YTD: 155,809 + ? (still have some hand-written stuff to type up)
story-a-week challenge: 48 of 52 completed
54 stories in my 54th year challenge: 48 of 54 completed (I really need to get a move on here!)
writing days this week: 4/5
French:
CBC Gem
Scheduling Habits:
GOBOT:
SOOT:
GBOT:
GR:
Cumulative Habit Scores:
Gaming Rules: 51
SOOT: 40*
GBOT: 40*
I've made the executive decision not to deduct points for being late with SOOT and GBOT this night. (Even though: yes, I had known for weeks I would be attending a concert on this date.) Boreal nights are special. Normal rules do not apply.
Streaks:
Consecutive days of working out: 98
Consecutive days of French study: 1490
This day there was dancing!
(But of course you knew that!)
The Boreal concert was so, so, so, so AMAZING!
Remember how I said I expected the audience would be packed in tightly and there might not be room to dance? Well...
I arrived at the venue for 6:50 PM. Doors were to open at 7:00 PM. For a 7:30 PM concert start. This was a concert hosted by an organization called "The Cuckoo's Nest Folk Club". It is a long-standing not-for-profit org in London (established in 1973, I believe). So they have a decent mailing list of loyal supporters. Most of whom are senior citizens.
The band, Boreal, is comprised of three singer-songwriters who are amazingly talented, individually and together. They have a mailing list of loyal supporters too. (You may have heard me mention them a time or two over the years.
) But they are indie musicians. They do not have the cultural/publicity clout of Taylor Swift. And most of their fans are older than me. They're not typically the sort of people who will camp out outside a venue hours in advance in the hope of getting good seats. When I show up to a Boreal concert ten minutes before the doors to the venue even open, I am typically guaranteed front-row-centre seats. But not this night.
Nope. When I arrived at the venue there were at least ten people in line ahead of me, waiting outside in the cold and almost-freezing rain. One of them was leaning on a walker.
And none of those people got front-row-centre seats. Because Cuckoo's Nest shows take place in a pub which is attached to a restaurant. And people who eat dinner in the restaurant first get to claim their seats in the pub before us poor people who cannot afford restaurant meals even get to enter the venue.
By the time I got inside the venue the only front row seats left were wrapped so far around the side of the performance area, sitting in them would have put me behind Angie's back. (Angie being the band member who performs stage left.) Also: you will note I wrote "performance area", not "stage". The performance area was on the same level as the audience seating and was separated from the audience only by the performers' monitors and the mess of cables for the sound system. Seeing as how the monitors and most of the cables were in front of the musicians, not wrapped around the sides of them like the audience was, the only front-row seats still available were close enough to Angie's stage spot, she could almost have played her keyboard while sitting in one of them. Almost.
Naturally, these were the seats which I chose.
But as the venue started to fill up, it became clear there were not going to be enough seats for everyone. The concert was oversold. (In a "please nobody tell the fire marshall" kind of way.) One of the concert volunteers was bringing extra chairs in from an upstairs room. But there were still not enough seats for everyone. And there wasn't enough space left in the room to add any more chairs.
So I told the concert organizer I would give up my seat if he found me a corner somewhere in which I could dance.
He replied, "Are you Laura Rainbow Dragon?"
This was the first concert I have attended since being back in London. And already I have a reputation!
(In fairness it could have been the hair. And the fact that my name was on the band's guest list.)
Anyhow... I ended up standing at the back of the room, in front of the bar. A position which translated to "fourth row, centre". Except the 4th row contained no seats. It was all standing room only. And I was not the only person standing in it.
So I danced for the entire first set. But my "dance floor" was teeny tiny. And I had to be mindful to stay within it because--unlike in other venues I have been in where I managed to eke out a tiny dance floor surrounded by walls or stairs or the exit to the kitchen which I needed to vacate whenever wait staff needed to walk past--this was a teeny tiny dance floor surrounded by people. Even so: it was completely and utterly wonderful!
But hot. Oh so hot. And I had just coloured my hair the day before. I was afraid I would end up with rainbow rivulets of sweat running down my face! Also: the person standing on one side of me was clearly someone who requires more personal space than the venue was able to provide to her. And she was super uncomfortable about the fact that the person closest to her was moving as much as I was. So at intermission I moved to the opposite side of the hall. Which was by the exit and also where the concert organizer and his volunteer were sitting behind the CD table. The concert organizer told me I could prop open the door to the vestibule if I wanted and dance in there. So I did!
Dancing in the vestibule was even more awesome because a.) it was several degrees cooler in there and b.) although the space was still tiny, I was now surrounded not by people but by walls and food bank donations. So I could let loose without freaking anybody out. I even broke out my dance scarf for the second set!
Everything was so wonderful! The performance. My ability to dance. The energy in the room. It felt like being enveloped in a giant group hug!
(It's been almost 48 hours now, and I still feel like I am being hugged!)
I was definitely one of the youngest people in the room. And London audiences--of any age really, but definitely the older crowd--can be kind of stiff. But not this crowd! They were singing along. Clapping. Waving arms.
There's been many a time I have worked a crowd to get a standing ovation for the performers at the end of the night. The main reason I try to take a seat front-row-centre, even when I know I'm not going to be sitting in it, is because if I stand in front of that seat at the end of the performance and clap enthusiastically with my hands above my head, everyone else in the audience can see me. And it gives them permission to stand up too. But this audience did not need my help. I honestly do not think I have ever seen an audience on its feet faster than this crowd was! It was something else!
So, of course, we got our encore. Without the band ever having left the "stage". (It was impossible for them to leave their spots, with everyone in the audience on their feet!)
Alas, the concert was eventually over for real. At which point I was stuck in the back corner of the room, by the CD table, the concert organizer (who most people in the house knew--he has been organizing these shows for decades) and the door. There was no way I was getting back to my coat--which had been shoved onto the table with the sound board, at the far side of the room, when I'd given up my seat--before most of the audience had left the building. Which was fine by me. I never leave without first thanking and saying goodbye to the band anyway. And being stuck in the corner by the door meant I got to meet a lot of people as they were leaving. Lots of people told me they love my hair. (I first started colouring my hair because I thought it would be fun for me. But I soon learned that bright rainbow-coloured hair makes a lot of people happy.) Lots of people told me they appreciated my dancing. (One woman had wanted to come and join me when she saw me dancing in the vestibule. But the audience was packed in so tightly, there was no way she could get to me from where she was sitting. "But I was with you in spirit!" she said.) A met a woman who had just celebrated her 95th birthday. And I met a guy who was actually younger than me.
Eventually the room had cleared enough I was able to fetch my coat and bag, and give my goodbye hugs to Katherine and Tannis and Angie. And then I headed for home and took Shelby out for her walk.
Mileage:
running:
hiking: 13 km
Writing:
finished my short story for the week
new fiction words: 3014 (includes all my words for this week, but not the handwritten stuff from a previous week I still have not typed up)
fiction YTD: 155,809 + ? (still have some hand-written stuff to type up)
story-a-week challenge: 48 of 52 completed
54 stories in my 54th year challenge: 48 of 54 completed (I really need to get a move on here!)
writing days this week: 4/5
French:
CBC Gem
Scheduling Habits:
GOBOT:
SOOT:
GBOT:
GR:
Cumulative Habit Scores:
Gaming Rules: 51
SOOT: 40*
GBOT: 40*
I've made the executive decision not to deduct points for being late with SOOT and GBOT this night. (Even though: yes, I had known for weeks I would be attending a concert on this date.) Boreal nights are special. Normal rules do not apply.
Streaks:
Consecutive days of working out: 98
Consecutive days of French study: 1490
Thank you @Maegaranthelas !
December 16:
This day I did more dancing. (I have a new CD now!)
Plus one set of a top secret workout.
Mileage:
running:
hiking: 11.9 km
Shelby and I tried to do our long hike north up the TVP. But it was so icy! We ended up cutting things a little short, and doing more of the hike through subdivisions than usual.
There's one spot on this route where a drainage channel runs underneath the trail to join up with the river. It was absolutely packed this day with fish. No idea what kind they were. But they were so tightly packed in there they were pushing one another partially out of the water as they swam around!
Writing:
new fiction words: 0
fiction YTD: 155,809 + ? (still have some hand-written stuff to type up)
story-a-week challenge: 48 of 52 completed
54 stories in my 54th year challenge: 48 of 54 completed (I really need to get a move on here!)
writing days this week: 0/5
French:
CBC Gem
Scheduling Habits:
GOBOT:
SOOT:
GBOT:
GR:
Cumulative Habit Scores:
Gaming Rules: 54
SOOT: 43
GBOT: 43
Streaks:
Consecutive days of working out: 99
Consecutive days of French study: 1491
This day I did more dancing. (I have a new CD now!)
Plus one set of a top secret workout.
Mileage:
running:
hiking: 11.9 km
Shelby and I tried to do our long hike north up the TVP. But it was so icy! We ended up cutting things a little short, and doing more of the hike through subdivisions than usual.
There's one spot on this route where a drainage channel runs underneath the trail to join up with the river. It was absolutely packed this day with fish. No idea what kind they were. But they were so tightly packed in there they were pushing one another partially out of the water as they swam around!
Writing:
new fiction words: 0
fiction YTD: 155,809 + ? (still have some hand-written stuff to type up)
story-a-week challenge: 48 of 52 completed
54 stories in my 54th year challenge: 48 of 54 completed (I really need to get a move on here!)
writing days this week: 0/5
French:
CBC Gem
Scheduling Habits:
GOBOT:
SOOT:
GBOT:
GR:
Cumulative Habit Scores:
Gaming Rules: 54
SOOT: 43
GBOT: 43
Streaks:
Consecutive days of working out: 99
Consecutive days of French study: 1491
Matan
Well-known member
Alchemist
Posts: 896
Posts: 896
Haha. Someone is popular
I'm glad you found a space to dance during the concert. Awesome!
December 17:
Dancing
Jumping Jacks for the Snowfight
Challenges:
First Thing Water: Day 24
1-Minute Meditation (modified to five minutes): Day 24
1-Minute Cardio:
1-Minute Plank: Day 24
1-Minute Yoga: Day 24
Push & Pull (modified to body rows in place of pull-ups):
Better Arms: Day 22
Flex Hang (modified to active hangs):
Power Grip:
1000 Calf Raises (modified to do one-legged calf raises, doing all the reps on both sides):
Daily Kicks: Day 18
Squat Hero:
Iron Core: Day 11
Glutes of Steel: Day 11
Daily Gratitude: Day 20
Mileage:
running:
hiking: 13.8 km
Writing:
Secret Santa stuff
new fiction words: 0
fiction YTD: 155,809 + ? (still have some hand-written stuff to type up)
story-a-week challenge: 48 of 52 completed
54 stories in my 54th year challenge: 48 of 54 completed (I really need to get a move on here!)
writing days this week: 0/5
French:
CBC Gem
Scheduling Habits:
GOBOT:
SOOT:
GBOT:
GR:
Cumulative Habit Scores:
Gaming Rules: 57
SOOT: 46
GBOT: 46
Streaks:
Consecutive days of working out: 100
Consecutive days of French study: 1492
Dancing
Jumping Jacks for the Snowfight
Challenges:
First Thing Water: Day 24
1-Minute Meditation (modified to five minutes): Day 24
1-Minute Cardio:
1-Minute Plank: Day 24
1-Minute Yoga: Day 24
Push & Pull (modified to body rows in place of pull-ups):
Better Arms: Day 22
Flex Hang (modified to active hangs):
Power Grip:
1000 Calf Raises (modified to do one-legged calf raises, doing all the reps on both sides):
Daily Kicks: Day 18
Squat Hero:
Iron Core: Day 11
Glutes of Steel: Day 11
Daily Gratitude: Day 20
Mileage:
running:
hiking: 13.8 km
Writing:
Secret Santa stuff
new fiction words: 0
fiction YTD: 155,809 + ? (still have some hand-written stuff to type up)
story-a-week challenge: 48 of 52 completed
54 stories in my 54th year challenge: 48 of 54 completed (I really need to get a move on here!)
writing days this week: 0/5
French:
CBC Gem
Scheduling Habits:
GOBOT:
SOOT:
GBOT:
GR:
Cumulative Habit Scores:
Gaming Rules: 57
SOOT: 46
GBOT: 46
Streaks:
Consecutive days of working out: 100
Consecutive days of French study: 1492
Last edited:
December 18:
Dancing
Jumping Jacks for the Snowfight
Challenges:
First Thing Water: Day 25
1-Minute Meditation (modified to five minutes): Day 25
1-Minute Cardio: Day 25
1-Minute Plank: Day 25
1-Minute Yoga: Day 25
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 do one-legged calf raises, doing all the reps on both sides):
Went to the grocery story that's 4.5 km away again. Managed to refrain from doing any more damage to my cart this time. But still brought home a pretty heavy load both in the cart and my backpack. It was enough upper body work for the day, so I skipped the upper body challenges (plus calf raises, just because I have this lot grouped together on my tracking sheet).
Daily Kicks:
Squat Hero:
Iron Core:
Glutes of Steel:
Daily Gratitude: Day 21
Ran out of time to do most of these due to lobbing snowballs. Still had time for Gratitude though: for my Hive community, for Sunday's concert (and musicians everywhere for doing what they do), for Shelby, for excellent health, for a safe home, for nutritious and delicious food, for dancing, for so, so, so many things.
Mileage:
running:
hiking: 15 km
Writing:
Secret Santa stuff, some non-fiction, story planning
new fiction words: 0
fiction YTD: 155,809 + ? (still have some hand-written stuff to type up)
story-a-week challenge: 48 of 52 completed
54 stories in my 54th year challenge: 48 of 54 completed (I really need to get a move on here!)
writing days this week: 2/5*
* forgot I worked on the non-fiction on Tuesday too. So am upping my count to 2 days for the week thus far.
French:
CBC Gem
Scheduling Habits:
GOBOT:
SOOT:
GBOT:
GR:
Cumulative Habit Scores:
Gaming Rules: 60
SOOT: 49
GBOT: 49
Streaks:
Consecutive days of working out: 101
Consecutive days of French study: 1493
Dancing
Jumping Jacks for the Snowfight
Challenges:
First Thing Water: Day 25
1-Minute Meditation (modified to five minutes): Day 25
1-Minute Cardio: Day 25
1-Minute Plank: Day 25
1-Minute Yoga: Day 25
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 do one-legged calf raises, doing all the reps on both sides):
Went to the grocery story that's 4.5 km away again. Managed to refrain from doing any more damage to my cart this time. But still brought home a pretty heavy load both in the cart and my backpack. It was enough upper body work for the day, so I skipped the upper body challenges (plus calf raises, just because I have this lot grouped together on my tracking sheet).
Daily Kicks:
Squat Hero:
Iron Core:
Glutes of Steel:
Daily Gratitude: Day 21
Ran out of time to do most of these due to lobbing snowballs. Still had time for Gratitude though: for my Hive community, for Sunday's concert (and musicians everywhere for doing what they do), for Shelby, for excellent health, for a safe home, for nutritious and delicious food, for dancing, for so, so, so many things.
Mileage:
running:
hiking: 15 km
Writing:
Secret Santa stuff, some non-fiction, story planning
new fiction words: 0
fiction YTD: 155,809 + ? (still have some hand-written stuff to type up)
story-a-week challenge: 48 of 52 completed
54 stories in my 54th year challenge: 48 of 54 completed (I really need to get a move on here!)
writing days this week: 2/5*
* forgot I worked on the non-fiction on Tuesday too. So am upping my count to 2 days for the week thus far.
French:
CBC Gem
Scheduling Habits:
GOBOT:
SOOT:
GBOT:
GR:
Cumulative Habit Scores:
Gaming Rules: 60
SOOT: 49
GBOT: 49
Streaks:
Consecutive days of working out: 101
Consecutive days of French study: 1493
WolfDreamer
Well-known member
I'm counting all of my snowball dodging as my cardio. 
Definitely fair!I'm counting all of my snowball dodging as my cardio.
December 19:
Dancing
Jumping Jacks for the Snowfight
Fit December: Days 1-4
Challenges:
First Thing Water: Day 26
1-Minute Meditation (modified to five minutes): Day 26
1-Minute Cardio: Day 26
1-Minute Plank: Day 26
1-Minute Yoga: Day 26
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 do one-legged calf raises, doing all the reps on both sides):
Arms still tired. Taking another day off these.
Daily Kicks:
Squat Hero:
Iron Core:
Glutes of Steel:
Daily Gratitude: Day 22
Ran out of time to do most of these due to lobbing snowballs. Still had time for Gratitude though (always the easiest part of my day).
Mileage:
running:
hiking: 7.2 km
Writing:
nada
new fiction words: 0
fiction YTD: 155,809 + ? (still have some hand-written stuff to type up)
story-a-week challenge: 48 of 52 completed
54 stories in my 54th year challenge: 48 of 54 completed (I really need to get a move on here!)
writing days this week: 2/5
French:
CBC Gem
Scheduling Habits:
GOBOT:
SOOT:
GBOT:
GR:
Cumulative Habit Scores:
Gaming Rules: 63
SOOT: 52
GBOT: 52
Streaks:
Consecutive days of working out: 102
Consecutive days of French study: 1494
Dancing
Jumping Jacks for the Snowfight
Fit December: Days 1-4
Challenges:
First Thing Water: Day 26
1-Minute Meditation (modified to five minutes): Day 26
1-Minute Cardio: Day 26
1-Minute Plank: Day 26
1-Minute Yoga: Day 26
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 do one-legged calf raises, doing all the reps on both sides):
Arms still tired. Taking another day off these.
Daily Kicks:
Squat Hero:
Iron Core:
Glutes of Steel:
Daily Gratitude: Day 22
Ran out of time to do most of these due to lobbing snowballs. Still had time for Gratitude though (always the easiest part of my day).
Mileage:
running:
hiking: 7.2 km
Writing:
nada
new fiction words: 0
fiction YTD: 155,809 + ? (still have some hand-written stuff to type up)
story-a-week challenge: 48 of 52 completed
54 stories in my 54th year challenge: 48 of 54 completed (I really need to get a move on here!)
writing days this week: 2/5
French:
CBC Gem
Scheduling Habits:
GOBOT:
SOOT:
GBOT:
GR:
Cumulative Habit Scores:
Gaming Rules: 63
SOOT: 52
GBOT: 52
Streaks:
Consecutive days of working out: 102
Consecutive days of French study: 1494
December 20:
Dancing
Jumping Jacks for the Snowfight
Side Jacks for @Syrius
Burpees for @Sólveig
Fit December: Days 5-6
Two days of FD was all I had time for after the Snowfight. Plus: Day 7 is core, and I'd already done a lot of that with 1-Min Cardio, Plank, & Yoga this day (not to mention the 104 burpees).
Challenges:
First Thing Water: Day 27
1-Minute Meditation (modified to five minutes): Day 27
1-Minute Cardio: Day 27
1-Minute Plank: Day 27
1-Minute Yoga: Day 27
I may have been partially supporting my body weight on my nose by the end of that crocodile pose hold! Oof! Still really tough for me! Took a minute break between yoga and cardio and again between cardio and the plank. Normally I do these three back-to-back in the order listed. But I started with the yoga this day as it was the hardest thing, and took the breaks because I needed them!
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 do one-legged calf raises, doing all the reps on both sides):
Skipped due to time plus the 1-Min Cardio, Plank, & Yoga, plus burpees all being good upper body work too.
Daily Kicks:
Squat Hero:
Iron Core:
Glutes of Steel:
Daily Gratitude: Day 23
Ran out of time to do most of these due to lobbing snowballs. Still had time for Gratitude though (always the easiest part of my day).
Mileage:
running:
hiking: 7.2 km
Usually Shelby wants to go for long walks during the day time. She will resist me if I try to turn us towards home early. But for two days in a row now she has asked to do just our shortest route for our night time walk. Smart girl knows when it is bedtime!
Writing:
Not a lot but did squeeze in a few minutes of work on a couple of short stories. I need to work on getting my writing done earlier in the day as the whole writing by hand after my screens off time and then later transcribing thing is a PITA with my new setup. I need to wear glasses to read my computer screen now. But I need a different strength of glasses for the screen than what I need to read my handwritten notes. So I end up having to wear two pairs of glasses and trying to prop them up on top of one another such that the screen readers don't slide down in front of the up-close readers. Needless to say: it's significantly easier and more efficient for me to just compose on the screen from the get-go!
new fiction words: 306
fiction YTD: 156,115 + ? (still have some hand-written stuff to type up)
story-a-week challenge: 48 of 52 completed
54 stories in my 54th year challenge: 48 of 54 completed (I really need to get a move on here!)
writing days this week: 3/5
French:
CBC Gem
Scheduling Habits:
GOBOT:
SOOT:
GBOT:
GR:
Cumulative Habit Scores:
Gaming Rules: 66
SOOT: 55
GBOT: 55
Streaks:
Consecutive days of working out: 103
Consecutive days of French study: 1495
Dancing
Jumping Jacks for the Snowfight
Side Jacks for @Syrius
Burpees for @Sólveig
Fit December: Days 5-6
Two days of FD was all I had time for after the Snowfight. Plus: Day 7 is core, and I'd already done a lot of that with 1-Min Cardio, Plank, & Yoga this day (not to mention the 104 burpees).
Challenges:
First Thing Water: Day 27
1-Minute Meditation (modified to five minutes): Day 27
1-Minute Cardio: Day 27
1-Minute Plank: Day 27
1-Minute Yoga: Day 27
I may have been partially supporting my body weight on my nose by the end of that crocodile pose hold! Oof! Still really tough for me! Took a minute break between yoga and cardio and again between cardio and the plank. Normally I do these three back-to-back in the order listed. But I started with the yoga this day as it was the hardest thing, and took the breaks because I needed them!
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 do one-legged calf raises, doing all the reps on both sides):
Skipped due to time plus the 1-Min Cardio, Plank, & Yoga, plus burpees all being good upper body work too.
Daily Kicks:
Squat Hero:
Iron Core:
Glutes of Steel:
Daily Gratitude: Day 23
Ran out of time to do most of these due to lobbing snowballs. Still had time for Gratitude though (always the easiest part of my day).
Mileage:
running:
hiking: 7.2 km
Usually Shelby wants to go for long walks during the day time. She will resist me if I try to turn us towards home early. But for two days in a row now she has asked to do just our shortest route for our night time walk. Smart girl knows when it is bedtime!
Writing:
Not a lot but did squeeze in a few minutes of work on a couple of short stories. I need to work on getting my writing done earlier in the day as the whole writing by hand after my screens off time and then later transcribing thing is a PITA with my new setup. I need to wear glasses to read my computer screen now. But I need a different strength of glasses for the screen than what I need to read my handwritten notes. So I end up having to wear two pairs of glasses and trying to prop them up on top of one another such that the screen readers don't slide down in front of the up-close readers. Needless to say: it's significantly easier and more efficient for me to just compose on the screen from the get-go!
new fiction words: 306
fiction YTD: 156,115 + ? (still have some hand-written stuff to type up)
story-a-week challenge: 48 of 52 completed
54 stories in my 54th year challenge: 48 of 54 completed (I really need to get a move on here!)
writing days this week: 3/5
French:
CBC Gem
Scheduling Habits:
GOBOT:
SOOT:
GBOT:
GR:
Cumulative Habit Scores:
Gaming Rules: 66
SOOT: 55
GBOT: 55
Streaks:
Consecutive days of working out: 103
Consecutive days of French study: 1495
Happy Solstice Everyone!
Northern hemisphere days are getting longer!
Northern hemisphere days are getting longer!
Anek
Well-known member
Sorceress
from
Bavaria, Germany
Pronouns: She/her
Posts: 2,916
from
Bavaria, Germany
Pronouns: She/her
Posts: 2,916
"If the time should come when you have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy, remember Cedric Diggory."
Happy solstice!!
NancyTree
Well-known member
happy solstice!
December 21:
Dancing
A few Jumping Jacks from a late volley in the Snowfight
Fit December: Days 7-8
Challenges:
First Thing Water: Day 28
1-Minute Meditation (modified to five minutes): Day 28
1-Minute Cardio: Day 28 -
1-Minute Plank: Day 28
1-Minute Yoga: Day 28
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 do one-legged calf raises, doing all the reps on both sides):
Skipped due to time again. (15 Challenges at once was maybe a bit too ambitious. What with the DAREtree, Snowfight, Fit December and Secret Santa--gifts for this are dropping today!--plus picking up daily dancing again on top of everything else. Several of these should finish up this week though. Which will hopefully make it easier to finish everything else before my birthday.) I probably covered Power Grip though, clenching my fists to try to keep my hands warm on our walks this day!
Daily Kicks: Day 19
Squat Hero: Day 27
Iron Core: Day 12
Glutes of Steel: Day 12
Daily Gratitude: Day 24
Mileage:
running:
hiking: 8.2 km
I really want to get back with my running too. Not going to happen Sunday as it's too cold and also super icy here right now. But we're heading into another thaw in the next couple of days--accompanied by rain. So things are likely to get messy. We'll see how it goes!
I had wanted to do a nature hike for the Solstice. But most of the trails here are just too icy at the moment. And I've read reports of the coyotes in my local conservation area being overly bold and threatening towards dogs lately. Shelby isn't a small dog. But she is old. Would the coyotes be able to sense that? I don't want to risk it! So the CA is likely off our map now until the spring.
Most of our walks this past week have just been within our own neighbourhood. Shelby does not mind as this is where the greatest concentration of her friends--many of whom carry treats--is. There is one small parkette we walk through, which connects adjacent north-south streets. I have been told it often becomes an ice rink in the winter too. But this week it has not been too bad. (It's snow-covered at the moment. We had better traction there yesterday than on many of the sidewalks.) This parkette is just a thin strip that runs between two rows of residential backyards. It has a walking trail, and a little kiddie playground. This day during our mid-day hike we saw a Red-tailed Hawk, a female Northern Cardinal, a Downy Woodpecker, a White-breasted Nuthatch, and some Dark-eyed Juncos, all within the space of a minute! (Sadly I did not have a camera with me. The light was pretty good. But when it's this cold out the batteries drain quickly. It's probably not awesome for the camera either. And I would not have been able to take my gloves off to work the shutter in any case.)
Writing:
Not a lot. Mostly just prepping/thinking about Sunday's work.
new fiction words: 0
fiction YTD: 156,115 + ? (still have some hand-written stuff to type up)
story-a-week challenge: 48 of 52 completed
54 stories in my 54th year challenge: 48 of 54 completed (I really need to get a move on here!)
writing days this week: 4/5
French:
CBC Gem
Scheduling Habits:
GOBOT: - up early for gaming with @'rin and @sleep_twitch
SOOT:
GBOT:
GR:
Cumulative Habit Scores:
Gaming Rules: 69
SOOT: 58
GBOT: 58
Streaks:
Consecutive days of working out: 104
Consecutive days of French study: 1496
Dancing
A few Jumping Jacks from a late volley in the Snowfight
Fit December: Days 7-8
Challenges:
First Thing Water: Day 28
1-Minute Meditation (modified to five minutes): Day 28
1-Minute Cardio: Day 28 -
1-Minute Plank: Day 28
1-Minute Yoga: Day 28
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 do one-legged calf raises, doing all the reps on both sides):
Skipped due to time again. (15 Challenges at once was maybe a bit too ambitious. What with the DAREtree, Snowfight, Fit December and Secret Santa--gifts for this are dropping today!--plus picking up daily dancing again on top of everything else. Several of these should finish up this week though. Which will hopefully make it easier to finish everything else before my birthday.) I probably covered Power Grip though, clenching my fists to try to keep my hands warm on our walks this day!
Daily Kicks: Day 19
Squat Hero: Day 27
Iron Core: Day 12
Glutes of Steel: Day 12
Daily Gratitude: Day 24
Mileage:
running:
hiking: 8.2 km
I really want to get back with my running too. Not going to happen Sunday as it's too cold and also super icy here right now. But we're heading into another thaw in the next couple of days--accompanied by rain. So things are likely to get messy. We'll see how it goes!
I had wanted to do a nature hike for the Solstice. But most of the trails here are just too icy at the moment. And I've read reports of the coyotes in my local conservation area being overly bold and threatening towards dogs lately. Shelby isn't a small dog. But she is old. Would the coyotes be able to sense that? I don't want to risk it! So the CA is likely off our map now until the spring.
Most of our walks this past week have just been within our own neighbourhood. Shelby does not mind as this is where the greatest concentration of her friends--many of whom carry treats--is. There is one small parkette we walk through, which connects adjacent north-south streets. I have been told it often becomes an ice rink in the winter too. But this week it has not been too bad. (It's snow-covered at the moment. We had better traction there yesterday than on many of the sidewalks.) This parkette is just a thin strip that runs between two rows of residential backyards. It has a walking trail, and a little kiddie playground. This day during our mid-day hike we saw a Red-tailed Hawk, a female Northern Cardinal, a Downy Woodpecker, a White-breasted Nuthatch, and some Dark-eyed Juncos, all within the space of a minute! (Sadly I did not have a camera with me. The light was pretty good. But when it's this cold out the batteries drain quickly. It's probably not awesome for the camera either. And I would not have been able to take my gloves off to work the shutter in any case.)
Writing:
Not a lot. Mostly just prepping/thinking about Sunday's work.
new fiction words: 0
fiction YTD: 156,115 + ? (still have some hand-written stuff to type up)
story-a-week challenge: 48 of 52 completed
54 stories in my 54th year challenge: 48 of 54 completed (I really need to get a move on here!)
writing days this week: 4/5
French:
CBC Gem
Scheduling Habits:
GOBOT:
- up early for gaming with @'rin and @sleep_twitchSOOT:
GBOT:
GR:
Cumulative Habit Scores:
Gaming Rules: 69
SOOT: 58
GBOT: 58
Streaks:
Consecutive days of working out: 104
Consecutive days of French study: 1496
Maegaranthelas
Well-known member
A superb solstice to you too
PetiteSheWolf
Well-known member
Happy solstice!
MadamMeow
Well-known member
Fae
from
Central NJ
Posts: 1,593
from
Central NJ
Posts: 1,593
"I see my vision burn, I feel my memories fade with time, but Im too young to worry..."
Congrats for 1-Minute Cardio!
Sólveig
Well-known member
Oh, I remember 1-minute Cardio! That was a fun challenge! 
princess_sarena
Well-known member
Congrats on the challenge!!!
Looking forward to the seeing what this year's gifts are gonna be
Looking forward to the seeing what this year's gifts are gonna be
Syrius
Well-known member
Valkyrie
from
The Sonoran Desert
Pronouns: she/her
Posts: 1,159
from
The Sonoran Desert
Pronouns: she/her
Posts: 1,159
"Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities... because it is the quality which guarantees all others."
Happy Badge Day!!! 
Anek
Well-known member
Sorceress
from
Bavaria, Germany
Pronouns: She/her
Posts: 2,916
from
Bavaria, Germany
Pronouns: She/her
Posts: 2,916
"If the time should come when you have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy, remember Cedric Diggory."
Congrats!!
Mamatigerj
Well-known member
Cheers for 1-Minute Cardio!