Today's Log (6-10-25)
Today was a good day. Partly because I let myself snooze and didn't set a second alarm so that was... nearly 10 hours in bed. ^_^;;; I think I needed it, though, because I felt so much better today than I had the past couple. The mate was running an errand so picked up some Taco Bell for us. Nom nom. I can at least sorta pretend it's health. (It's healthier than some options, lol.) I realized it's been a while since I've done my jogging in place so I picked that up. I've only got 2 episodes of my personal show and it left me on a massive cliffhanger though (going back and watching Haibane Renmei). I can't wait to finish it tomorrow. BF is back this evening for night 2 out of 3 over here. It's been *ages* since either of us ate at Captain D's so we decided to give that a go. We know it's not healthy or even remotely "good," but we still enjoy it, lol. (And there are health-ish options there, we just don't get them, lol.) Unfortunately, yeaaaaaah, their fish is so greasy that we're pretty sure neither of our stomachs enjoy it the most. So it'll continue to be an extremely rare thing, lol.

The mate and I ended up talking to his mom. We're planning a trip to visit my hometown because she's never been down that ways before. So figuring out a bit more details about it. And let her know about the mate's job and our future plans. I ended up talking to my dad afterwards (since he's coordinating a place for us to stay while we're down there) and let him know too. I also told Bestie S. So now everyone who needs to know does. I also think I've settled on the decision to try full time nights again (which I haven't done in a long time). At least for a year, maybe 6-months if it's really rough. But I think this will be a good thing for me and for us. I guess we'll find out, lol. I already told my boss I was considering it; we have to have a meeting for annual reviews so I'll let her know my decision and get her help with that.

Huh. Realized I've been exercising since (at least) last December. This blog was made December 13th and I was doing it for a bit before that point. NEAT! Granted, not every day, but definitely the vast majority of days. ^_^ Last day of TEN the sequel edition done! This time without any breaks during the 10 minutes of each day. Went noticiably better than last time so that's really exciting and motivating. :D

๐Ÿ Regular Quests:
  • Daily Hug Challenge - Done
  • 10 Minutes Daily Meditation - Done
  • Universal Warmup - Done
  • TEN: Sequel Edition - Day 30 - COMPLETED!
  • Arms of Steel [Seated]: Sequel Edition - Day 21 - Done
  • Better Sleep - Done
  • Daily Gratitude Challenge - Done
    • I'm grateful that my dad is pretty smart and planed a "what if" for our trip. (We asked for an extra night where we're staying because they are gonna celebrate July 4th early. He already figured that was a possibility.)
    • I'm grateful for all the hard work that the mate is putting in, even if he doesn't feel like he's doing as much as he is. (Which, OOF, I relate a ton to.)
    • I'm grateful for my tablet, since I'm able to immediately check books out at the library with it. <3 As well as art stuff.
  • Counting Victories Challenge - Done
    • Made the decision about going full time come fall (or whenever I have to start).
    • Realized it's been over 6 months of exercising most days and that's definitely something to celebrate!
๐Ÿ Optional Quests:
  • Balance Workout - Skipped
  • Jogging in Place - 20 minutes
  • Bonus Exercise - None
 
Today's Log (6-11-25)
Thanks @Mamatigerj @JCU @graoumia and @Anek ! ^_^

Where did today go? A bit busy, at least for the first part. I got stabbed. XD Joking, joking. I had my annual physical/checkup appointment. Alas, I have residents as my primary care provider and his is ending soon. So I'll have a different doctor next year. I'm use to it at this point, but it's kinda sad because I liked this one. Appointment went really well, no concerns. I did have some labs to do (hence the joke about getting stabbed); general stuff but also a lot of vitamins since my gastric bypass (even though it was ages ago) can cause some issues with that. So far it's looking really good. Vitamin D is a little low, so starting another supplement. Blah. I'm gonna have to work on my diet it seems. Waiting on some of the labs to result but so far everything else is looking great ... mostly. He's not worried about anything else, but I'm not happy with my blood glucose. Waiting on the A1C, but the glucose was 51.... probably around 2 hours after eating. :/ So, yeah, more proof that I'm probably struggling with reactive hypoglycemia. (Basically, I don't really get the highs. But depending on the diet, the body can freak out and overdo the insulin so the blood sugar can drop. It's not extreme numbers, but the speed of it can be a problem.) Common enough after my surgery and something I've struggled with on and off for ages.

So, yeah, gonna talk with the mate about adjusting my diet. One is increasing fiber. But also, I'm fairly certain I'm gaining weight and I don't want to have to count calories because that stress me out. So probably gonna have to figure out a way to make a more fruit and veggie based diet. Not going vegetarian, but maybe partially so or something. (Except fish, since that should be fairly healthy.) As someone who grew up with a "meat and potatoes" mindset to meals, that's gonna be interesting to figure out.

Other than that, fairly good day. Went by Michael's just to browse (and proud I didn't impulse buy any more art stuff, lol). I treated myself to a coffee shop afterwards and got a snack there. I finished the show I was watching and was happy it had a good ending. Got some time with the mate and with the BF. And then relaxing most of the evening. :) Also making plans for the mate and I to have another movie night with a VRChat friend tomorrow evening. I did kinda miss half my workout, but I got the new one started so that's a victory in my book.

๐Ÿ Regular Quests:
  • Daily Hug Challenge - Done
  • 10 Minutes Daily Meditation - Missed
  • Universal Warmup - Done
  • Hero's Journey - Day 1 - Lv 1 done. Meep, forgot just how much this program was! But gonna give it my all! And trying to pace myself better this time around. I did forget how much fun toe tap hops are though. ^_^
  • Arms of Steel [Seated]: Sequel Edition - Day 22 - Missed
  • Better Sleep - Missed
  • Daily Gratitude Challenge - Done
    • I'm grateful for all the hard work the mate has been putting in around the house
    • I'm grateful my blood tests so far are looking great
    • I'm grateful that I got a pretty good parking spot at all my stops today
  • Counting Victories Challenge - Done
    • Went to the appointment
    • Behaved while getting my blood drawn. XD
๐Ÿ Optional Quests:
  • Balance Workout - Skipped
  • Jogging in Place - Skipped
  • Bonus Exercise - None
 
Today's Log (6-12-25)
Good day. Slept pretty well. A bit lazy when I got up, but did get some stuff done after a bit. (The mate suggested a walk and that helped to clear the mind.) We had movie night planned with a friend on VRChat. They're a horror movie fan so they've been introducing us to a bunch of really cool ones. (Because of them, we can not WAIT until Happy Death Day 3 comes out.) This time it was Live Tonight with the Devil Late Night with The Devil which had a really interesting premise to it. We ended up enjoying the hangout this time (and had no real plans afterwards) that we ended up watching Meteor Man at the suggestion of the mate. Quite a change of pace, lol. That was the big event of the day; mostly just relaxing afterwards.

For exercise, I am just about down right giddy. For Hero's Journey, I went with Option A again since that was what I tried last time. And ... it was so much easier than I thought. I went back and apparently I had struggled to do 2 sets previously. Turns out that was back in January of this year. I guess all the hard work I've been doing has really paid off. :D Option B is still looking good though. I'm tempted to do Option B tomorrow and take the best rewards, haha.

๐Ÿ Regular Quests:
๐Ÿ Optional Quests:
  • Balance Workout - Skipped
  • Jogging in Place - Skipped
  • Bonus Exercise - Half mile walk around the neighborhood
 
JCU said:
Is the mate excited about Weapons? My brother in law has agreed to go with me and we both can't wait!
Click to expand...

I haven't heard of that one. We're actually not huge into horror, so our friend has been introducing us to ones that have a cool premise. Though for recent horror movies, I will admit I'm curious about Sinners that came out recently.


GentleOx said:
Did you mean Late Night with The Devil? I loved that one!

:shakez:
Click to expand...

That's the one! I fixed the title in my post. That was a lot of fun. Slow burn, but I loved the little details and hints they put in it. Plus, it felt so incredibly 70's, they nailed the tone. Though what's amusing is I had a minor tech issue like, 3/4ths of the way in, and that was amusing considering. XD
 
Weapons is coming out in August. Overview from Google:

On a random Wednesday at exactly 2:17 a.m., 17 children in the fictional town of Maybrook, Pennsylvania, vanish without a trace. Written, produced, and directed by Zach Cregger, Weapons stars Josh Brolin, Julia Garner, Alden Ehrenreich, Austin Abrams, Cary Christopher, Benedict Wong, and Amy Madigan.
Click to expand...

BiL and I both got big Children of the Corn vibes from the trailer, but since King isn't attached to it in any way I can find, we're hoping for some sort of Pied Piper situation. Definitely creepy vibes!

Sinners looks great! Loved @GentleOx 's synopsis!
 
Today's Log (6-13-25)
Better day than I expected. When I got up, the mate had breakfast and coffee ready for me. Even had lunch figured out and packed up. Gave me plenty of time to exercise and get ready. I even had time to meditate before work! I talked to him about my desire to adjust my diet as well as my concerns about having enough calories for the day and he kept that all in mind. Even experimented with sweet potato chips. YUM! Had work tonight but it went really well. (Especially for a Friday the 13th just a couple days past the full moon, lol.) Had an orientee I had met last week. She's a good ways along so I was able to go into stand-by mode while showing her just a few extra things. I also got to meet the neighborhood cat Beef that I'd heard about. My boss had a late day and was leaving just as I got there, so I told her the news that I was gonna try to go full time if I can when the new facility opened up. She was ESTATIC about the idea. Major boost of confidence there. :)

For Hero's Journey, lots of debate, but landing on the magic ring for now. No extra equipment needed (we have dumbbells but I don't want to grab them, lol). I feel like, by it's very nature, working on my core will help my arms as well so it's kinda a two for one in my book. Also realizing I need a cheat sheet for my options each day, lol. Going well getting the exercises done before work. Especially as the mate is helping a ton around the house. I truly feel spoiled, y'all. <3

๐Ÿ Regular Quests:
๐Ÿ Optional Quests:
  • Balance Workout - Skipped
  • Jogging in Place - Skipped
  • Bonus Exercise - None
 
Today's Log (6-14-25)
Lazy day was lazy. It didn't help that I only got up in the evening around 5 since I went to bed at 9ish. Such is the life of a night shifter~ I ended up being in charge of dinner. Mostly because I've had white rice leftovers I've been meaning to use up. Made a nice fried rice with a couple of frozen eggrolls on the side. I'm actually super proud of my fried rice. It's one of my favorite things to make up so I've gotten pretty decent with it over the years. ^_^

Answering a question about half squats, I decided to ask the mate to spot me to make sure I was doing full squats and not half squats like I thought. I ... was definitely wrong. I was doing half-squats. And apparently leaning waaaaay too far forward, curving my back. ๐Ÿ˜ฑ I ended up doing it infront of the full length mirror and he was absolutely right. Frustrating that I wasn't as far along as I thought I was, NGL. But he dug up some rope to put over a bar to help support me with my alignment while doing squats. That definitely seemed to help. And helped me stand back up. So hopefully by working on squats, I can get better at them because I think it's a muscle thing as well as fixing my form.

Though a little sad I lost track of time and only did part of my workout. I'll have to try and do better tomorrow.

๐Ÿ Regular Quests:
  • Daily Hug Challenge - Done
  • 10 Minutes Daily Meditation - Missed
  • Universal Warmup - Done
  • Hero's Journey - Day 4 - Done
  • Arms of Steel [Seated]: Sequel Edition - Day 24 - Done. 2 minutes is such a long time. ;n;
  • Better Sleep - Missed
  • Daily Gratitude Challenge - Done
    • I'm grateful for all the help and support my mate does
    • I'm grateful that even though I'm not where I want to be with my fitness levels, I've made a lot of progress over the past 6+ months.
    • I'm grateful for our variety of hot teas we have (had some honey vanilla chamomile this evening).
    • BONUS: I'm grateful that the protests here in Nashville went really well. Only one arrest, and it was a dude waving a gun at people (who are part of an anti-protest and was a Proud Boy from what I hear).
  • Counting Victories Challenge - Done
    • Laundry done and put away
    • Made dinner
๐Ÿ Optional Quests:
  • Balance Workout - Skipped
  • Jogging in Place - Skipped
  • Bonus Exercise - Practiced my squats and form. Not sure how many though
 
Today's Log (6-15-25)
Oof! Today started out kinda rough. Slept really good ... for 5 hours. Then insomnia after that. Though we had a bit of a misunderstanding (I told the BF that I might be sleeping in late, so let the mate know an updates. I meant I might just wake up when people get there. He thought I meant I wanted to push the meetup back. -_- I was a bit frustrated since that's the second time this happened and I thought it was cleared up last time. But we talked and we're on the same page now) so I got to sleep in extra. It did mean a shorter family day but it was a really good one. I told the metamour about how we've been getting into horror movies a little and, of course, she had some GREAT recommendations, haha. Lots of good interactions. Even got to talk to our Bestie who's outta town since she had a little downtime at work. <3

The mate has officially started the mead making up. Starting out with a basic recipe, but I may look up recommended varieties to try out. <3

Decided to pass on VRChat tonight since I had other things I wanted to do more. Or, that was the plan. But ended up jumping on for a little bit after the movie, which was nice. :)

Speaking of work, I'm slowly going through this "self care bingo" card. Basically it has a bunch of tasks you can do though only 1 a day is allowed. The more bingos you get, the more chances you have to win a self-care kit. Here's hoping! One of them was 15 minutes of stretching. I found a pretty good video for it. Made me realize how tight my thighs and hamstrings are (which is probably why I'm struggling with squats).

Video:

๐Ÿ Regular Quests:
  • Daily Hug Challenge - Done
  • 10 Minutes Daily Meditation - Done
  • Universal Warmup - Done
  • Hero's Journey - Day 5 - Lv 1 done. Though jumping lunges may kill me and I have to go much slower than the video shows. Legs are jello now~
    KEEPING THAT DINO EGG! DINO BABY MINE FOREVER!
  • Arms of Steel [Seated]: Sequel Edition - Day 25 - Lv 1 done
  • Better Sleep - Skipped since I did part of them during my 15 minutes of stretching
  • Daily Gratitude Challenge - Done
    • I'm grateful I ended up going onto VRChat after all. It was a good time.
    • I'm grateful that the BF was patient and heard me out when expressing my concerns. And we came to an understanding. He is AMAZING at modeling and helping me practice good communication. <3
    • I'm grateful that while I'll have to miss my book club meeting, I was able to get another shift in at work. That'll help since I'm taking all next week off for a trip.
  • Counting Victories Challenge - Done
    • Had difficult talk with the BF when I was feeling frustrated without loosing my temper about it.
๐Ÿ Optional Quests:
  • Balance Workout - Skipped
  • Jogging in Place - Skipped
  • Bonus Exercise - 15 minutes of stretching
 
Today's Log (6-16-25)
Oof, I'm on the sore side today. Not enough to not do anything, but enough that it's annoying.

Today started out really well. I was suppose to have an online meeting with my boss for an annual review. (Apparently they do it at the end of the fiscal year.) Turns out we didn't need to. She had nothing but praises to give and I had already told her my goal of advancing to full time in the fall. So I just had to read her document and check that I did so. Her comments made me tear up though because apparently I'm doing better there than I realized. เฒฅuเฒฅ

After that, went to go pick up my vitamin D I was prescribed as well as late lunch and dinner items. The BF came over shortly after we got back. I made up some breakfast for dinner (biscuits, eggs, and some frozen tots) with show time. I was giddy on Strange New Worlds that we got to the ~musical~ episode. :ragdoll:Then after that, sorta chilled and talked to friends online before convincing myself to dive into working out. And sometimes taking a look at the games the mate is playing on VRChat. After exercise was able to relax a bit. I did start up this month's Trinquette Challenge; a monthly drawing challenge using the provided references and the month's theme to practice drawing. (Please note, if you look at it and look at the refs, there are artistic nudes as that's common for drawing practice.) I'm ... pretty late getting started with it this time, lol. But still gonna give it a go! I don't always do it (more often than not, I don't, lol). But it's a fun challenge when the theme seems interesting.

Exercising is continuing to frustrate me but showing me progress. Annoyed the first push-ups to failure I could only do 5. But ... considering I couldn't do any previously, that's pretty incredible. I still feel stiff in the arms and elbows, but that should improve with increased arm strength (I think). Trying to leave space for both of these conflicting emotions. I've also never done an exercise to failure before so it's taking a bit to understand physically what that means.

I was whining to the BF about the Hero's Journey. He calmly told me while massaging my legs that "Well, you might not remember, but the Hero's Journey takes you to the underworld. And this is how you get there." ๐Ÿคฃ๐Ÿ’€

๐Ÿ Regular Quests:
  • Daily Hug Challenge - Done
  • 10 Minutes Daily Meditation - Forgot ^_^;;
  • Universal Warmup - Done
  • Hero's Journey - Day 6 - Lv 1 Done. First set was 5 push-ups, then 7, 8, 7, and 3. Though ... admittedly, not sure if I went down enough to count? ^_^;;;; And regular planks done, though in many small segments of 30secs-1min each.
  • Arms of Steel [Seated]: Sequel Edition - Day 26 - Done
  • Better Sleep - Done
  • Daily Gratitude Challenge - Done
    • I'm grateful my annual review went really well
    • I'm grateful the BF was able to come over early since I won't see him the next couple of days despite staying over (he won't get here until after I leave for work and he'll be gone by the time I get back). Even sneaked over to where he was sleeping just before he got up to snuggle a bit. <3
    • I'm grateful for manager's specials/reduced priced items at the grocery store. They make for nice treats
  • Counting Victories Challenge - Done
    • Made dinner
    • Got my meds from the pharmacy
    • Started a new sketch
๐Ÿ Optional Quests:
  • Balance Workout - Skipped
  • Jogging in Place - Skipped
  • Bonus Exercise - None
 
Today's Log (6-17-25)
Work night went pretty well, other than some rain when I was driving in. Fortunately it didn't affect traffic too much. The clients behaved well, which I always appreciate lol. I did end up helping one process a particularly rough day while balancing boundaries with them. (They've been having some attention seeking behaviors so it's a delicate balancing game basically.) I think it went well and seemed to have helped them.

That Hero's Journey though! I can't believe I got through that. I felt like I wasn't going to, lol. I think, when Arms of Steel [Seated] is done, I will either switch over to a flexibility/mobility workout or none for a bit to see how difficult Hero's Journey gets. I'm also debating about having two different workout plans; one for normal days and one for when I have less time before going into work (and therefore may have to do part of it there). Probably will take some trial and error for that.

Now bed time. Between probably getting up later than I did (because I'm going to bed so late) and the fact that my arms by my armpits are sore, I'm thinking I might go a bit easier on the workout when I wake up. Nighty night bees~

๐Ÿ Regular Quests:
๐Ÿ Optional Quests:
  • Balance Workout - Skipped
  • Jogging in Place - Skipped
  • Bonus Exercise - None
 
Today's Log Day Before Yesterday's Log (6-18-25)
(Technically this day was written at work with the intention of going to bed as soon as I got home and posting when I woke up. Best laid plans and all, lol.)

It has been a minute since I've done 2 nights in row. I forgot how yucky that is. XD I ended up letting myself sleep in some. The mate made up a nice breakfast and lunch for me. <3 Skipped on my workout but I did do some stretches and yoga at work. I'll list those below. My poor pecs and legs are sore ;n; Good night overall though. A bit busy, but the day nurse helped set up all my blood draw supplies which helped a ton. I actually listened to my coworker and got a nice nap in too.

Better Sleep
Hamstring Mobility
Arms and Shoulder Stretching
Post-Workout Recovery
Warm-ups

I actually may end up taking that as a starting point for making an alternative exercising list for days when I feel too sore or when I don't have time to exercise before work or something.

EDIT: Forgot part of the log! D:

Gratitude
1. ) I'm grateful I was able to sleep in and get a short nap in
2.) I'm grateful that when I messed up my coffee, the mate was able to salvage it. XD
3.) I'm grateful the day shift nurse helped set up my lab draws. I had to try and draw blood on 5 folks, so that was helpful.

Victory
Work went well! And managed to successfully draw blood on 3 of the 5 (and one of which I was pretty sure I wouldn't be able to since she had to be sent out for it last time). Bummed I missed that one, but that happens sometimes. I was previously pretty bad at it and I don't do it all the time, so fairly happy with it.

Today's Yesterday's Log (6-19-25)
Happy belated Juneteenth for the US folks.

Yesterday was a chaotic day. I forgot I had a counseling appointment in the early afternoon and didn't remember in time to reschedule it. So I woke up early to go for that. Went really well, though I feel like we talked about everything. I do those every 3 weeks now and this last 3 weeks was ... a lot. XD

Turned out it was a good thing I woke up early. My boss asked if I could work the tech shift that night and the next night. (They do 8 hour shift.) I ... was not wild about that and wanted to slowly shift my sleep schedule over in preparation for a vacation heading out on Monday. So I declined it, even if the extra shifts would be nice. She countered with an offer of a bonus for it. O.O So apparently they were desperate. I talked with the mate and agreed to give it a go. She thanked me a ton and totally encouraged me taking naps during any downtime, haha. I do love my workplace. XD

Fortunately that shift is from 10pm-6:30am so I had some time at home before heading out. The mate made up a nice meal for us and prepared lunch. It was nice relaxing a bit before work. Work itself went well. There were some hiccups but nothing major. And did catch something pretty useful so that was good. But even had some time between laundry and rounds and other tasks to work on my various sketches and read a bit. I'm reading American Cults which is truly fascinating.

No exercises done or even stretches. Mostly because I was tired and thrown off my schedule so much. ^_^;;;
 
Today's Log (6-20-25)
Today/Tomorrow is the summer solstice. I'll be celebrating it tomorrow though, as much as I always celebrate anyways. I have mac and cheese leftovers though. That's nice and sunny looking. That counts. XD

Tired and starting out the day kinda lazy. I slept in a bit since I had some trouble going to bed for some reason. I'll be busy at work anyways so it's not the end of the world to ease into the day, haha.

---
And indeed I was, lol. Not as busy as day shift was apparently (it was a ROUGH day for them), but had 4 loads of laundry to take care of as well as other tasks. I did get a nice lil' nap in though, so that helped. But took it fairly easy when I could so not as much extra stuff.

๐Ÿ Regular Quests:
๐Ÿ Optional Quests:
  • Balance Workout - Skipped
  • Jogging in Place - Skipped
  • Bonus Exercise - None
 
Today's Log Yesterday's Log
I forgot I still wanted to journal. ^_^;;; I was pretty zonked at the beginning of my day. It got better as the day moved on, but I didn't really feel up to much exercising and such. We did go on a nice mile walk around the neighborhood around twilight. Well, it was terribly humid but at least it wasn't as warm. Unfortunately not sure how much exercising I'll be getting done this week. We're heading off for vacation on Monday. Maybe walking at least. We'll have to see.
 
Hi all~

I was gone all last week for a vacation. My mother-in-law and brother-in-law haven't been to the Savannah, GA area before. I grew up in a small town about an hour south-east of there so we decided to take a vacation as a combo visit family and show off the area. Only one day was actually in Savannah though, haha. I also took them to one of the nearby islands. We had an amazing time. Went to the beach, on the river, on a trolley tour and a museum. And ate lots of really good food. I'm very happy as I managed to get both fried shrimp and some gator tail while down there. <3 And saw some fun animals including a family of barn owls.

I didn't did any exercise while down there. That wasn't a surprise, lol. But we did do a decent amount of walking so I'm gonna say that counts.

We actually got back Sunday evening pretty late. Monday was spent unpacking and recovering. (I actually slept 11 hours!) I meant to do at least a bit of exercise, but that didn't happen.

I'll have to try and remember to post some pictures later. Gonna try to get back into the workout routine today. But Art Fight is also starting, so we'll see how this month goes, lol. (Art Fight is a month-long art gifting/trading event disguised as a competition, basically.)
 
Thanks @graoumia and @JCU ! It was nice visiting but nice to be back home too. ^_^

OH! I forgot to mention one awesome thing. Apparently the nephew really is officially taller than me now. But I was indeed able to pick him up and spin him a little. It was much easier than last time. It helps that he's pretty thin, but it makes me happy since he's a highschooler now. <3

Today's Log (7-1-25)
Woke up a sleepy puppers. But getting back into the normal routine. I think I have finally caught up on all my discords and threads and stuff I follow, lol. (I have so many webcomics to read through though, lol.) I'm excited because Art Fight started today. I managed to finish one of the sketches I was working on just before it started. I've been doing art fight for ... 4 years now I think? It's a lot of fun and it allows me to experiment and push myself. Plus, I get lots of cute art myself.

But trying to get back into the workout and eating healthier. I definitely did NOT do that on vacation, haha. (Though I probably did better than I think ... maybe....) This month is really gonna be about balancing things. Especially since I've got another vacation later on to celebrate my 10 year anniversary with the BF. And I may have treated myself by buying a bundle of video games because I'm a sucker for point-and-click styled games (and they were super cheap on Humble Bundle). ^_^;;;

๐Ÿ Regular Quests:
  • Daily Hug Challenge - Done
  • 10 Minutes Daily Meditation - Done
  • Universal Warmup - Done
  • Hero's Journey - Day 9 - Lv 1 left side done. I wanted to do the "clear in one jump" but I feel like jump squats are one of those "looks easy but much harder than you think" sorta exercises. (Oops, just realized I messed up the dragon bit of this and used the ability when I wasn't suppose too. Oh well, I know now at least.)
  • Arms of Steel [Seated]: Sequel Edition - Day 29 - Done
  • Better Sleep - Done
  • Daily Gratitude Challenge - Done
    • I'm grateful that art fight is going well so far
    • I'm grateful a couple of appointments I had to reschedule were painless to do
    • I'm grateful I didn't really have anything planned today other than very flexible tasks
  • Counting Victories Challenge - Done
    • Got back into exercising
    • Great start to Art Fight
๐Ÿ Optional Quests:
 
Today's Log (7-2-25)
Groggy start to the day. I woke up in the middle of the night a little too early to get up and I think that threw me off a little bit. But I was able to go back into a dream I was having and make a satisfying ending to it, so that was nice. Day went fairly well, though it kept slipping past me pretty quickly. Had a wonderful date night with the BF. I'd missed him over the vacation so it was good to see him. His wife just left for a trip so it was good timing for him to spend some time together. Also managed to go for a couple of short walks with the mate today which was also nice. Second attack for Art Fight completed. It was a simpler one, but still fun. And the third attack is sorta thumb nailed. <3

For exercising, I realized that today is the last day of my repeat of Arms of Steel [Seated]. I'm thinking of holding off on repeating it again or replacing it. At least through July. I get the feeling that Hero's Journey is gonna get harder at a pretty steady rate looking at today's entry. But also, this is a busy month. ^_^;;; So I think I'll hold on it and reevaluate come August.

๐Ÿ Regular Quests:
  • Daily Hug Challenge - Done
  • 10 Minutes Daily Meditation - Missed
  • Universal Warmup - Done
  • Hero's Journey - Day 10 - Lv 1 done. Push-up amounts as followed:
    1. 5 push-ups / 6 wide (I accidentally did wide first)
    2. 5 regular / 6 wide
    3. 2 regular / 4 wide ;n;
    4. 5 regular / 7 wide
    5. 5 regular / 2 wide
      • TOTALS: 22 regular / 25 wide
  • Arms of Steel [Seated]: Sequel Edition - Day 30 - Done ๐ŸŽ‰
  • Better Sleep - Done
  • Daily Gratitude Challenge - Done
    • I'm grateful I got to see the BF this evening. I missed him so much
    • I'm grateful the evenings are cool enough that it's not oppressive to go walking
    • I'm grateful for my tablet which makes reading, drawing, and other things so convenient.
  • Counting Victories Challenge - Done
    • Completed the arms challenge for a second time
    • Second Art Fight attack completed
๐Ÿ Optional Quests:
  • Balance Workout - Skipped
  • Jogging in Place - Skipped
  • Bonus Exercise - 1 mile walk through the neighborhood (broken into 2 segments)
 
Today's Log (7-3-25)
Thanks a bunch @JCU @Obsinosterous @graoumia @Anek @Laura Rainbow Dragon !

Today was a bit of a lazy day. Unfortunately, I didn't sleep well last night. The space in our soffit (basically the space under the overhang of a house's roof) got opened up to critters again. This time it was those dang wasps. They apparently made a nest in there. It sounds like they're literally in the bedroom with us. ;n; Luckily the nest was taken care of by our HOA but there may be a couple that got stuck in there. Hopefully they won't be as troublesome. I ended up taking a long nap today (as best I could considering the situation) and going to bed early tonight. But because of that, I didn't feel too terribly productive. Missed the meditation and exercising. :C I did get some artwork done. I didn't finish it, but I'm on the inking of my current Art Fight attack so that's good at least.

I did keep my plan of hanging out with the mate and our mutual friend for movie night. We watched Bullet Train this time. I had heard of this but it was soooo much better than I thought it was going to be. Great mix of comedy and action. I remember telling my BF about an anime called Baccano! and it reminded him of this movie. But I swear, this movie was more over the top and "anime-like" than the anime was. XD (The anime and movie are not related, but has some similarities as both feature multiple groups on a train with similar goals without knowing about the other groups initially.)

But now I'm a tired puppy bee. Gonna try to hit the goals tomorrow, along with a little bit of grocery shopping to pick up my med refill. Here's hoping it's not too crowded with people doing late 4th of July shopping. >_<;;;

๐Ÿ Regular Quests:
๐Ÿ Optional Quests:
  • Balance Workout - Skipped
  • Jogging in Place - Skipped
  • Bonus Exercise - None
 
Today's Log (7-4-25)
Thanks @Fremen !

So today is the 4th of July. Which is a big deal in the US. Though ... with our current politics, it's hard to really celebrate at the moment. Fortunately, we got to see fireworks last weekend while on vacation and we don't really do much for it anyways. We also saw some during our evening stroll which was really nice as long as we didn't think about it being in the middle of the neighborhood. Welcome to America, lol. Though the pharmacy at my grocery store is closed, so that'll have to be done tomorrow. But means I can focus most of today on tasks like exercising and artwork. And cheers that I slept much better last night so I actually feel up to doing stuff. XD

One of the big tasks is working on hydration. I realize I've been dehydrated lately. I've got this big water jug for longer hikes and I figured I should put that to good use. I filled it up and gonna try to drink one a day of that. It's too big to fit on my desk, but hoping having it next to it will help.

Hero's Journey was annoying. Tried the middle difficulty of the three options. Despite no time being listed for between sets and taking advantage of that (lol), my legs are jello after 3 sets. I am happy that the rope pulley thing the mate set up for me to help with my squats worked out well. I'll have to try again tomorrow on the lower difficulty. Reminding myself that taking the "L" is not a failure. It's a win to recognize my limits and stop before hurting myself. And also that it's proof of how far I've come in this journey so far.

๐Ÿ Regular Quests:
  • Daily Hug Challenge - Done
  • 10 Minutes Daily Meditation - Done
  • Universal Warmup - Done
  • Hero's Journey - Day 11 - Middle Option - Incomplete
  • Better Sleep - Done
  • Daily Gratitude Challenge - Done
    • I'm grateful for the neighbor pointing out a cute bunny during our walk
    • I'm grateful having two art programs I use, since they have different things they are better at (or, at least I know how to do anyways)
    • I'm grateful we found space to work on a puzzle. I usually do them on my phone these days, but I found a cute deer one on vacation I'm slowly working on
  • Counting Victories Challenge - Done
    • Did squats much lower and MUCH better form than previously, even if I did need assistance
  • Water - Drank the jug today. That's 2.2 L. Which ... may be too much, but it's at least a start, lol.
๐Ÿ Optional Quests:
  • Balance Workout - Skipped
  • Jogging in Place - 20 minutes done
  • Bonus Exercise - Long walk through the neighborhood, about a mile and a half.
 
A simple tip that I've found helps me stay strong longer while hydrating myself is to take a small sip of electrolytes here and there as I drink my water. This summer, I've been putting a water bottle with electrolytes in my fridge every night and supplementing with it to beat the fatigue. There have been moments where I've had so much water and still felt thirsty and dehydrated, and it turned out, all I really needed was a little balance restored. The salts will help you in your water drinking goal, too.
 
@The_Foolish_Traveler - I use to alternate gatoraid and water. Honestly, I may pick that up again as this jug is definitely bigger than I need and doesn't have the electrolytes to make it stick as well. (Though as a comment to readers, make sure you alternate. Too much electrolytes can dehydrate you.)
 
Today's Log (7-5-25)
Not too bad of a day. Started out being spoiled a bit. I started up my coffee but the mate finished it up (even added some flavoring and whipped cream to it), made up lunch, and got me a glass of sweet tea to go with it while I got to just sit back and relax a bit. Said he hadn't been too productive so far and taking care of me was his job. Y'all, I seriously don't know why he didn't just go house-spouse so much earlier, haha. Went grocery shopping and found a couple of good sales. Also saw they had golden kiwis for sale so we picked up a batch. (Gold ones are so much better than standard green ones, IMO.)

After that, finished a jigsaw puzzle I was working on. Lots of lazying around, TBH, but did finish up an art fight attack I was working on. That makes 3 so far. (For the curious for comparison, last year I somehow managed to get 15 pieces of art of various quality and type finished.) I also got my workout in. The karma system on Hero's Journey is kinda fun since I never know what it'll be. (And ranges from more or less exercise to just silly lil' text.) It makes for an interesting lil' bonus. Glad I switched gears for day 11 though, the outer part of my thigh was sore this morning just from what I did yesterday. Also got another nice lil' walk in. The mate is doing a fitness challenge thing at his workplace (he's still technically there the rest of this month) so good excuse for lots of walks. ^_^

๐Ÿ Regular Quests:
  • Daily Hug Challenge - Done
  • 10 Minutes Daily Meditation - Done
  • Universal Warmup - Done
  • Hero's Journey - Day 11 - Left Option - Done. Much easier than the middle option, even with the karma
  • Better Sleep - Missed
  • Daily Gratitude Challenge - Done
    • I'm grateful for all the spoiling I've been getting.
    • I'm grateful the grocery store had golden kiwis since that's a rare treat
    • I'm grateful for cheese. XD (No one said these had to be serious or dead)
  • Counting Victories Challenge - Done
    • Meds and groceries acquired
    • Attack #3 done.
  • Water - Filled up to 1500ml line, drank about half maybe?. After this, switching back to water/gatoraid alternating, I think.
๐Ÿ Optional Quests:
  • Balance Workout - Skipped
  • Jogging in Place - Skipped
  • Bonus Exercise - Twilight walk through the neighborhood for a mile and a half
 
Whoops, forgot my log for yesterday. Not that I did much. ^_^;; I'll combine it with today's log. In exchange, here's some pictures from the vacation because I'm realizing I'm terrible at actually showing the pictures I take here. Lol! And yes, it's clear I love sunset and twilight pictures. ^_^

First is a couple pictures the mate took of some barn owls we got to see. I've never seen them that close in the wild before!
Barn Owl Darien June 2025 - 2 - Smaller.jpg
Barn Owl Darien June 2025 - 1 - Smaller.jpg


A picture of the river bed from a boat:

River Sunset June 2025 - Smaller.jpg

A couple of pictures of said river from the condo we stayed at:
River Sunset Condo June 2025 - Smaller.jpg
River Twilight Condo June 2025 - Smaller.jpg

And a picture of the beach we went to:

St Simons Island Beach June 2025 - Smaller.jpg
 
Today's Log (7-7-25)
So oops, didn't post about yesterday. Not a lot happened though. I woke up and we headed out to see the BF for family day. (He's wife was in Canada for a conference thing. Back today though.) Had a good time. Introduced him to My 100 Girlfriends Who Really Really Really Really Really Really Love Me which is really a fun show. After that we got home and took the long route around the neighborhood. Saw 3 cats and 4 bunnies, which was rather unexpected! Apparently we picked a good time to go for a walkers! After that hung out just a little and then jumped into VRChat. Aaaaaand, that's really about it, TBH.

So trying to be a bit more productive today to make up for the lack of it yesterday. Which that plan didn't start out the best, lol. I did manage to get some artfight art in and a little bit of productive stuff. I was gonna have date night tonight but with the BF's wife coming home, we agreed to switch it to Tuesday. Which was a really good idea since her flight was all over the place due to storms. I was probably a little lazier than meant, but not in a regrettable sorta way. Too much phone game time doing an event that was about to end and such instead of more ... enjoyable? tasks. But feel like I'm doing better. I also spent a good amount of time catching up on my web comics since I'd gotten pretty badly behind on some of them.

For exercise, I decided to add on the Unbound workout. I could use the flexibility and seems like it's probably compliment the other stuff well. I also realized I should probably spoil things related to Hero's Journey so I don't spoil anything. Sorry I didn't think about that earlier! ^_^;;;; Speaking of which ...
I realized I didn't finish the karma for that the other day. I only did half my skips that first day. And then 50 more yesterday before forgetting again. But I got the rest finished today!

๐Ÿ Regular Quests:
  • Daily Hug Challenge - Done
  • 10 Minutes Daily Meditation - Missed
  • Universal Warmup - Done
  • Hero's Journey - Day 12 - Done. Much easier than some of the other days. Good stretch too
  • Better Sleep - Done
  • Unbound - Day 1 - Done. Good leg stretchin'
  • Daily Gratitude Challenge - Done
    • I'm grateful we have a big pack of gatorades and that we can get them from Sam's
    • I'm grateful I switched date nights to tomorrow (for everyone's sake)
    • I'm grateful for the mate cooking and trying to make it presented nicely too.
  • Counting Victories Challenge - Done
    • New sketch done
    • Dishwasher ran
    • Drank a 20 oz Gatorade and then filled it with water and drank that too. And about half another of water.
๐Ÿ Optional Quests:
  • Balance Workout - Skipped
  • Jogging in Place - Skipped
  • Bonus Exercise - Walked a mile and a half around the neighborhood
 
Today's Log (7-8-25)
Today started out stressful unfortunately. Basically, due to various reasons both partially my fault and partially out of my hands, I'm not 100% sure what I'm doing tomorrow. I may be working that night. Or I may be going to a mandatory (per Joint Commission and the state of TN) class midday. Oooooooor ... I may be trying to figure out how to do both? Which would not be fun because the class is at 11am-2pm online but my shift is scheduled for 7p-7a which means sleep before work would be interrupted pretty badly. And I'm pretty protective of my sleep. Though I would be able to get sleep before and after the class ... and some good napping time at work. I'm hoping to figure out early in the morning before I go to bed, but we'll see. (It would help if I knew how often the class was offered!) My boss is in the loop about the whole thing, so we'll see. I recognized I was over worrying about it, tried to come up with a solution as best as I can, and now I just have to wait while realizing I'm not gonna loose my job or anything over this.

-breaths-

Otherwise, good night. Had date night with the BF. Got to talk to his wife a bit about how her trip went. We went out for Chinese and Japanese food; I got a nice order of chicken katsu. <3 And had a nice time watching shows. The rest of the evening was nice though nothing special happened. And that's not exactly a bad thing, lol.

๐Ÿ Regular Quests:
  • Daily Hug Challenge - Done
  • 10 Minutes Daily Meditation - Done
  • Universal Warmup - Done
  • Hero's Journey - Day 13 - Lv 1 Done. Please stop with the push-ups to failure. ;n; Managed to do: 10, 9, 8, 9, and 5. Though technically, I'm not sure I'm going down far enough to count, but I'm going as far as I can and that means it'll improve with time if I keep at it. (Trying to be positive, it's hard sometimes.)
    • Ring practice: Done with elbow planks. 2 minutes of planking is so long! ;n;
  • Better Sleep - Done
  • Unbound - Day 2 - Done. Much easier than I thought it would be for a 2 bar difficulty TBH
  • Daily Gratitude Challenge - Done
    • I'm grateful the mate was able to support and reassure me when I was super anxious
    • I'm grateful that the BF was able to comfort me and compliment me afterwards during date night. And that date night was really good
    • I'm grateful the Japanese place was good. The metamour had talked about it and liked it, but this was the first time I was able to try it. <3
  • Counting Victories Challenge - Done
    • Handled my anxiety well. Recognized when I started spirally, gave room for the emotions, figured out a game plan, and thought about realistically what would happen. I handled it MUCH better than I have in the past.
๐Ÿ Optional Quests:
  • Balance Workout - Skipped
  • Jogging in Place - Skipped
  • Bonus Exercise - None
 
Logs for the past few days. I'll do today's later.

7-9-25 Log
Busy and weird day! I had a mandatory CPI (crisis prevention institute/intervention) class for work that was during the day. But I also had a night shift. I was hoping to either see if the classes were offered another time or if I could switch shifts with someone. No dice either way. So ran with it. I figured this was a relatively low-risk way of seeing if I could pull this off in case of an emergency or something. So in bed by 6am, up at 10:30am, bed again at 1pm, up again at 5pm (was gonna be 4 but I snoozed). And took a nice nap at work. The class was really useful though! I had taken similar (handle with care) but I liked this one better since it had more about your behavior instead of just reacting to the other person. My anxiety was a bit more active with the fatigue, but I was able to recognize it and work accordingly. Fortunately, we have a really good group at work so while it's a full house, it's not as busy as some shifts had been. Other than a lot of blood work needed to be done in the morning. ;n;
๐Ÿ Regular Quests:
๐Ÿ Optional Quests:
  • Balance Workout - Skipped
  • Jogging in Place - Skipped
  • Bonus Exercise - None
7-10-25 Log
I found out that my fatigue has different expressions. This one was being slightly forgetful or spacy. Fortunately work was even easier than the day before. But I probably should have taken a nap. I thought I was okay and .... no. Found out Friday (7-11) that I accidentally took some keys home. Also managed to lock myself out of the house and had to wake the mate up. ;n; And managed to get my stomach upset by overeating/eating too quickly. (Due to my gastric bypass, I have to keep an eye on that sometimes.) Overall, though, it wasn't a bad day though. I even got to work on a jigsaw puzzle some. But no workout since I was tired

๐Ÿ Regular Quests:
  • Daily Hug Challenge - Done
  • 10 Minutes Daily Meditation - Missed
  • Universal Warmup - Missed
  • Hero's Journey - Day 15 - Missed
  • Better Sleep - Missed
  • Unbound - Day 3 - Missed
  • Daily Gratitude Challenge - Done
    • I'm grateful that a gas station was directly on the way to work (and was able to get more coffee and lil' treats for myself there)
    • I'm grateful I could work on a puzzle at work a little
    • I'm grateful for good conversations with coworkers
  • Counting Victories Challenge - Done
    • Managed to convince myself not to over caffeinate.
    • I had made a mistake and instead of pretending it didn't happen, I owned up to it and apologized. This is a big thing, especially with work, to allow myself to be vulnerable and own up to it instead of pretending to be perfect.
๐Ÿ Optional Quests:
  • Balance Workout - Skipped
  • Jogging in Place - Skipped
  • Bonus Exercise - None
7-11-25 Log
I did almost nothing, lol. I did go on a walk for a mile and a half. But that was really about it. I kinda just took the day to relax. Figured I will get back into it today (7-12).
 
7-12-25 Log
Pretty good day. I woke up kinda groggy. My brain did not want to register sleep time last night. My guess is a mixture of eating late and not using up enough energy to be tired. But I got a long nap in and a couple cups of coffee in me, so I'm doing alright. XD I had to drop off a set of keys that I accidentally took home. Which was a bit annoying but it did get us out of the house. There was also a pub I was curious about because I pass it all the time on my way to work so we went there for lunch. Not bad. Rest of the day was kinda chill.

A package came in for me that I was excited about. My workplace did a mindfulness bingo challenge, where doing different activities lets you daub a square. More bingos meant more chances to win. So I did the whole page, haha. I ended up winning one of the Self-Care kits which came in today. Had some snacks, a candle, a journal, and a few other nifty items. I also won a premium prize, though that's gonna take a bit longer to get here. I got to pick that one out, so got a photo printer. :D

Was gonna go for a walk but it started raining, so skipped on that.

๐Ÿ Regular Quests:
  • Daily Hug Challenge - Done
  • 10 Minutes Daily Meditation - Not formalized, but had moments of reflection during the evening I'm gonna count for this.
  • Universal Warmup - Done
  • Hero's Journey - Day 15 - Done
    • Fighting enemy dragons ... Look away, my lil' dragon baby. You see NOTHING!
    • Push-ups: 8, 7, 8, 10, and 6
    • It hurts emotionally to leave the health bar half full. But I was already feeling it in my legs after the first set, so only did the mimium of 5". Also used baby dragon extra rest minute. Those jump squats are murder on my thighs.
  • Better Sleep - Done
  • Unbound - Day 3 - Skipped
  • Daily Gratitude Challenge - Done
    • I'm grateful that the mate and I can just chill, doing our own things quietly, and still be cozy in each other's presence. Parallel play is very underrated. :)
    • I'm grateful for the goodies I won. Some new treats to try which should be fun. ^_^
    • I'm grateful that it wasn't a problem that I took the work keys home by mistake the other day. People are so nice there. ๐Ÿฅบ
  • Counting Victories Challenge - Done
    • Got back into my workout!
๐Ÿ Optional Quests:
  • Balance Workout - Skipped
  • Jogging in Place - Skipped
  • Bonus Exercise - Done Skipped. Was going to, but that was right when it started raining, lol.
 
7-13-25 Log
I think I like this format for labeling the posts. ^_^

Good day today for the vast majority. The BF, metamour, and another of his partners (visiting from out of state) came over. We had a really good time hanging out and chilling together. There was one point where I was getting a bit overwhelmed, so I excused myself to go upstairs and decompress for a bit. Really proud of myself for recognizing that. Other than that, it's been good. Afterwards kinda chilling. Had to eventually convince myself to back onto things though. The mate and I took a bit of walk between rainy times. And after a bit of wasting time online, got to setting up art stuff and exercise stuff. I did end up skipping on the VRChat but I think that's okay. Still a little tired, TBH. And I'll have enough excitement this week between the BF spending the night tomorrow night for an inperson class he has to lead, then me going to his place Tuesday night and actually spending the night there, and then our lil' 10 year anniversary vacation. So I think it's okay to rest while I can, lol.

I did have a great positive though! My second package came in a lot sooner than I thought. The photo printer was super user friendly and easy to set up. I already printed out a couple of things; a picture of the mate and BF together and a couple of smaller pictures (one of the BF and his wife, one of Bestie S) for a photo frame like I've been wanting to do for AGES! Now I've got pictures of them in the living room. <3 I'm hoping we'll be able to figure out how to print stickers with it too!

๐Ÿ Regular Quests:
  • Daily Hug Challenge - Done
  • 10 Minutes Daily Meditation - Missed
  • Universal Warmup - Done
  • Hero's Journey - Day 16 - Done
    • Thank you for this easier day.
  • Better Sleep - Done
  • Unbound - Day 3 - Done, yay! Seems taking more time between this and Hero's Journey was the key. <3
  • Daily Gratitude Challenge - Done
    • I'm grateful the crew is understanding that today was a bit extra spicy for my neurospiciness, haha
    • I'm grateful for the goodies from work. Especially since it let me do something I've been wanting to do a for a while now.
    • I'm grateful for this manga I found to read. Cozy and fun, so that's nice.
  • Counting Victories Challenge - Done
    • Recognized when I was getting overwhelmed and handled it appropriately.
    • Started the dishwasher for the mate.
๐Ÿ Optional Quests:
  • Balance Workout - Skipped
  • Jogging in Place - Skipped
  • Bonus Exercise - 1 mile walk around the neighborhood
 
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