Goal + Action = Reality

Lady Celerity

Lady Celerity

Well-known member
from The Woods. NorCal
Posts: 821
"..one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on.."
TopNotch said:
Been thinking further about Big Questions. I'd asked one earlier and now I've got more for you (with music that is either a prompt or my answer where I can). Here's this week's question:
In one sentence, who are you?
Click to expand...
You go first.
 
MadamMeow

MadamMeow

Well-known member
Fae from Central NJ
Posts: 1,461
"I see my vision burn, I feel my memories fade with time, but Im too young to worry..."
TopNotch said:
Been thinking further about Big Questions. I'd asked one earlier and now I've got more for you (with music that is either a prompt or my answer where I can). Here's this week's question:
In one sentence, who are you?
Click to expand...

Sorry to hear about your foot, but hoping the screws will help you. It's insane you could do all of that on it, that's pretty boss! :vibes:

As for who am I? ... I'm your worst nightmare pal!

Kidding of course. I am not Batman either.

I'm a metal head, former pot head/former chain smoker, gamer girl.

A bit of drifter/lost soul. Lost my family less my two dads before I was 18 to cancers and drunk drivers. After the DD at 11, it was hard for me to relate to everyone so I kind of moved from group to group.

I've also been basically married since I was 15. First boyfriend/husband (not actual) from when I was 15-28 less 2 weeks the entire time. Then I met my now husband a week and a half after we broke up.

I realized after my ex I don't know what I want so I use Random.org to dictate a lot of my life from the makeup colors I wear on each day, to rotating my recipes to make my shopping lists around. I wear my outfits in the order they are folded out of the dryer (there is more system to this though lol).

The random thing is another reason why I love this site so much. Random exercises daily. LOVE IT!

I wasn't allowed to have my own friends, we hung out with his, who were cool except for one family.

So in my early 20s I became a work-a-holic. I'm a powerhouse secretary, I always get promoted to something else not long after. I've worked two places, including where I am now twice. Place before this closed, but I got a job somewhere else and my old boss stole me from that when used as a reference. lol

Part of being so good is because I put people on pedestals and try to figure out what they want. Since I don't know what I want, figure out what they want type of thing.

Not the best thing to say, so there I'm like a service dog. LOL

tl;dr I'm a metal head, former pot head/former chain smoker, gamer girl, drifter/lost soul, random, service dog...

:imp:

Awkward Season 4 GIF by The Office
 
TopNotch

TopNotch

Well-known member
Ranger from Australia
Posts: 1,972
"Motivation is temporary. Discipline is forever."
Lady Celerity said:
You go first.
Click to expand...
Okay, challenge accepted. Let's see...
I'm a wannabe hero, constantly training mentally and physically so as to be ready should the time ever come.

And that's pretty much as raw me as you'll ever see. I'll not ask anyone to do anything I'm not prepared to do myself! Though I don't ask that you publish your response (though you are welcome to, of course), but rather just answer the question to yourself.
 
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TopNotch

TopNotch

Well-known member
Ranger from Australia
Posts: 1,972
"Motivation is temporary. Discipline is forever."
@MadamMeow Must say that your response made me a little sad.
MadamMeow said:
I put people on pedestals and try to figure out what they want. Since I don't know what I want, figure out what they want type of thing.
Click to expand...
Especially this bit. Why not figure out what you want? I realise that being with another person who might be more dominant can easily repress a person and it would be very difficult to get out of that habit.
But randomness?! My INTJ personality recoils in horror! :cool:
I believe that we only get one go-around in this world, one chance to live our own lives. Me, I'm taking it.
(This was my theme song last year - an oldie but a goodie.)
 
TopNotch

TopNotch

Well-known member
Ranger from Australia
Posts: 1,972
"Motivation is temporary. Discipline is forever."
TopNotch

TopNotch

Well-known member
Ranger from Australia
Posts: 1,972
"Motivation is temporary. Discipline is forever."
Power Hold Challenge - Day 7
Daily Kicks Challenge - Day 4
De-stress Challenge - Day 4
Powerbuilder - Day 6

Grey for much of the day but still warm. More people came earlier to the range than usual, probably because it was going to heat up. There are five fixed butts at the range and the rest are moveable ones kept in a container, and you just wheel one out and stick it where you want (if you don't want to use a fixed butt). I'm generally about the first to get a target out and then slowly others come along. Two blokes with their longbows always set up on the furthest edge shortly after I get out there. If people don't set up too close to your target, you can shoot and collect your arrows without worrying about whether or not other people are shooting. This is what I like to do because it goes faster without having to wait for other people. Before I finished this morning, I noted where my target was and where the other targets were...
20240107_095046.jpg
Okay, so I'm not a sociable cove! :cool:

Reading: finished Kill Shot.
 
TopNotch

TopNotch

Well-known member
Ranger from Australia
Posts: 1,972
"Motivation is temporary. Discipline is forever."
Power Hold Challenge - Day 8
Daily Kicks Challenge - Day 5
De-stress Challenge - Day 5
Powerbuilder - Day 7. Adapted again. Lunges are out because of so much bending of the foot. I thought I'd give bulgarian split squats a go instead but after one set, I felt too unstable on a foot that I couldn't really stabilise well so I swapped to weighted squats instead. For one set of those, a cat decided to jump on my back - which made things kind of interesting... No calf raises and the renegade rows were also out due to toes and stabilisation, so I did bent-over single-arm rows instead. Hmm, looks like I changed the day entirely! No, wait, I did the push-ups as written. :LOL: And after them I did 10 machine hamstring curls with 3-count eccentrics.
Unbound - Day 4

Reading: started Without Fail.
 
TopNotch

TopNotch

Well-known member
Ranger from Australia
Posts: 1,972
"Motivation is temporary. Discipline is forever."
Power Hold Challenge - Day 9
Daily Kicks Challenge - Day 6
De-stress Challenge - Day 6
Powerbuilder - Day 8

Bit tired today because I went to bed too darned late. It's getting worse. Last night, after reading @Nevetharine's chapter, I decided to go back and read one of my own fight scenes and then I got so stuck into it (and remember, this is something I wrote so I know it fairly well!) that I just kept reading. The cat came along and pummelled my chest, making it impossible to see the computer so I had to wait until she finished (of course, because she's a cat) before I could continue and before I knew it, it was 1:30. And then the phone rang, waking me up. No, I didn't blush when I saw it was 9:10. It's holidays. And I even told the caller that he'd woken me. :LOL: Well, it was my physio, calling to give me the bad news and advise on surgeons. What fun... Anyway, I signed up for the March Charge again this year - https://www.themarchcharge.com.au/fundraisers/topnotchhy - that's a Cancer Council thing. I figure by March, surely I'll be getting the kilometres in again, hey?

Finished the jigsaw puzzle the girls gave me for Christmas. It was another of those Impossibles ones, with owls and baseball bats. From a charity shop but it had all the pieces so that was good. This one took me a while because I had to think with it, and when I think while doing a jigsaw, my creative juices really start to flow and I had to keep pulling over my laptop and do some writing.

I see it's quarter after midnight already and I'm nowhere near ready for bed. If I really hustle, I might get there before 12:30.
 
Deadoks

Deadoks

Well-known member
Viking from Belgium
Posts: 707
"Berserker"
Hell'o,
Another very nice and complete log that I'll try to follow.

You do very well on your challenges!
I like the little stories or pictures all around from day to day.

Very good work!

Sorry to hear you had bad news... Hope all will go well for 2024.
Take care
 
TopNotch

TopNotch

Well-known member
Ranger from Australia
Posts: 1,972
"Motivation is temporary. Discipline is forever."
Power Hold Challenge - Day 10
Daily Kicks Challenge - Day 7
De-stress Challenge - Day 7
Powerbuilder - Day 9. Did the presses, curls and rows as drop sets.
Unbound - Day 5

Well, I almost made it to bed by 12:30 except I saw a basket of washing that I hadn't hung out (I had to do the nonagen's washing. That's really something I'd rather not think about!), so it was about 12:45 instead. Well, still before 1, so yay.
Had to spend a preposterous amount of money going to a GP to get a referral to a specialist. Such a rort, that. Anyway, now I wait for the surgeon to get back to me.
And here's a picture of the puzzle I finished yesterday. I realise that it actually took me 9 days! Admittedly, I was a little distracted. Still, it was fun. Even had all five of the extra pieces they throw in to mess with your mind.
20240110_102528.jpg
 
MadamMeow

MadamMeow

Well-known member
Fae from Central NJ
Posts: 1,461
"I see my vision burn, I feel my memories fade with time, but Im too young to worry..."
Wow, you weren't kidding when you said that was hard. I used to love doing crazy puzzles, but never had one where they give you extra pieces & no borders!

That deserves a bravo.

Well Done Bravo GIF by Friends
 
TopNotch

TopNotch

Well-known member
Ranger from Australia
Posts: 1,972
"Motivation is temporary. Discipline is forever."
Power Hold Challenge - Day 11
Daily Kicks Challenge - Day 8
De-stress Challenge - Day 8
Powerbuilder - Day 10

Animated GIF

The surgeon reviewed my films and determined that I won't need surgery and the fracture is one that takes about 3 months (!) to resolve. He suggested I wear good supportive footwear, running shoes with stiff soles like Hoka - but I don't have any of them and they're way too expensive anyway. I guess my Vivobarefoot shoes are out of the question! :LOL: Think I'll chat with the physio and see what alternatives there may be, and if I have to wear shoes all the time (I only wear shoes when I have to go out). Three months. I wonder if that takes into account the fact that I've kind of neglected it for seven weeks... Perhaps 3-4 months might be a better estimate. Even so, it's unlikely I'll be back to taekwondo this term. Possibly by the end of term...? Overall, though, Good News. Must have been all the healing vibes sent my way. ;)

After tucking the Lad into bed last night, he stopped me just as I was at the door and asked me a question. "How many people have you killed?" I think in three books, there have only been four definite deaths (one a suicide), and a handful of potential others (though they could have just been woundings). I think I'm pretty restrained. Makes me wonder, though, why the Lad was thinking about it...
 
Laura Rainbow Dragon

Laura Rainbow Dragon

Moderator
Moderator
Bard from Canada
Posts: 2,301
"Striving to be the change."
TopNotch said:
After tucking the Lad into bed last night, he stopped me just as I was at the door and asked me a question. "How many people have you killed?"
Click to expand...
:shoked:I hope that's not a topic he discusses outside your home!

Good news on your foot. (Though I feel you on the shoes thing. I too am barefoot whenever I can be.)
 
TopNotch

TopNotch

Well-known member
Ranger from Australia
Posts: 1,972
"Motivation is temporary. Discipline is forever."
Nevetharine said:
I lost count of the amount of people I kill in books. Armies. Villages. Towns. Not counting the ones in Skyrim...
Click to expand...
I know. Just in that one chapter you killed more people than I did in three books! (Though in book 4 I know there will be at least four going down...) Though the Lad reckoned I was responsible for the bloke who committed suicide, given he was fearing retribution, but I reckon it was his own choice. Perhaps we have to have a chat about personal responsibility and liability...
 
TopNotch

TopNotch

Well-known member
Ranger from Australia
Posts: 1,972
"Motivation is temporary. Discipline is forever."
Power Hold Challenge - Day 12
Daily Kicks Challenge - Day 9
De-stress Challenge - Day 9
Powerbuilder - Day 11. Squats - 5-down, 3-hold, 1-up. Skipped (of course) the calf raises. The first set of kickbacks I did with too low a weight. I'd rather start too high and drop down than start too low and know that there was more left in the tank. Push-ups and hold - decided to combine these with another 5-down, 3-hold, 1-up. Boy, did that burn! :onfire: I set myself a limit/goal of 10 and by the last I was on my knees. To the end of each set, I added 10 machine hamstring curls and 10 lat pull-downs with a short hold at the bottom. Spent the two minutes between sets sorting out more books. Why do I have 10 books on the I Ching? I'm not even interesting in the I Ching... I 'inherited' a number of books from a friend and just dumped them on my shelf and haven't ever looked at them. Time to move them on.
Unbound - Day 6
Single-leg balance hold - 50s left, 1min right. A physio exercise. I figure 1 minute is fine to aim for with both. Admittedly the physio wants me to focus on eyes closed but that's so not a happening. Well, not for more than 5 seconds! :LOL: Okay, I'm working on it.

Started another puzzle yesterday and I'm trying to limit the time spent on it so it lasts longer.

Reading: finished Without Fail (yesterday), started The Visitor.
 
TopNotch

TopNotch

Well-known member
Ranger from Australia
Posts: 1,972
"Motivation is temporary. Discipline is forever."
Power Hold Challenge - Day 13
Daily Kicks Challenge - Day 10
De-stress Challenge - Day 10
Powerbuilder - Day 12
Butterfly sit-ups x 53 for @Laura Rainbow Dragon

Lovely storm this afternoon. Except that I had to drive in it. Because the water came down so fast and there wasn't time for it to drain away, even driving relatively slowly, I sent up some high bow-waves - to the height of the windows! The car even stopped once because I had to slow at a turn and everything was so wet. Started again quickly, though. When I got home, saw water lapping at the garage door. The entire garage was flooded, and water had continued on through the laundry and to the back door. Means all the towels and bedding I'd lazily left dumped on the laundry floor now needs to be washed promptly! I love a good thunder storm.

Reading: Finished The Visitor, started Killer Instinct.
 
TopNotch

TopNotch

Well-known member
Ranger from Australia
Posts: 1,972
"Motivation is temporary. Discipline is forever."
Power Hold Challenge - Day 14
Daily Kicks Challenge - Day 11
De-stress Challenge - Day 11
Powerbuilder - Day 13. The greatest challenge I'm having with this programme right now is finding alternatives for lunges and suchlike, seeing as I don't want to put too much weight on my toes. Seriously, this has been interesting fun. I was just doing squats, but sometimes I want to rest those poor old knees and try something different. Today, I decided for the split lunges and lunge step-ups, I would substitute plain old step-ups and banded knee thrusts (both while holding weights). After the first set of knee thrusts, however, I found myself becoming a little unstable on a single foot, given the dynamic nature of the knee lifting, so I converted to a new-to-me exercise - a banded kneeling hip hinge. I quite liked that one. Must remember to do it again some time. Did drop sets again for the bicep curls. Think I might try these on the preacher curl pad next time.
Unbound - Day 7

Finished my jigsaw. That was
Friends Tv Reaction GIF by Nick At Nite
 
Deadoks

Deadoks

Well-known member
Viking from Belgium
Posts: 707
"Berserker"
TopNotch said:
The greatest challenge I'm having with this programme right now is finding alternatives for lunges and suchlike
Click to expand...
Oh I know the feeling as I try to do the same but for different reason.
I'm soooo not flexible that I avoid side anything exercises and climbers... I then do normal lunges out of side one, or just squats... We adapt to the body and injuries.

Good work doh.
 
TopNotch

TopNotch

Well-known member
Ranger from Australia
Posts: 1,972
"Motivation is temporary. Discipline is forever."
Power Hold Challenge - Day 15
Daily Kicks Challenge - Day 12
De-stress Challenge - Day 12
Powerbuilder - Day 14

Today was deliberately planned as a quiet day because I had a plasma donation scheduled for the late morning. Bit apprehensive, given what happened last time, but this time I did more than simply squeeze the stress ball I was handed. I tensed my bum and thighs and wriggled my toes for the whole half-hour (now my bum is complaining!) and I reckon that was about worth a workout! Initially I was squeezing the little ball far harder than necessary and my forearm was burning. I thought that if I kept doing this sort of thing, I'd end up with a Popeye left forearm and an Olive Oyl right forearm. :LOL: So I started doing just little squeezes. And kept jiggling around in the chair while I listened to my music. Almost dancing but not too obviously. And I felt fine. They were supposed to drain out 618ml this time, and they took 619ml (machine was obviously a little slow to stop). Had one strawberry and one caramel milkshake. Don't think I'll have caramel again. I tell my children I only do this for the milkshakes. Next time I'll try the chocolate. The Lad asked if I couldn't take one home...:no:

And here's the puzzle I finished yesterday. A little more mainstream as it had edges and the picture on the box was what I ended up with. Manipulated colours, though, and this brand has the highest quality I've yet come across.
20240115_102349.jpg

Now, however, there are no new puzzles in my house. Yes, I went into the garage where I keep them and I counted them. If I do a puzzle a week, it would take about 5 seasons to do them all. :cool: Yet I did them all, plus more that I ended up not wanting to keep, last year (except for the two I've done this year) so obviously I did more than one a week. But the desk is clear again and I know what that means - I have to get back to work. Slack time is over, TN, time to crack the whip. And bones.

Reading: finished Killer Instinct (very good, might look for more by this author), started Echo Burning. There is never a long gap between finishing one book and beginning another. I don't know if this is a good or a bad thing...

(Damn. I just noticed that I started the puzzle on Friday and finished it on Sunday. Obviously hadn't taken it as slowly as I intended.)
 
TopNotch

TopNotch

Well-known member
Ranger from Australia
Posts: 1,972
"Motivation is temporary. Discipline is forever."
Power Hold Challenge - Day 16
Daily Kicks Challenge - Day 13
De-stress Challenge - Day 13
Powerbuilder - Day 15. Today I swapped the lunges for weighted single-leg heel taps, skipped the calf raises, and did the preacher curls. Definitely leave the ego behind with those - had to drop the weight by about a third! They felt good though and I'll definitely keep them in mind every time bicep curls come up. Preacher curls apparently target the biceps more succinctly. Once again, I did the 5-3-1 push-ups. Phew. Also, because I felt they were getting a tad neglected, dropped in 5 sets of 10 overhead tricep extensions.
Unbound - Day 8

Busy day today. My hen is broody and my usual produce store is no longer stocking day-old chicks but I located someone who was selling fertilised eggs so drove out to get them. Carefully stuck them under the complaining hen (she only pecked me once) and in about 3 weeks, we'll see what happens.
 
Nevetharine

Nevetharine

Well-known member
Viking from The Depths
Pronouns: She/her
Posts: 891
TopNotch said:
My hen is broody and my usual produce store is no longer stocking day-old chicks but I located someone who was selling fertilised eggs so drove out to get them. Carefully stuck them under the complaining hen (she only pecked me once) and in about 3 weeks, we'll see what happens.
Click to expand...

Le sigh... when I grow up, and move out of my grandfather's house to one that has a fence, I want chickens.
 
TopNotch

TopNotch

Well-known member
Ranger from Australia
Posts: 1,972
"Motivation is temporary. Discipline is forever."
Power Hold Challenge - Day 18
Daily Kicks Challenge - Day 15
De-stress Challenge - Day 15
Powerbuilder - Day 17. Instead of the side lunges, I did weighted hamstring curls. My right leg is much weaker than my left and it was a bit of a struggle but that's good - plenty of room for improvement!
Unbound - Day 9
Overhead tricep extensions 3 x 10 - forgot to add them to PB so did them later.
Seated hip flexor exercise - from the physio because the strange way I've been walking for a while now is negatively affecting my opposite hip. So I sit on the edge of something and dump a couple of weight plates on my lower thigh and then lift my knee as high as I can (with 15cm of weight-plate between my leg and chest) without leaning backwards. 3 x 12. Decided that it wouldn't hurt to do ditto with the other leg too, so I did. Hardest thing was holding those weights onto my thigh!

Saw the physio this morning. Yes, I have to wear shoes all the time! Well, obviously not in bed or in the shower but otherwise... I brought my other shoes in with me so we could determine which had the most rigid soles (figured my Vivobarefoot shoes wouldn't be considered "supportive" so left them home!) and he decided my trail shoes were the stiffest, though not very stiff. We'll see how they go. The aim is to keep the foot immobile, but it's really difficult not to take off my shoes every time I sit down because I don't tend to wear shoes inside. Have to put that habit on hold for a bit and just suck it up. Fun and games.

For a little bit of excitement this evening, the power went out for a whole two seconds. Just enough time to screw everything up and turn off the internet which then never comes back well and takes a while to fix, and the oven display now needs resetting. Ah, the joys of an electric life!

Reading: Finished Bad Luck and Trouble and Is Your Neighbour a Zombie? (non-fiction and it sounded a whole lot more interesting than it actually was so it's not taking up any shelf-space in my house!). Started Worth Dying For.
Damn, it's gone 1 again! Where does the night go?! Better get to bed. Hey, finally I get to take off my shoe. :)
 
TopNotch

TopNotch

Well-known member
Ranger from Australia
Posts: 1,972
"Motivation is temporary. Discipline is forever."
Power Hold Challenge - Day 20
Daily Kicks Challenge - Day 17
De-stress Challenge - Day 17
Powerbuilder - Day 19. Added leg extensions and EZ-bar wrist curls. When I remember to correct what Garmin records, I get a nice diagram of what bits have been worked.
Screenshot_20240120_121600_Connect.jpg
Such as this, today. Yep, calves are a bit neglected right now but I'll hit those hamstrings and triceps next time.
Unbound - Day 10
Elliptical - 10 mins, 2.65km. Been very slack with regard to cardio recently so made myself get on the elliptical for a bit. Even went backwards for a few minutes just to see what would happen. Not a lot, really...
 
TopNotch

TopNotch

Well-known member
Ranger from Australia
Posts: 1,972
"Motivation is temporary. Discipline is forever."
Power Hold Challenge - Day 21
Daily Kicks Challenge - Day 18
De-stress Challenge - Day 18
Powerbuilder - Day 20

A day of reorganising and furniture moving. Things are really starting to look good.

The Lad had a cold which he shared with second-born. Second-born then shared it with first-born. All three of them, over the last couple of weeks, have cuddled up to me, sat with me, hugged and kissed me, coughed and sneezed at me - I tell you, I love my immune system!
Fight Protect GIF by Atrium.art
 
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