Waterscape

[AquaMarie]

Hi all! Time to start a sequel thread on the new board!

Previous Waterscape is here: https://hive.darebee.com/logs/504165-waterscape

Looking forward to seeing what's in store for us in the Hive!

 

[AquaMarie]

September 20: 90 DoA day 53, level 1
September 21: 90 DoA day 54, level 1
September 23: 90 DoA day 55
September 24: 90 DoA day 56, level 1

When I first got my cat, she hated to be brushed. HATED it. She would run from the sight of her brush. So I decided to start brushing her every night before she got her wet food so she'd associate being brushed with something good. (We have a 'brush the kitty' song, too, set to The Ride of the Valkyries, but that's another story ).

Yesterday she jumped up on the couch next to me and was fussing, but I couldn't figure out why. Finally I picked up her brush and showed it to her, and yep, you guessed it, she rubbed her face on it and sat right down so I could give her a proper brushing. She sat there for a good five minutes, smiling the whole time. It made me smile to remember how much she hated it back then, having her love it so much she asks to be brushed now.

Cats are awesome.

 

[AquaMarie]

September 28: 90 DoA day 57, level 1
September 30: 90 DoA day 58
October 4: 90 DoA day 59, level 1
October 7: 90 DoA day 60, level 1

I try to do at least four workouts a week, but two weeks ago I got hit with a nasty (for me) bout of depression. It was all I could do to get two workouts a week in. (And that much only because I felt guilty for not keeping up with the program.) I started feeling a little better and this weekend, thank goodness. I actually managed to do some laundry! It's a little victory, but I'll take it.

 

[Sif_Shepard]

Glad you're feeling better!

 

[NancyTree]

Good to hear you're starting to feel better, small victories count big time!

 

[AquaMarie]

@Sif_Shepard @NancyTree Thank you both!

October 11: 90 DoA day 61, level 1
October 14: 90 DoA day 62, level 1
October 15: 90 DoA day 63, level 1

I bought a two new cookbooks last week: The Unofficial Disney Parks EPCOT Cookbook and The Unofficial Disney Parks Drink Recipe Book. About ten years ago I had an internship at Disney World, Florida, at the aquarium in Epcot, and I remember having some of the dishes in these books. Last night I made French onion soup from the EPCOT Cookbook and it's so, so good! I can't wait to have leftovers tonight.

 

[AquaMarie]

October 18: 90 DoA day 64, level 1
October 20: 90 DoA day 65, level 1
October 22: 90 DoA day 66

Just finished reading Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson. I found it a fast, fascinating read with a really intriguing magic system. I stayed up past my bedtime to finish it, it was that good .

 

[AquaMarie]

October 25: 90 DoA day 67, level 1
October 26: 90 DoA day 68, level 1
October 28: 90 DoA day 69, level 1
October 29: 90 DoA day 70
November 1: 90 DoA day 71, level 1
November 2: 90 DoA day 72, level 1

"Wait. Wait and see. The world is not always cruel." --Nettle and Bone, T. Kingfisher

 

[AquaMarie]

November 4: 90 DoA day 73, level 1
November 5: 90 DoA day 74, level 1
November 8: 90 DoA day 75, level 1
November 9: 90 DoA day 76, level 1
November 11: 90 DoA day 77, level 1
November 12: 90 DoA day 78, level 1

Huh. I just realized I never posted the picture of my finished cross stitch bookmark. Let's fix that!

 

[NancyTree]

Beautiful!

 

[Fremen]

Very cool

 

[Froud]

haha awesome!

 

[aku-chan]

Very snazzy!

 

[AquaMarie]

@NancyTree @Fremen @Froud @aku-chan Thank you so much!

Okay, so, uh, it's been a while, so instead of listing the whole past three weeks, let's just say:

November 15th - December 7th: DoA day 79-90, level 1
I made it before the end of the year!

Aaaand I think for the rest of the year I'll focus on getting an ornament on the Darebee tree and the Snowfight.

 

[NancyTree]

Congrats on your badge!

 

[Mianevem]

Congrats on 90 Days of Action!

 

[Fremen]

Congrats

 

[BrigidForged]

Congratulations on finishing the program!

 

[BetaCorvi]

Congrats on 90 days of Action!

 

[TheLibrarian]

Congrats.

 

[AquaMarie]

Thanks, all!

December 11 - December 15: 4000 punches total for my Orange ornament!

Been a bad few days. My cat was very, very sick on Friday, and we spent two hours at the vet. Saturday one of my anxiety triggers got pushed, and I had a full-blown panic attack. Today I've been dealing with the 'emotional hangover' I always get after a panic attack: I'm super keyed up and over-reactive to stuff, but also mentally exhausted.

The good news is: the cat is feeling much better and is nearly back to her old self. The situation that triggered me was ultimately a false alarm, thank goodness. And I have the Snowfight to help me work through my 'hangover' by getting me moving!

 

[NancyTree]

I'm glad your kitty seems okay. I'm sorry for your panick attack, hopefully you'll feel better quickly

 

[AquaMarie]

@NancyTree Thank you!

December 18 - December 22: 514 squats (So Many s)

This year's Christmas theme, well, EVERY year's Christmas theme, is baking! My dish towel says 'I just want to bake stuff and listen to Christmas music' and that about sums it up

So far this week I've made gingerbread, Christmas confetti cakes, and sweet potato pie. Today and tomorrow I'm making Chex mix, ham and swiss rolls, sugar cookies, and broccoli casserole. The only thing better than cooking a feast is eating it!

 

[Fremen]

Happy New Year

 

[AquaMarie]

@Fremen Thank you! You too!

December 26: Core Control challenge, day 1 and 2
December 27: CC, day 3
December 28: CC day 4
December 29: CC day 5
December 30 - January 8: does sobbing count?

Well, I hope everyone's new year started off better than mine. On New Year's Eve my precious kitty got very, very sick, and on January 2nd I had to let her go. She was my constant companion and best friend for 14 years, and my heart was absolutely shattered. I'm starting to slowly feel better - very, very slowly - and gradually learning to live without her.

This year I'm aiming for 3 Darebee programs and 4 challenges, including Core Control, which I'll probably restart this week. I'm considering doing the Wall Push-ups challenge and Knee Push-ups challenge before doing 30 Days of Gravity. I've never been good at push-ups, and those three seem to be a good way to fix that!

 

[Mianevem]

 

[Lallafa]

I'm sorry about your kitty

 

[Froud]

I am so sorry. Gather your best memories, she will be forever with you in your heart.

 

[Fremen]

 

[NancyTree]

I'm so sorry for your loss

 

[Giant48]

So sorry for your loss

 

[TheLibrarian]

 

[AquaMarie]

@Mianevem @Lallafa @Froud @Fremen @NancyTree @Giant48 @TheLibrarian Thank you all so much.

January 10: Fireheart day 1, level 1
January 12: Fireheart day 2, level 1 (yeah, everyday will be level 1 on this one ); Core Control challenge (CC) day 1 and 2
January 14: Fireheart day 3, CC day 3

Workout track of the day: Sinister Shadows from Kingdom Hearts II, by Yoko Shimomura

 

[AquaMarie]

January 16: Fireheart day 4, CC day 4
January 19: Fireheart day 5, CC day 5
January 20: Fireheart day 6, CC day 6
January 21: Fireheart day 7, CC day 7

I'm replaying Horizon Forbidden West. The prequel, Horizon Zero Dawn, was one of the best post-apocalyptic stories I have ever heard, hands down, so I was super excited when this came out. I love HFW too, though it does have the second-in-a-trilogy feel to it.

Still, the title and story are clever (I love the multiple tropes that manage to be meshed so well), the gameplay is great, the characters are fantastic, and I love the graphics and music. It's definitely one of my favorites.

 

[AquaMarie]

January 25: Fireheart day 8, CC day 8

Last week was busy! A dentist appointment, a therapy session, new animals coming in at work, aaaaand...preparing to move to a new apartment! I made sure to overlap my leases by a month so I'd have plenty of time to move, but it's still going to be rough. How did I accumulate so many things in just two years? Well, no better time to sort through everything and make a few donations, I guess!

 

[NancyTree]

Good luck with the move!

 

[AquaMarie]

@NancyTree Thank you!

January 26 - February 18: Fireheart and CC days 9 and 10, and moving. MOVING = , but at least now it's

Seriously though, my back, glutes and calves have never been so sore. And when my living space reaches a certain level of chaos, my anxiety spikes hard. So even though my muscles are like this: I could NOT stop until every box was moved and unpacked.

Now I have to figure out where in my apartment I can workout. I'm on the second floor, and experience has taught me that if I can find a floor joist (is that the right word?), I can do jumping jacks, etc., without disturbing my downstairs neighbors. Unfortunately the only way I know to find that spot is to bounce around until the floor sounds more solid - kind of like tapping the walls to find a stud. Sorry, downstairs neighbor! And I'll probably restart Fireheart and Core Control (again). I don't mind picking up where I left off after skipping 3 or 4 days, but after missing 3 or 4 weeks, well. I'd feel guilty if I didn't go back to the beginning, lol.

 

[Tileenah]

Congrats on your moving (I think it counts as exercising) ! I hope the new place is nice

 

[AquaMarie]

@Tileenah Thank you!

February 27: Fireheart and Core Control challenge (CC) day 1
March 3: Fireheart and CC day 2
March 4: Fireheart and CC day 3

I've been listening to the Assassin's Creed II soundtrack pretty much all week. This track, Venice Rooftops, is one of my favorites!

 

[AquaMarie]

March 6: Fireheart and CC day 4
March 9: Fireheart and CC day 5
March 11: Fireheart and CC day 6

I got a new kitty! Finally! And she's a super sweetheart.

The shelter called her Little Cowgirl because of her colors; and while I thought that was really cute, it just didn't seem to fit. So I started playing word association with 'cowgirl' - Lasso, Fringe, Boots, even Two-step - but nothing felt right. And then Annie Oakley came to mind...

 

[AquaMarie]

Darebees, meet Annie!

 

[Tileenah]

she's adorable!

 

[Fremen]

Hello Annie welcome

 

[TheLibrarian]

Hello Annie.

 

[aku-chan]

Hello Annie! She's very cute.

 

[GentleOx]

What a cute little kitty!

 

[Mianevem]

Hi Annie!

 

[NancyTree]

 

[BlackButler]

Awwww Hi Annie!

 

[AquaMarie]

@Tileenah @Fremen @TheLibrarian @aku-chan @GentleOx @Mianevem @NancyTree @BlackButler Thank you all!

March 18: Baseline day 1 level 2; Unbound day 1; Wall Push-ups Challenge day 1
March 19: Baseline day 2 level 2; Unbound day 2; Wall Push-ups Challenge day 2

Alas, I think my combat days may be over. Once again, as soon as I get about a week into Fireheart, something gives out on me and I have to stop. This time it was my back/hip. I'm not old enough for my hips to do this to me, dangit! So, since pain is the problem, let's go back to basics: easy strength and stretching. Hence the program changes. And I'm throwing push-ups in there so that I can start working toward doing a full push-up by the end of the year.

In other news, I busted out my Avatar: The Last Airbender cookbook yesterday and made one of the recipes from the Air Nomads chapter: an apple salad with red cabbage, ginger, scallions, and a sesame oil and vinegar dressing. It's an interesting combination (at least to my American taste buds), but so, so good!