What are your health / fitness goals? Accountability

These are very healthy things to give up for Lent. It's really good that you're planning ahead like this.

 

It's been nearly exactly a year since my vehicle caught on fire and got destroyed last March. I felt so thankful as we drove by the spot that still has burn marks in the road. Life is completely different and much better now. We ended up getting a 2021 Nissan rogue and it has been a great vehicle.
Last Friday when we went to dinner at a Thai restaurant I saw a for sale sign on a Nissan Versa 6-speed. I have only driven manual once in my life and that was about 12 years ago, but I've always wanted to learn. The car has low miles and is in excellent condition so we bought it. It's a 2007 and my 1st car was a 1997 Nissan Altima so this feels like a new car and it even has a CD player. Lol. When we asked why he was selling, he said that he has a tow truck business, but his tow truck broke down in January. Now he will be able to fix it. I'm glad that my bf can teach me. Wish me luck!
Today I've gotten 10,000 steps and have done 120 push ups with plans to do more.

 

I got about 10,000 steps, took an online dance class, and spent lots of time outside. Mowed the property and did lots of weeding. Hopefully it's just allergies, but I started sneezing and feeling under the weather today. This often happens. When I'm stressed and holding things together, I stay pretty healthy, but once the danger is lifted and things are safe; that's when I get sick.

I'm currently reading:

• "The Hunter" by Tana French It is an Irish Mystery Thriller and the 2nd book in a series. I really enjoyed the first book and Tana's writing style. Here's the description: It’s a blazing summer when two men arrive in a small village in the West of Ireland. One of them is coming home. Both of them are coming to get rich. One of them is coming to die.
  
  Cal Hooper took early retirement from Chicago PD and moved to rural Ireland looking for peace. He’s found it, more or he’s built a relationship with a local woman, Lena, and he’s gradually turning Trey Reddy from a half-feral teenager into a good kid going good places. But then Trey’s long-absent father reappears, bringing along an English millionaire and a scheme to find gold in the townland, and suddenly everything the three of them have been building is under threat. Cal and Lena are both ready to do whatever it takes to protect Trey, but Trey doesn’t want protecting. What she wants is revenge.
  
  A nuanced, atmospheric tale that explores what we’ll do for our loved ones, what we’ll do for revenge, and what we sacrifice when the two collide.
• "What I Talk About When I Talk About Running" by Haruki Murakami This has been on my to-read list for awhile. It's a memoir. An intimate look at writing, running, and the incredible way they intersect, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running is an illuminating glimpse into the solitary passions of one of our greatest artists.
  
  While training for the New York City Marathon, Haruki Murakami decided to keep a journal of his progress. The result is a memoir about his intertwined obsessions with running and writing, full of vivid recollections and insights, including the eureka moment when he decided to become a writer. By turns funny and sobering, playful and philosophical, here is a rich and revelatory work that elevates the human need for motion to an art form.

What are you reading or listening to? So far I've read 16 / 125 books. I'm a little behind, but I'm not going to worry about it too much.

 

I'm in the middle of a Hillsdale college course on the US Constitution and reading the supporting coursework on it and contemporary literature like the Federalist Papers.

After that wraps up in a couple of weeks I start a course on the political impact and historical terrain of early Christianity.

I've got two new audio books downloaded:

Cadaver Dog about a dog's life in a zombie apocalypse.

The Philokalia, a study on Eastern Orthodox prayer and mysticism.

I'm also pressing in some road march practice for a trip to Ucluelet and Tofino, BC, Canada to visit the fam and Zodiac around with whales and sea wolves or some such critters. My siblings are all in the 70s but can walk me into the dirt. For them, 20k hikes in the rain ain't shit, and I need a sherpa after 10k in good weather. Heck, after 10k I need a palanquin!

 

Nothing new to report really. My tournament is the 5th of April so I’m dialing in a few things. We shall see how it goes.

 

That's coming up soon! Let us know how it goes.

 

It's been a long time since I've taken a deep dive into the Federalist and Anti-Federalist Papers. Your upcoming course sounds really interesting too.
Wow! You weren't joking when you said "road marches." Those sound like intense distances! I think that long walks have helped me get into better health more than any other form of exercise. It's awesome that your siblings are in good health like you!

 

I replaced the batteries and now I weigh 127.2 lbs. This is the lightest I've been since high school, but in high school this was considered heavy for me. I'm glad that I'm still making progress even though I haven't been getting over 22,000 steps. That was becoming too much of a time commitment.

I just finished reading "The Hunter" by Tana French and I gave it a 5 star review. It turns out that it's the sequel to a book I've never read before. Oops! I've never done that before. I had read "In The Woods" which is part of another series by the same author. The first book is "The Searcher" and the sequel was so good that I'm going to go back and read the first one once it becomes available.

What are you currently reading or listening to?

 

You are just a tad more than half my weight! In the past, 200 pounds has been a good weight for me so that's the goal for now

 

Let's keep going! we're almost there.

 

I’m 210 lbs and holding steady. Lol.

 

I got a really good workout done in the hotel gym. I love the fact that I had the space to myself.

 

I think I need a 2nd rest day today. 10,000 steps and I spent all day in the garden. Hopefully tomorrow I will find some motivation!

 

Things are good over here. My body is responding really well to the push ups and today I did 200 (throughout the day.) After going to Kona twice these last two months, I've decided that I'm very much a homebody. We upgraded all of our solar lights around the property and I got us some nice "Made in Japan" soup bowls. We want to start making soups and using the chilis that are growing all over the property.
Hope you are all doing well!

 

Pretty good. Just working the plan.

I also upgraded solar lighting on the farm. Nothing fancy, just cheap motion security lights or decorative lighting for "Ambiance".

 

That's awesome! We're on the same wavelength with lighting upgrades! I'm hoping that it will keep the wild pigs off of the walking path, but they haven't gotten the hint yet... Time to bring the metal trap back!

 

I am getting a little long in the face these days.

 

Very nice! That's a cool hat.

 

Had a good practice this morning. Dialed-in two chokes from what is called “side control.” Both are extremely vicious when done correctly. One is called the “papercutter” and the other is called a “baseball bat” choke, both no-gi version. My tournament is less than two weeks out so I’m concentrating on things that work for me and filtering out the extra. I’ll try to find short versions of the above-mentioned subs to post.

 

"Papercutter" and "baseball bat" both sound brutal. It's already almost April? 2025 is flying by. I bet you'll do great at this next tournament!