What, I have to go back to normal things now? Boo.
So, 
goldmare and
seventhe arrived on Friday for our evening of no pants, wine, and debauchery (though admittedly there was rather little of that last save in fiction.) We started out with Sev and I making the traditional pilgrimage to GameStop since when she comes to visit we go buy her fancy toys (this time, a 3DS) and then lunch at a place we quite like nearby. I had an apple-cider-brined pork chop with roasted butternut squash and brussels sprouts and it was amazing. We hit the grocery store to lay in supplies for the weekend, and met up with
goldmare, and then it was back to the house.
Meanwhile, poor paladin had his fifth oral surgery on Friday, so by the time we got home he was conscious and medicated and sitting at the TV with an ice pack on his jaw. We hugged him and unloaded the cars and then built our standard nest in the downstairs living room (by unfolding the couch bed and making a massive pile of pillows and blankets), and then it was wine, video games, and writing (we played a rather epic game of pass-the-porn; if you do not know this game, someone opens a word processor on their tablet or laptop, writes two sentences, passes it to the next person, write two sentences, repeat until bored or finished. Sev has promised to post this later. It wound up one-third very serious Actual Fic and two-thirds crack, and when we re-read it yesterday it was rather remarkable in both the good and "oh my god that's hilarious" ways.)
We played a lot of FFXIV (I got my pugilist from 15 to 19, finished getting black mage to 60 and gearing it up, Leatherworker from 41 to 44, Weaver 44 to 45, and marauder from 26 to 28). This was mostly great but also the ergonomics of the computer downstairs are not great, since I was sitting hunched on the end of the couch bed trying to use keyboard and mouse. Mostly I have only abused my back, though, not my wrists, so I'll unwind from it eventually. We also played some of FF Explorers, which is adorable and I am enjoying it although wow the difference in Resonance gain between Monk and Ranger is completely ridiculous and those quests got much easier once I swapped.
And now Sev and Nat have headed home, and I have a very unhappy tummy which is probably largely due to the fact that we ate a ton of food and not all of it was healthy, but I managed to get the first load of laundry in and cleaned up the kitchen (which means the house is basically back to the status it was at prior to the start of the weekend), so now I am fiddling about until my PT appointment.
Meanwhile, goals roundup!
January Goals Check-In
Video Games
* Beat Lord of Magna
* Beat Final Fantasy X-2 and post to Moogle U
Done! I actually made several posts to Moogle U, and in addition to this, I beat a short visual novel on Steam and raised Black Mage from level 52 to 60 in FFXIV, so that's a pretty solid block of gaming accomplishments. I also progressed through about 75% of Puzzle and Dragons Z: Super Mario Bros. Edition, so yay for me!
Writing
* Post the revisions for chapter one of Every Light
* Edit four chapters of Trilogy 1
* Write 12K words
I did it! The Chapter One revisions went up yesterday (for those who've read them before, there were no material changes, just a bunch of tweaks and added description and fixing things). I actually cleared my word goal with 1000 to spare--my GWYO on-pace goal was 12,500 and I ended the month with 13,500 and change. I edited a total of five chapters for Trilogy 1. Yay for me again!
Financial
* Make a $500 payment on second credit card
* Restrict entertainment spending (books, video games, mobile in-app purchases, etc.) to less than $20 (other than two planned purchases: Changeling 20th Kickstarter and Final Fantasy Explorers)
Victory again! These were actually remarkably difficult--I forgot when making this goal that a. I know way too many people whose birthdays are in January and b. I had some insurance premiums due this month. Added to which, on New Year's Day I decided to buy a copy of Jupiter Ascending for us all to watch which literally wiped out my enitre allowance in one go. BUT I DID THESE THINGS ANYWAY. It was kind of interesting how I adapted the way I play my digital/freemium games to make this goal work. But wow, this was annoyingly difficult. XD
Health and Spirituality
* Build the bookshelf for my Wicca books and shelve them
* Write (or find) an Imbolc ritual
* Work out on the elliptical twice a week
* Make physical therapy appointment
Three out of four ain't bad! I buil the bookshelf and put everything away on it (thereby removing two of the still-packed boxes from our move over a year ago), and in the process I dug up an Imbolc ritual I'd done before and rather liked. I not only made a physical therapy appointment really early in the month but I've since attended all my sessions and managed to do my exercises far more often than not (I think I've missed four days? This whole month? That's really not bad at all.) I managed to work out once a week the first two weeks of the month; the second two really didn't happen. But that's okay, I still did pretty well on this goal.
Miscellaneous
* Sort through my closet and donate anything I don't like or don't wear anymore/wouldn't wear even if it did fit
* Practice French once a week with Duolingo
* Read two new books
* Post six reviews to GoodReads (including things read previously)
* Contact people about Exalted and Dark Ages
* Piano practice once a week
* Remove four magazines from the backlog pile.
So, early on in the month I realized I'd overcommitted myself rather a lot with goals, and accordingly I dropped the French practice goal because it was the one I had the least interest in doing. I discovered when I started sorting through my closet that I've done this kind of cleaning a fair number of times; there wasn't a lot that I would get rid of. (There are things I think I may not want to keep, but I can't tell until I see them on me again, and right now they don't fit but I'm working on that.)
I didn't manage to send the emails about Exalted and Dark Ages, and I only read one magazine out of my backlog, but I did practice piano every week (and I can even hear the difference now--I'm starting to remember what the notes are). I read three new books, and posted seven reviews to GoodReads. So, I accomplished four of the six goals I actually attempted, and made progress on the other.
All in all, a very productive month.
My February goals are going to be a bit lighter, both because the month is shorter and because I can already feel wintertime depression starting to sink its claws into me, so I'm trying this self-care thing where maybe I don't drive myself bonkers with too many commitments.
February Goals
Video Games
* Start FFXIII for Moogle U, and post about it at least once besides my intro post.
* Choose one of my pre-2005 games to work on, and try to put in at least five hours.
* Remove a game from my backlog.
Writing
* 12,500 words
* Edit and post revisions to Every Light chapters 2 and 3
* Edit five chapters of Trilogy 1
* Add 2000 words to the 2015 NaNo
Financial
* Pay $300 on lowest credit card
* Pack lunch 3 days a week
* Cook dinner at least 2 nights a week
Health and Spirituality
* Do Imbolc ritual on the 2nd
* Work out on the elliptical at least once a week
* Meditate twice in the month
Miscellaneous
* Practice piano once a week
* Read five books
* Read four magazines
* Post five reviews to GoodReads
* Write Exalted and Dark Ages emails
I've posted this at http://lassarina.dreamwidth.org/1137540.html and you may comment there or here. On Dreamwidth, this entry has
comments.
goldmare and
seventhe arrived on Friday for our evening of no pants, wine, and debauchery (though admittedly there was rather little of that last save in fiction.) We started out with Sev and I making the traditional pilgrimage to GameStop since when she comes to visit we go buy her fancy toys (this time, a 3DS) and then lunch at a place we quite like nearby. I had an apple-cider-brined pork chop with roasted butternut squash and brussels sprouts and it was amazing. We hit the grocery store to lay in supplies for the weekend, and met up with
goldmare, and then it was back to the house.
Meanwhile, poor paladin had his fifth oral surgery on Friday, so by the time we got home he was conscious and medicated and sitting at the TV with an ice pack on his jaw. We hugged him and unloaded the cars and then built our standard nest in the downstairs living room (by unfolding the couch bed and making a massive pile of pillows and blankets), and then it was wine, video games, and writing (we played a rather epic game of pass-the-porn; if you do not know this game, someone opens a word processor on their tablet or laptop, writes two sentences, passes it to the next person, write two sentences, repeat until bored or finished. Sev has promised to post this later. It wound up one-third very serious Actual Fic and two-thirds crack, and when we re-read it yesterday it was rather remarkable in both the good and "oh my god that's hilarious" ways.)
We played a lot of FFXIV (I got my pugilist from 15 to 19, finished getting black mage to 60 and gearing it up, Leatherworker from 41 to 44, Weaver 44 to 45, and marauder from 26 to 28). This was mostly great but also the ergonomics of the computer downstairs are not great, since I was sitting hunched on the end of the couch bed trying to use keyboard and mouse. Mostly I have only abused my back, though, not my wrists, so I'll unwind from it eventually. We also played some of FF Explorers, which is adorable and I am enjoying it although wow the difference in Resonance gain between Monk and Ranger is completely ridiculous and those quests got much easier once I swapped.
And now Sev and Nat have headed home, and I have a very unhappy tummy which is probably largely due to the fact that we ate a ton of food and not all of it was healthy, but I managed to get the first load of laundry in and cleaned up the kitchen (which means the house is basically back to the status it was at prior to the start of the weekend), so now I am fiddling about until my PT appointment.
Meanwhile, goals roundup!
January Goals Check-In
Video Games
* Beat Lord of Magna
* Beat Final Fantasy X-2 and post to Moogle U
Done! I actually made several posts to Moogle U, and in addition to this, I beat a short visual novel on Steam and raised Black Mage from level 52 to 60 in FFXIV, so that's a pretty solid block of gaming accomplishments. I also progressed through about 75% of Puzzle and Dragons Z: Super Mario Bros. Edition, so yay for me!
Writing
* Post the revisions for chapter one of Every Light
* Edit four chapters of Trilogy 1
* Write 12K words
I did it! The Chapter One revisions went up yesterday (for those who've read them before, there were no material changes, just a bunch of tweaks and added description and fixing things). I actually cleared my word goal with 1000 to spare--my GWYO on-pace goal was 12,500 and I ended the month with 13,500 and change. I edited a total of five chapters for Trilogy 1. Yay for me again!
Financial
* Make a $500 payment on second credit card
* Restrict entertainment spending (books, video games, mobile in-app purchases, etc.) to less than $20 (other than two planned purchases: Changeling 20th Kickstarter and Final Fantasy Explorers)
Victory again! These were actually remarkably difficult--I forgot when making this goal that a. I know way too many people whose birthdays are in January and b. I had some insurance premiums due this month. Added to which, on New Year's Day I decided to buy a copy of Jupiter Ascending for us all to watch which literally wiped out my enitre allowance in one go. BUT I DID THESE THINGS ANYWAY. It was kind of interesting how I adapted the way I play my digital/freemium games to make this goal work. But wow, this was annoyingly difficult. XD
Health and Spirituality
* Build the bookshelf for my Wicca books and shelve them
* Write (or find) an Imbolc ritual
* Work out on the elliptical twice a week
* Make physical therapy appointment
Three out of four ain't bad! I buil the bookshelf and put everything away on it (thereby removing two of the still-packed boxes from our move over a year ago), and in the process I dug up an Imbolc ritual I'd done before and rather liked. I not only made a physical therapy appointment really early in the month but I've since attended all my sessions and managed to do my exercises far more often than not (I think I've missed four days? This whole month? That's really not bad at all.) I managed to work out once a week the first two weeks of the month; the second two really didn't happen. But that's okay, I still did pretty well on this goal.
Miscellaneous
* Sort through my closet and donate anything I don't like or don't wear anymore/wouldn't wear even if it did fit
* Practice French once a week with Duolingo
* Read two new books
* Post six reviews to GoodReads (including things read previously)
* Contact people about Exalted and Dark Ages
* Piano practice once a week
* Remove four magazines from the backlog pile.
So, early on in the month I realized I'd overcommitted myself rather a lot with goals, and accordingly I dropped the French practice goal because it was the one I had the least interest in doing. I discovered when I started sorting through my closet that I've done this kind of cleaning a fair number of times; there wasn't a lot that I would get rid of. (There are things I think I may not want to keep, but I can't tell until I see them on me again, and right now they don't fit but I'm working on that.)
I didn't manage to send the emails about Exalted and Dark Ages, and I only read one magazine out of my backlog, but I did practice piano every week (and I can even hear the difference now--I'm starting to remember what the notes are). I read three new books, and posted seven reviews to GoodReads. So, I accomplished four of the six goals I actually attempted, and made progress on the other.
All in all, a very productive month.
My February goals are going to be a bit lighter, both because the month is shorter and because I can already feel wintertime depression starting to sink its claws into me, so I'm trying this self-care thing where maybe I don't drive myself bonkers with too many commitments.
February Goals
Video Games
* Start FFXIII for Moogle U, and post about it at least once besides my intro post.
* Choose one of my pre-2005 games to work on, and try to put in at least five hours.
* Remove a game from my backlog.
Writing
* 12,500 words
* Edit and post revisions to Every Light chapters 2 and 3
* Edit five chapters of Trilogy 1
* Add 2000 words to the 2015 NaNo
Financial
* Pay $300 on lowest credit card
* Pack lunch 3 days a week
* Cook dinner at least 2 nights a week
Health and Spirituality
* Do Imbolc ritual on the 2nd
* Work out on the elliptical at least once a week
* Meditate twice in the month
Miscellaneous
* Practice piano once a week
* Read five books
* Read four magazines
* Post five reviews to GoodReads
* Write Exalted and Dark Ages emails
I've posted this at http://lassarina.dreamwidth.org/1137540.html and you may comment there or here. On Dreamwidth, this entry has
comments.