day 8/21 training everyday for pushups and handstands 0 pauses used :)

:grouphug: everyone

Maintaining and Nurturing Through ACTION and THOUGHT a Non-defeatist Attitude Day 1 completed

Got through the first day. And I am determined to cut all the crap... :mad:

diyana, I'm afraid I no longer understand what it is to be kind to yourself, not when everything you do makes nothing better. Obviously, whatever I've been doing isn't the right way and it is what I would have thought was "being kind." So, the only way is to do something else. ****, when life beats you up, the only way is to fight back and that may look like "beating yourself up" but it's not. Whatever....
fra, good for you! :cp:

Morning all
Day 15 completed. One pause taken

Morning Red. Glad to see that you have started to get your head in a proper place. Good luck

Day 16 is done.

It's good to see so many people on here all thinking strategically about their challenges. At one time it was only Red and me and Diyana with Apple Blossom making the occasional cameo appearance

Day 17 is done. And the rain has stopped. Yahhoo.

Ladies, so cool to see you all doing so well on your challenges.

Shad, Diyana - you have almost aced your challenges
Red - Glad to see you feeling better.

I am thinking of starting with a do-able challenge.

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Drink at least 2 liters of water everyday - 3 pauses allowed - Day 0/21

Hi everyone -

Looks like everyone is doing well on their challenges.

Red - I sent you an email the other day. :hug: to you, girlfriend.

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I had an AWESOME time at the 2 hour Zumbathon on Saturday night. I went with 6 women from my gym. And I'm proud to say that other than sitting out 1 song and the occasional quick sips of water, I made it through the entire 2 hours. What an endorphin rush! I was still on the endorphin high today until a little while ago...now I'm kinda tired, but I'm looking forward to going to a 1/2 hour Zumba class tonight.

Journal everything AND count WW points - 0 of 0 pauses taken - Day 13/21
64 ounces of water - 0 of 0 pauses taken - Day 13/21
5 servings of fruits and veg - 0 of 0 pauses taken - Day 13/21
Stay within WW points - 0 of 3 pauses taken - Day 13/21
30 min. (at least) of cardio - 1 of 3 pauses taken - Day 12/21
50 crunches - 2 of 3 pauses taken - Day 11/21
1 minute of planks - 2 of 3 pauses taken - Day 11/21
15 minutes of decluttering - 0 of 0 pauses taken - Day 13/21

Still on Day 17 - 2 pauses taken now. Had a bit of an exercise hiccup today. Tomorrow will be another story

Red - That is tragic and disgusting about the man who died during deportation. Incidents of police brutality and abuse of power make me sick too. I applaud your efforts to cover the incident in an honest way. How 'bout for your challenges you focus on other stuff you need to do...like spend 1 hour writing/working on projects/stories. Set yourself up for success as much as you possibly can. I know you can/will get through this...and we're all here to support you. :hug:

Shad - You're probably really busy getting ready for the new project. I know you'll get back in the routine. :)

A big :wave: to everyone else! I hope you're all doing well on your challenges!

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I did 1/2 hour of Zumba last night, then DH and I went and got the boat out of storage...it is officially spring now that the boat is in the driveway. Of course, it's supposed to rain all weekend. Boo. I ate too much spaghetti last night. Gonna have to work it off today by walking at lunch, and Zumba'ing tonight.

Journal everything AND count WW points - 0 of 0 pauses taken - Day 14/21
64 ounces of water - 0 of 0 pauses taken - Day 14/21
5 servings of fruits and veg - 0 of 0 pauses taken - Day 14/21
Stay within WW points - 0 of 3 pauses taken - Day 14/21
30 min. (at least) of cardio - 1 of 3 pauses taken - Day 13/21
50 crunches - 2 of 3 pauses taken - Day 12/21
1 minute of planks - 2 of 3 pauses taken - Day 12/21
15 minutes of decluttering - 0 of 0 pauses taken - Day 14/21

diyana, thanks. I sent you a long email yesterday. Maybe you didn't get it...or don't have a reply to my babbling and moaning... ;)

I am still working and it is 10:30 p.m. and I have to be up around 6 a.m.
Got a lot done today and was glad to have made the press meet and met the widow, the representative from the foreigners' group helping her and her lawyer. I didn't write anything on that today but hope to get a longer story out of it. Someone from the paper covered the news aspect. I will try to do something as a freelancer.

I also helped get the widow's request not to have her name used in the article honored. The paper was going to use it but when I heard from the group rep, I put in a call to my old colleague and pleaded her case. It looks like they were already swayed by other pressure not to use it but had told her they would. When I heard they wouldn't she was very relieved.

Apparently, the widow, who is Japanese, was fired from her job after they held a little protest march in Tokyo. Her company didn't like having someone who not only had the audacity to marry and harbor an overstayer but also someone who had the gall to make something of a forcible deportation and ensuing death, about which the police are still not forthcoming on any details, have retained his body and refuse to determine the cause of death. Really horrible. She is, like, no kidding, not in the best way emotionally and didn't want to leave herself open to more harassment on the Net or otherwise.

It is so sad, that not only does she have to have the grief of her husband's death, but this whole hush-hush about what was obviously something highly irregular. I really feel for her. She, as I do, feels that foreigners should not let this rest as officialdom wishes us to.

The group rep and lawyer both voiced opinions that recent stricter guidelines suggesting overstayers who come forward to declare themselves can apply for special permission to stay, are actually being use as bait for deportation. And forcible at that. Families are being threatened by being told that if the overstaying parent does not leave, children will be held as well. And one was already. These are hard-working people who have paid taxes. Bad enough, but when someone is manhandled to the extent that they die, there is no justification as far as I'm concerned.

Handcuffed and a towel shoved down his throat. Sounds like a pure case of suffocation to me. What autopsy can't show that. This would be big news elsewhere. In Japan, where the media is self-censoring and basically nonexistent as far as government criticism goes, it is commonplace, and not just with foreigners. Oh, well, I've always been a "troublemaker." I was blacklisted after breaking the story on the racehorse Ferdinand and how he had been slaughtered here. Maybe it's time to come out of my recent hibernation. ;)
Guess what, it ain't all sushi and cherry blossoms....

Oh, yes, challenges!!

I think my challenge may be to play the piano, one thing I still didn't do. The songs certainly don't match my moods, but maybe I can consider it a type of compulsory sedation...that will still work in my favor in the end. After all, how nice is it to be able to play a nice song when you ARE in that mood at last. :yes:

:kickcan:

Red - Sorry. I just checked and I did get the email. I got a ton of emails yesterday most of them website work related...so I didn't "see" it. I forwarded it to my work email, and I'll respond between meetings. :bravo: for accepting a piano playing challenge! That will be good food for your soul. :) I'm proud of you for getting a lot of work done. Good for you for getting the widow's privacy honored. That's horrible that overstayers are encouraged to ask for permission to stay only as bait to get them deported. OMG! That does sound like murder by suffocation. I am so proud of you for helping to fight this fight for the widow! Bravo, sister! I am seeing your spark and fire returning! You rock, sista! Luvya!

:hug: Red. So proud of you :bravo:

Diyana - so impressed with the way you are doing well in your challenges. :cp:

Shad - cool. well done!

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Drinking at least 2 liters of water a day - day 2/21 completed. 0 pause.

hey all :grouphug: day 13 still to tackle.. I have to unluckily split the challenges cause one day I forgot the handstand part (yes I'm dumb and absent-minded)

:) day 12/21 training for pushups 0 pauses used
:( day 12/21 training for a handstand 1 pause used

but to balance the bad out, i report that everytime the weather is good I walk part of the distance that gets me home from work, that's 4 km - mostly through the public park, beautiful!! and that while I train for pushups, since I have to take breaks to rest the arms/chest I have been exercising abs not to waste time ;) my lower abs are stronger now, I can lift both legs compl. straight for some reps without struggling. YAY!

kisses