Weekly Mileage #183 and Another Trip to the ER

Monday I had my first accountability meeting. We ended up talking for about 4 hours, and I think we're a good fit. I think keeping it to just the two of us will also be more manageable than being part of a larger group.

I worked on my large tote, riveting the handles and pocket to the main body.

Tuesday we had our first in-person music lessons in more than six months. River had a rhythm in a song he was working on that I just couldn't figure out, despite hearing it in the FaceTime lesson the week before. In person, we figured it out quickly because there was no lag between sounds. It was a good check-in. Both kiddos got to play with our teacher, which was much needed. It's really hard to play together on FaceTime because of the lag.

it was a beautiful day for an outdoor lesson

My sewing machine made it to the factory, hopefully without any damage (I haven't heard on that part yet), now to wait and see how long it takes for them to fix it.

Max likes her creature comforts. She dragged her crate pad from her crate and tried to pull it up on the chair, but needed Sunshine's help to actually get it up there.

I finally finished reorganizing my workspace. I'd been putting some things off, but I finally got them done, namely attaching my backdrops to dowels and hanging them on the wall and reorganizing the shelf in the corner. It's now easier to find stuff and less cluttered.

Once I was done procrastinating, I punched the stitch holes and started sewing the sides of the large tote and putting in the bottom rivets. The rivets need to be put in before I sew too far up the sides, so the two tasks go hand-in-hand.

It's been three weeks since I cut my finger, and it's healed quite well with just a small scab left. I've kept bandaids and neosporin on it almost the entire time- just letting it dry out a bit when changing bandaids if it got wet.

awkward angle to photograph. the scab in the center is where the cut was the deepest. the darker pink area is where  the cut was shallower.

Wednesday morning we all had dentist appointments. We were the only ones in the office, other than the hygienists and the dentist. I have to go back in a couple weeks to get some fillings replaced, but everyone else looked good.

I finished the large tote and prepped three notebook covers for sewing. A small notebook cover, a small music notebook cover, and a large music notebook cover.

Thursday I ran some errands and started hand sewing the notebook covers. It's not a fast process, but it is better than twiddling my thumbs as I wait for my sewing machine to get back to me.

Ocean had fun with some sidewalk chalk and a puddle

Friday was drizzly, so we went to a park with a shelter where the moms could sit, while the kiddos played. The older kids played board games for a bit, then they all (ages 4-14) played freeze tag for awhile. I brought my notebook covers and worked on them a bit.

more fun with puddles and sidewalk chalk

That afternoon I finally found my rhythm hand sewing, which will be useful when it comes to teaching it. I'd watched videos of people hand sewing leather, but they didn't really explain how to position the needles to get a consistent stitch. I finished the third notebook cover, now I just need to decide how much I'm finishing the edges- am I leaving them raw, or finishing them? Then it'll be time to photograph everything and get it all listed. I'll have that done by early next week, so I'll share pictures of everything next week.

the older kids played a card game, and River got to play with them

I finally worked through this week's lesson for course creation (no time earlier in the week). I nailed down some details, including my launch date. The cart will be open for registration Nov 19-Dec 1, all the kits will be shipped by Dec 3, and the first video will go live Dec 7. Since the first lesson is the safety video, it doesn't matter that the kits won't have arrived yet.

It's good to get the details nailed down, but also a bit nerve-wracking: the 30 day pre-launch runway starts Oct 21, which is less than a month away. Lots to do before then!

I'm definitely glad I joined the course. It may seem silly to pay for a course on how to write my own course, but having the steps spelled out is making it much easier to get everything done, without being too overwhelming and while including things I wouldn't have thought of.

Saturday I finally got the toolkit finalized (for now, until I inspect the contents in person), so now I'm waiting on a shipping quote for the sample. It's been a slow process since I'm rarely online at the same time as my contact in China. I'd post the items I need in the morning, he'd respond sometime during the night. I'd respond during the day, but not hear back from him until the next day. And so on.

With my timeline contracting (not really, I always intended on launching in November or December, but it feels that way), I need to get my sample kit, ok the contents, and get my first round of kits ordered and received before the end of November (by the middle of November would be preferable). I'm limiting enrollment to 100 students the first time to make sure I have enough kits on hand and see how things go before going bigger the next time I open for enrollment.

sitting on the cushier back cushion of the couch

I do have a couple things that aren't in my toolkits because the company I'm working with doesn't have access to them. For now, I've got US based companies that I will buy them from, which will save me having to pay the shipping fees and import taxes. I haven't placed the orders yet, but I know where I'll be getting them from.

After lunch River made an unplanned trip to the ER (does one really ever plan on a trip to the ER?). He was trying to lower the 2" blinds in the library, but managed to pull the whole thing out of the bracket, and it landed on him. The heavy metal frame scratched and cut his face and scratched his chest. Jeremy took him since he handles blood better and only one parent can go in these days. River got seven stitches. The part closest to the corner of his mouth is the deepest and may cause a bit of muscle damage. He may end up with a crooked smile. We'll get him checked out towards the end of next week to make sure it's healing properly. He'll have a scar for awhile, but it'll fade with time: Ocean's scar that he got when he was about a year old is barely visible now.

stitches, a cut, a scratch, and some dried blood that he won't let me wash off yet.

This is a record for us- two trips to the ER in less than a month- we usually average less than one a year.

That afternoon I ran my leg in the Great National Park Relay. Each team had 24 members, each of whom ran a one hour leg over a 24 hour period. I'd originally planned to take Max to the trails park and run there, but it rained most of Friday, so the trails were too wet. Instead I ran on a gravel road not far away. Max was disappointed at being left home, but since she doesn't heel yet, I didn't want to run on the road with her, even if it's not heavily trafficked.

 My leg was at 3pm, which isn't my favorite time to run, but I missed the good morning times when I signed up. It was a bit warmer than I'd like, though not as bad as I was afraid it would be. I'm definitely out of shape from not running much the last few months, but I ran 4.4 miles in my hour, which isn't bad. Out of that 4.4 miles, I ran total of 3.3 miles. I cooled down by walking .25 miles.

Later I looked up trademarks and domains. I have a domain for my school, which will eventually house multiple courses and a project of the month club, but I need to grab the domain for my course as well. I'm not sure yet if it'll be a sales page or re-direct to my school site or what, but I'll get that figured out soon. Based on the little research I did (have you ever checked out the government's trademark site? soo hard to understand- there's a reason it's recommended that you hire a trademark lawyer if you want to trademark something), I don't think my course title is trademarked. But I'm also not sure that I can trademark it, it may be a bit too basic. I need to do some more research into it.

While out running errands, Jeremy bought me a chocolate bar, which I decided to eat. I'd run nearly four and a half miles, so I could eat a few more carbs, right? Hmmm. No. It's been more than a month since I had sugar in that quantity, and I did not feel good. I didn't have insomnia at least, but I sure didn't feel good that evening.

Now if I can just remember this, it'll be even easier to stay away from sugar and carbs in the future. It's a process, and I'm doing a lot better this time around, but I still have to fully convince myself that sugar is not worth feeling crummy. This was definitely a step in that right direction. And at least I did it on a day when I expended a lot of energy, which helped counter-act some of the negative effects of eating all that sugar. That hasn't always been the case, but I suspect it worked out ok this time since it had been so long since I last had sugar.

Weekly Mileage
Saturday- 4.41 miles run
Saturday- 0.25 miles walked
total- 4.66 miles

2020 totals

31 hikes towards #52hikechallenge
0 kayak miles towards #365milechallenge

174.75 outdoor foot miles towards #365milechallenge
22.50 indoor foot miles towards #365milechallenge
260.0 bike miles towards #365milechallenge
457.25 miles total