Oops! I guess I forgot to update my practice log. I got back from my vacation safely. The Life Retreat is going well, too, and I've slowly been making progress with my insight meditation. I've mostly given up my formal concentration practices, though I've been using some of the "meditation" techniques to aid in my studies. I think it's been helpful.
I've been struggling with how to accurately describe or log my activities. On one hand, I could probably "describe" a typical meditation session, but it just doesn't feel like my descriptions will really do the experience justice. I'm also questioning the purpose of trying to keep a log in the first place.
Anyhow, I will see if I can't describe some of my more recent thoughts with regards to practice.
I think I am somewhere near the Three Characteristics stage. My muscles on my back and neck were pretty sore these past few days. Practice seems to help a bit, but not completely. Last week I was also dealing with restlessness, to the degree that I didn't want to sit at all. I'd try noting the desire to get up and do something, but a few times I just had to concede defeat. ;) I had more luck this weekend and was able to sit for longer again. I've also been obsessing over posture a bit, even though I know intuitively that it won't make a difference. I'm sure it is related to the muscle soreness (but at a deeper level, it's probably related to this stage of my insight practice).
I have plans to sit again this evening and I'm trying to average at least 30 minutes a day, preferably an hour. I'm happy that it's been fairly consistent. I wish I had a bit more time to devote to practice, but at least for now it'll probably have to wait.
I've also made a few significant changes to my diet. Mainly, I'm switching to a more vegetarian (near vegan) diet. For those who are interested, I found a few interesting programs / lectures about diet and exercise:
http://www.kpbs.org/news/2013/apr/02/eat-fast-and-live-longer-michael-mosley/ (fasting)
http://www.kpbs.org/news/2013/apr/08/truth-about-exercise-michael-mosley/ (exercise)
http://lateralaction.com/articles/internet-brain/ (internet usage & brain function)
http://nutritionfacts.org/video/uprooting-the-leading-causes-of-death/ (leading causes of death in the US... related to consumption of animal products)
I'm still working on improving my life habits in other ways, so that includes yoga. It's been an adventure.
Regardless, I'm still fairly hopeful and am actually pretty excited to be practicing at all. I wish I'd discovered some of these techniques earlier. I'm sure I could have avoided some unnecessary suffering.

But as that isn't how everything went, I am forced to just admit that it was all part of the process. I can only look to the future from here!
That's all for today... maybe I can try again with writing an "actual" log tomorrow, if I get a chance.