Hello July!

Our lovely cabin at Camp Woodland Hills for Reunion last month.  The girls and I will be going back this month so that they can attend Primary (Tanith) and Junior (Gillian) camp.

I tried several times last month to write one of my newsy posts with bullet points.  Ordinarily, those posts are among my favorites to write....but last month I just couldn't manage it.  To be perfectly honest, despite some of the really good things that happened to us last month I was just too sad to write because of the tragedy our friends were facing.  I'm still very sad...but it's time to start living a normal life again. 

So here goes:

• Having embraced the Paleo Lifestyle, I am happy to say that I've not only found happiness with food again but I've also managed to get back on track with exercise.
• I am following Mark Sisson's Primal Exercise plan, as outlined in the free ebook I received for signing up for his e-newsletter.
• What does that mean? 
• It means that I am walking early in the mornings for at least 30 minutes.  It's brisk enough to get my heart rate up....but I am NOT making myself nuts by pushing like crazy.
• It means that I am going to start lifting weights at home again two or three times/week. Rather than focusing on single motion machines I will be focusing on activities that use large groups of muscles or the whole body. 
• It means that once in a while I'm going to do some sprint work. 
• It also means that I'm trying to have fun through activity - often including the whole family - making it more a part of regular life than a formal gym thing.
• Primal means a more active lifestyle in general, but it also means more efficiency and smarter training.  Once again, with what I've learned over the last few years it makes complete sense to me, and I'm really excited to implement my new plan. 
• It should be noted that my new plan is not THAT different from what my fabulous trainer taught me....and is very similar to what my husband does quite naturally on his own.
• AND, we are going to be dumping our gym membership at the end of the summer.  Much as I have loved my gym, it's time to move on and do something different.
• Who would ever have thought I'd be excited about getting a pull-up bar?!
• Of course, the kicker is that just as I'm getting excited about exercise again my feet are throwing fits. 
• The damage that I've done to my right foot (You might remember I dropped a van seat on that foot shortly after I had my surgery.  I'm 99% sure I broke it, although I never had it checked out because I didn't want anyone telling me it was broken.  We'll discuss my stupidity later.) occasionally flares in a bit of stiffness or discomfort. 
• More worrisome is that I have started having problems with pain in my left foot, running horizontally through my foot just under my bunion.  Typically it flares when there is any sort of pressure on the inside edge of my foot - but it can also be quite random.
• I have an appointment with a podiatrist at the end of July.  I don't mind admitting to being worried. 
• And I didn't walk this morning because that stupid foot bothered me all night.
• Moving on to other things....
• We do have some exciting things to look forward to this month.
• My husband's Aunt is coming to stay with us for a while.  She hasn't seen the girls in a few years - even though she spoils them rotten - and we are all very excited about her visit!
• The girls will be attending their camps.  This is Tanith's first youth camp experience (Her's is only 24 hours, and I will stay with her.) and Gillian's first stay at camp without me!
• Actually, the entire month is so busy that I am hoping we escape without the typical summer boredom blues that drive me and the girls crazy each year.
• We're also going to try to fit in VBS at the end of the month.
• Yet more stuff....
• The pool is sooooo much more fun now that I can just find a chair in the shade and read.  I might admit to even liking to go to the Beach Club so that I can move a chair into the shallow end so that I can splash my feet a bit while reading. 
• Sean says this is what a beach is about. 
• I am still dubious. 
• It is about a gazillion degrees here, and dry as a bone....but I'm NOT going to complain this year. 
• I've let the girls sleep as they will...which means they are stying up until at least 10 and sleeping in until at least 9.  We're going to try to fix that in the next week. 
• I'm happy to report that JoJo the llama is doing MUCH better this summer.  Having learned a very great deal last year, my parents were prepared for the heat and for JoJo's needs in advance.
• While I've cut back significantly on fruit, I am allowing myself to eat as many fresh peaches from the farmer's market as I want.  I think super-fresh and local is fair game!
• Yesterday I had my first acupuncture treatment in almost a year.  As usual, it was incredible.  As an awesome bonus, it was obvious to both my acupuncturist and myself that my body was much healthier than it's been in years.
• Really, I went for the treatment becasuse I wanted some extra support given all of the stress we were under last month.  I've made some really great progress towards my health goals, and I don't want to lose that or compromise it.
• My eldest child is still holding hostage my monkey socks.  I am casting on a pair for her today.

And that's probably enough for now! 

Hope you all have a great week!