i’ll spare you a long intro. here’s the stuff that happened in july, between the cracks.
firstly. i’ve lived in winston-salem for 20ish years now. and for the last six, i have driven past this lotus filled marshy area at least twice a day. i always say, “i should walk there someday” and then i don’t. well, finally, i conjured up a friend, we made it happen, and it did NOT disappoint. the lotuses were popping and the dragonflies and bees were frolicking.
we admired all stages of life of the lotus. took in the scenery. decided it was better to keep our backs to the pawnshop.
it was a lovely little morning in the marsh. who knew. i’ll tell you who. the bees. the bees knew.
we managed to squeeze in a bit of friend time for hazelnut. we met up with her pal cole (and his mom) for lunch at chick fil a, then visit to a park in king, followed up by a coffee/smoothie hang at stoco provisions, where i took the only pic of the day.
it was at this playdate that we hatched a plan for an epic “80s summer playdate” for some of hazel’s pals. we invited several kiddos over for the day. there was no plan for the day. and one rule: they stay outside. they ran rampant, unsupervised, and unstructured. i had to drag them inside for boring sandwiches and chips, before sending them back out into the elements (sunshine and heat). i have no clue what they actually did. but their parents said they had the best time. crazy that the long boring summer days of my youth will go down as one of the best memories of a summer day for them. again. i took one pic.
we also went to the pool several times with some other pals, but only managed a few pics of one particular day with her pal sara.
this guy has fully embraced country music (line dancing life). and. he took a turn at preparing dinner (at least for hazel and himself).
a big month for this kid. huge. she tried out for and made the jv field hockey team AND began the process of wrangling her mangled teeth into submission. sophomore year, here she comes!
i even managed to work in a playdate for myself. and by playdate, i mean a walk at salem lake. my pal amanda, who abandoned me to move to raleigh, was in town to retriever her kiddo from summer camp, and graciously agreed to meet me for a little stroll and chat. it was good to catch up. even if i’m still hurt by her abandonment.
and now. for the general miscellany of the month. a really cool pic of josh allen in the red helmet by hazel. ruby mid yawn (or was she silently screaming) while anna manhandles her. a last hurrah ice cream sundae before getting back on track with my nutrition. a little blood letting (i got free sunglasses!). and. the girls creating “the outsiders musical”-opoly. as one does on summer vacay.
ahhhhh. you thought you would get to the end of a post without my gratuitous mentions of health and wellness? it was a bit hit and miss in july, with all of the travel and beaches and such. but i was back at it when i could be. and taking my gymfluencer pics in the mirror in the locker room. 🙂
also. i met with a trainer type dude who owns a local supplement shop to talk about my nutrition and lifting plan. pretty sure (mostly sure) he just used chat gpt to get a plan for me. but, it included a TON more carbs, specifically at breakfast before i work out. apparently, i’m “underfueled”. it was a big step for me, having lost all of the weight by skipping all of those carbs for the better part of three (or more) years. but i’m not trying to cut weight the same way anymore and it is so nice to add this stuff back in, even if it felt like cheating at first. i have come to affectionately refer to these giant breakfast meals as “thanksgiving breakfast”. as you can see, i’m still a creature of habit.
and this concludes our fantastic voyage through the month of july. see you soon.