So... I paid for one month's gym membership at the church down the street from our house to get back into the groove of exercise. San Diego vacation in one month - yikes!!
It is far too hot to do anything active outside and I get so bored with the exercise video in the living room. Back in the days before kids, I used to LOVE going to the gym - especially if I could go with my friend, Heather. These days, between the demands of our budget and the impossibility of trying to arrange childcare to do something solely for me, I haven't been able to keep a membership.
Starting this week, though, Tim and I worked out a deal where I can go to the gym 4 days a week before he has to go to work at 6:45am. It's 5 minutes away door-to-door and opens at 5:30am, so it is super convenient.
These past few months with everything that has gone on with me physically, I got into some really bad habits of staying up super-late and waking up later than I'd like to, as well. This 5:30am gym business is helping me get out of that rut, PTL! And, paying that $15 IS keeping me accountable!
I have to say ... getting home at 6:45am, totally awake and already exercised is translating into some pretty major benefits around the house. Yesterday, before making breakfast I had already weeded and pulled all the dead winter flowers from all my flower beds. Amazing everything else I can get done, too, once I am on a roll ... groceries, prepping and freezing 5 pints of blueberries (hello $0.99/pint at Sprouts!) and 12 lbs of strawberries for smoothies (3 gallon size ziplocks in all), making candied walnuts for salad on Friday, grinding grain and baking 4 loaves of bread, gourmet hamburgers for dinner, and even steam cleaning my carpet after the boys were down.
Let's just say yesterday was very productive!
Today, while working out I had a really sweet talk with a new believer from the Dream Center. I will definitely be praying for her. Once home, the boys and I planted our summer flowers - hopefully they'll make it since it is already so hot. After a full french toast breakfast, we headed off to the Phoenix Children's Museum.
The boys are taking some pretty serious naps now. We're all pretty tired - the heat really takes it out of us. But, there are some positives about living in Phoenix where the summertime is like walking into an oven set on broil. One gets get pretty creative in making the most of the day ... especially, the mornings. Where else this time of year is it only bearable outside at 5am in the morning! I know most of us Phoenicians have figured out this secret.
So, props go out to all my fellow early risers. Hope to be one of your kind for some time to come! ;-)
PS: To freeze fruit for smoothies, wash and lay out individually in the freezer on wax paper. Once frozen, you can bag. If you bag immediately they will be one huge block of frozen berry - not too convenient. To make candied walnuts, you just need walnuts and sugar and salt (I added a little bit of cinnamon, too) - you can see the recipe here.
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