Summer Lovin' - Um, no.

Hello!!!!  I know, it's been way too long.  I just looked at the date of my last post -- two months ago!!  I totally thought it had been just over a month.  I don't blame any of you if you don't even read this.  I haven't written but I've still been reading a bunch of blogs quite a bit.  I've had a tough summer.  In my last post, I shared that I had to put my cat Georgie down and also that my sister, her husband, and my wonderful, adorable, couldn't love her more if I tried niece moved away.

Well, the week after they left, my amazing Grandpa passed away.  I loved him so much.  He was so funny, so smart, so loving, and did I mention funny??  He was totally with it till the day he died and his stories were awesome.  If I had to choose the way he passed away, this would have been it.  He watched a Clint Eastwood western on Netflix, and he went to sleep at home, in his own bed.  And that was it.  He was an amazing person and I will always miss him.  I was so lucky to have him as long as I did.  He was 93.

Grandpa a couple years ago & me and him this past Christmas.

Us a couple years ago.

A couple weeks after that, my sister and her husband had to come back for a weekend for a wedding and I got to keep my niece for the whole weekend!!!  Worked well for both of us, they wanted to party with their friends and I just wanted to hang out with the baby.  Win Win!!!  It was a great weekend although it was so hard to say goodbye again.  I'm planning to gas up the civic in September for a visit. I think it will take about 16 hours to drive.  I've done it before to go visit a friend so I'll do it again! Here's a couple pics from the weekend -- trust me, i'm sparing you, I probably took a hundred.  The bottom two are when i'm trying to put her to sleep but she just wants to play with me and I'll do whatever she wants.  I turned my iPhone screen so she could see us in the picture and she LOVED it.

I just love her soooo much!

And just to add to the tough stuff this summer . . . let's talk about the heat.  It is insane.  This kind of heat and humidity makes me angry.  And I know we get it every summer, but this summer seems to be the worst in a long time.  Since the beginning of July it's been in the high 30's to mid 40's with the humidity.  I think that's 100 - 110F.  I'll tell you what the "F" stands for and it's not fun!!  I can barely breathe in this kind of heat.  Especially the humidity actually.  I have an inhaler for asthma and the only times I've ever used it was once on a long run when it was really hot out and other times when it was just hot out.  So mostly, I've been inside in the AC.  And knocking on wood every time it seems like my little window a/c unit isn't as cold as it used to be.  Please baby, just hang on!!  Other than a few stray run/walks and a couple bike rides, I haven't been doing anything activity-wise.  Here is some proof of my activity (lame) and my misery.

And this was 7:30 in the morning.

I've been eating pretty well though so I have actually lost a couple pounds since I last posted.  Making some really delicious healthy dishes too.  I must get better at meal planning though.  In fact, as soon as I'm done this, I'll make a plan for this week!  Here's just a few things I've been trying out . . .

1. Just a stir fry -- sauteed veggies in vegetable stock, then added some spicy peanut satay sauce (bottle) and some coconut milk, then served over brown rice.  I tossed a few cashews on top too.

2.  Whole wheat tortilla with hummus, gardenburger, and veggies.

3.  Veggie wraps from Oh She Glows.  I used the spicy peanut satay sauce, not the homemade.

4.  Portobello mushroom burger!

So that's all for now and I WILL post again this week.  If you're still here, thanks for sticking around.

How has everyone else been surviving the heat??  I know it's been especially hot everywhere this year it seems.  

ps.  I have a huge sense of relief as I'm about to hit "publish".  I almost decided to just let it go but I like doing it and I think it helps.  And I've made a few friends!  Natasha -- when I go west in September, we must try to meet up!!  Sushi perhaps?