July flew by in the blink of an eye. The first half was crazy busy as I helped my daughter Laura pack for her cross-country move. Then, I wrapped up the month a much-needed vacation. All that didn’t leave a lot of time for reading blog posts, so my July 2023 roundup is a little light in that department.

Read on for my monthly goals update, and insightful posts on critical race theory, and the ultimate self-care we all need to practise.

Happy reading!

Cool things I read in July

Since publishing my first monthly roundup at the end of 2020, it has been an honour to introduce you to some of my favourite bloggers. I started the roundup to say thank you to the blogging community and bring attention to talented writers who create funny, inspiring, and informative content.

Here are two pieces that caught my eye in July.

Let’s talk and think about skin color – Wise & Shine

In this thoughtful post, Troy challenges racism and opponents of Critical Race Theory. Well worth a read!

If you tell me that you’re against doing critical thinking (about any subject), I’ll tell you that you’re making an argument in favor of ignorance and stupidity.

Troy Headrick, Let’s talk and think about skin colour

Knowing and loving oneself is the ultimate form of self-care – The Heart of the Matter

I’ve commented before that self-care has become an overused buzzword that often involves getting people to spend money on spa days and other experiences. In this post, Deb shares her views on self-care and I wholeheartedly agree with her comments.

I also truly believe that self-care has become something tied to how humans live on the earth right now. From childhood on people are pulled in a million directions at once and asked to deal with/cope with/abide by expectations of their own and everyone else’s as well.

Deb, Knowing and loving oneself is the ultimate form of self-care

For more thoughts on self-care, I suggest you check out Deb’s post on her personal blog, Closer to the Edge. Is self-care just a bunch of “hooey” literally made me laugh out loud!

What I wrote in July

In case you missed any of these, here are the new posts I published in July here on Boomer Eco Crusader.

• The Sunday Spark – Why do we feed online trolls?
• Could active travel save the planet and make us healthier? – A Climate Change Collective post.
• The Sunday Spark – Why I’m never moving
• The Sunday Spark – Goodbyes are never easy
• Four years of blogging – What I’m most proud of
• The Sunday Spark – Taking time to breathe
• Decluttering bit by bit adds up quickly
• Hello from beautiful Vancouver Island

In addition to my new posts, I also refreshed and republished this post from 2020:

• 6 ways to turn your junk into treasure

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July goals – How did I do?

After two decent months on the goals front, I was hoping for a three-peat in July. Let’s see how the month went.

Fitness goals

My goal for July was to walk 150 kilometres. I fell short in the first part of the month, but more than made up for it during our 10-day vacation on Vancouver Island. According to my manual tally, I ended the month at 134 kilometres, but FitBit tells me I walked 291 kilometres. FitBit doesn’t lie, so I’m calling this one a success!

Read four books

Despite all the busy-ness of the month, I managed to meet my goal of reading four books in July. A couple of long flights definitely helped! Here are the books I read, including two by members of the wonderful blogging community.  

• Before I Go To Sleep – S.J. Watson
• On Writing – Stephen King
• Indelible – Laurie Buchanan
• Surviving Sue – Dr. Vicki Atkinson

Finalize my 60 before 60 list

I celebrated my 59^th birthday in July, so I decided to put together a “60 before 60” list of things I want to do before next year’s big milestone birthday. I finished making my list in mid-July. You can read all about it in Here it is – My 60 before 60 list.

Not only did I finalize the list, but I also ticked the first 10 items in July. Here they are:

• Watch a sunrise. Completed July 27 in Campbell River, BC.
• Make a new soup recipe. Completed July 17 when I made broccoli cauliflower soup with the leftover veggies from my daughter’s good-bye party.
• Try a new cocktail. Completed July 28 – Blackberry mimosa.
• Volunteer. My daughter and I volunteered with Send ‘Em Off Smiling on July 11.
• Try a new zero-waste DIY. I made homemade bug spray on July 10.
• Visit Vancouver Island. We spent July 22 to August 1 on that beautiful island.
• Dip toes in the Pacific Ocean. Completed July 28.
• Sail on a boat. Completed July 24 when we took the ferry to Salt Spring Island on our vacation. As a bonus, we also sailed on a water taxi when we were in Victoria.
• Ride on a train. Completed July 12 when I took the GO Train to Toronto for a meeting.
• Write a poem. Completed July 27.

Miscellaneous goals

• Help my daughter pack for her move. We did it! We finished packing and shipped all the boxes to British Columbia on July 14.
• Prepare my President’s Report for next month’s conference. I completed my slides and submitted them on July 20.

Cut the candy

This is an ongoing struggle, although I admit I did pretty well in the first part of the month. And then we went on vacation.

My August goals

I’m thrilled that I achieved the three-peat with three decent months in a row. Four might be too much to ask for, but here are the goals I’ll be working towards this month.

• Fitness goals: 30 outdoor walks.
• Reading: Read 2 books.   
• Complete 8 more items on my 60 before 60 list.
• Cut the candy: This may be on this list forever.
• Clean up my office. After Laura’s move, several boxes have found their way to my office. My goal for August is to sort through them, ship what she needs, and get rid of the rest.
• Writing goals. Come up with an idea for a short story or children’s story.

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Thanks for dropping by to check out my monthly roundup. I hope your August is off to a great start.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on any of the posts I’ve shared. Tell me what you think below.