The gauntlet

I double-checked both the spelling and the meaning

In 28 days I'll be embarking on my annual family pilgrimage to the Jersey Shore (since that MTV monstrosity I should specify I'm going to a slightly different part of the "Jersey Shore"). It'll be great -- time with my niece and nephews, cold beer on hot afternoons, parlor games, baseball games, swimming in the ocean, and getting criticized for every aspect of my personal appearance. Well to be fair, any overweight/undertoned areas are somewhat considered "out of bounds", which leaves wardrobe, hair, and makeup the prime fodder.

But this year, instead of just wishing that I had a fatter family, I'm determined to silence my annoying inner judge. For every other day of the next 4 weeks I'll be doing a workout from a magazine article that I found rather effective when I did it just 5 times in a 2 weeks period a few months ago. It's called "Muscles in Slow Motion" and is from the March 2012 edition of Whole Living. I'm hoping that getting started with this one workout plan will inspire spontaneous jogs and yoga hours... all totaling a body and a mind that can actually relax, and vacate on my much-needed vacation.

Wish me luck!