Getting fit, not sure I'm cut out to be a step mum, he's letting himself go...
Just heading off for my hiking and outdoors holiday - going to come back super-fit after too many summer barbecues and all the calories those have! That is if I can resist all the amazing bakery things - yummy cakes, donuts, etc., that you can get Stateside.
Have a lovely couple weeks - I've just posted two new "your e-mails of the week” - thanks for all your e-mails.
One's from Helen who's started going out with an older man who has a 16-year-old son. She's wondering if it's a good idea to get involved - being a step mum wasn't in her life plan.
The other's from Paula - her man's letting himself go.
Check them out by selecting the ‘gold star’ on my homepage - that's also where you can e-mail me.
Bits and pieces of my news - over the next couple weeks I have some articles coming out - particularly on seasonal affect disorder (SAD) - more on that when I get back mid-September.
I've also got some pretty hard-hitting questions/dilemmas coming out on my weekly iVillage.co.uk blog - a new one's posted every Tuesday.
And the weekend of September 10 my next Sex and Love Academy online column for the Sun newspaper comes out - more hot tips for you.
So annoyed I missed going to see the Inbetweeners film with some friends who have a juvenile sense of humour like I have. Hoping it's still at the cinema when I get back.
Loaded my music for the long flight - lots of summer tunes - Calvin Harris, Friendly Fires, Vaccines, Noah and the Whale, Fixers, Foster the People, but also Bring Me the Horizon, Cage the Elephant, The Strokes, definitely Modestep (Sunshine is one of my tunes of the summer), Example, Nero, Katy B, as well as some classic Foos, Kings, - I'll probably be asleep by the first tune.
TODAY’S TIP: having mentioned seasonal affective disorder (SAD) now's the time to plan ahead - if you haven't got a proper white lightbox that mimics sunshine it's worth thinking about investing one - or see if your health authority rents them out. They can help enormously.
Plan for the autumn now - resolve to look after yourself, eat properly and not give in to SAD-type cravings, get any sunshine you can.
Ddefinitely worth talking to your boss about you grabbing a coffee when the sun comes out - no matter what time of the working day it is - rather than sticking to the traditional 11 AM coffee break. Little things like that can make all the difference.
In the meantime I hope there's lots of sunshine over the next couple weeks, look after yourself, Pamx