Updates from the Surface of the Sun

It is still 900 degrees. Let's just get that out of the way. This is the longest summer of all time. And thus concludes the Captain Obvious portion of this post. :-) My first few days back on my strict diet are going pretty well...especially considering that I have already cheated with beer and wine on 2 of the 4 nights! HA! We had a great family night with some of our friends on Saturday and then I had girls night last night at Eren's. You really can't have girls night without wine, so I ate very clean beforehand to save up calories. HA! I honestly already feel better...it feels so good to have a mission again! :-)

Our beach trip is almost here and I can't believe it! We are going to be at the shore from Friday through Monday and I am SO excited. Did you know that the weather forecast calls for high temps that are a full 12 degrees cooler than it is here?! With a sea breeze. I can't wait! I am honestly a little overwhelmed right now with trying to remember everything to pack for our family and all the odds and ends I signed up to bring for everyone else. Between hosting the birthday party and sharing a house with 9 families, I am feeling a little nervous that I don't have all my bases covered. But I know that I will get it figured out and we are going to have so much fun!

Odds and ends this week...

I am growing Colin's hair out. I have kept his hair very short for the past year and I mentally noted after his last cut (a month ago) that I wanted to see it longer. Not like scruffy long, but with some actual hair on top, rather than just the little spikes. He has soft, thick golden brown hair and I suddenly want to see what it would look like a bit longer. We shall see how long this lasts...my pet peeve is an "unkempt" looking kiddo, so if his hair starts looking like a shaggy dog, I may break down and cut it. :-) I figure that I only have a short amount of time left when he will let me decide his haircut, so I am going for the change while I still can.

I woke up this morning with a sore throat and feeling under the weather. This will not come as a surprise to anyone in my family. My signature move since BIRTH is to get sick before something awesome happens, like Christmas or a trip to the beach this weekend. I refuse to be sick. REFUSE. So if you can overdose on Airborne and vitamin C, I am about to experience it.

I am in the throws of a giant debate on what extracurricular activities to sign Colin up for this fall. I am thinking about karate or gymnastics. I even thought about looking into drum or guitar lessons. I don't know if Colin is too young (probably), but he loves music so much and seems so naturally inclined to it. I thought about indoor soccer (we have a great place close by), but I changed my mind. I asked him about it and he said no, so I am not going to push it. I am going to stay away from team sports this fall and let him try other activities that don't require him to battle his social fears. I think karate sounds particularly calming and have a feeling Colin will love it. I have already sent some inquiry emails out to local places, so we shall see.

Colin's occupational therapist, Cheryl, left for China this week to complete the adoption process for a little girl. They have a daughter that is Colin's age from Korea and have been in the process with China for the last 6 years. So, this is big and wonderful news for her! The bad news is that Colin has to switch therapists for the next 3 months while Cheryl is traveling and on maternity leave. She thinks it will be good for him to work with someone new and apparently Mary Sue is very sweet and will be a perfect fit for the little man. His therapy appointment is now on Thursdays at 10:30am. I am actually on my way to the preschool to verify Colin's schedule and teachers for the fall. They start in less than a month, on September 7th. He is going to go 2 days a week again this year and I can't believe that I am already thinking about this! Our school district starts back on the 22nd and I can't wait for the peace and quiet that comes with all these neighborhood hooligans going back full time. :-)

Colin has developed a new obsession - Sesame Street. I feel a little bit stupid admitting this, but he hasn't really watched it much over the years. We used to watch PBS when he was tiny, but he got on a Nick Jr. kick forever ago and I frankly would just forget to turn the channel to PBS. He loves their shows and catches the occasional Super Why or Word World and he ADORES Sid the Science Kid. We have several of those DVD's...Sid is right up Colin's alley. Anyway, for some reason, we never caught Sesame Street and I forgot about it. I stumbled across it in the kids free OnDemand and started it a couple of weeks ago. Colin loves it. He loves it so much, in fact, that he has started laughing like Ernie. Like FOR REAL laughs like Ernie. He has managed to retrain his body to do the classic "hehehehehe" that Ernie does whenever he finds something amusing. It makes me laugh every single time.

That should do it for now...I have to stop stalling and get ready for this trip!