Break time...

My interest in the International Business position of Mexico is pretty minimal, as in, nonexistent really. That didn't matter. I still had to write the paper. 16 whole long pages, double spaced thank you Lord, analyzing all sorts of international business-y stuff regarding Mexico. Of course I procrastinated. I had 8 whole weeks to plan. and write notes. and research. and even compose an outline. But no. Why do that when I could cram it all into 8 days?!? way more fun. and more stressful. This was about 4 tests, 4 essays later. Oh, and lots of reading.

July 9th, I handed that paper in and breathed a huge sigh of relief. Literally. I hit send. and seriously felt this wave of freedom wash over me! Since Jan, I have been taking classes, beginning with Legal Issues in Business, throwing in a Marketing Management course, and rounding it all out with this lovely course - International Business. I opted to take a break for the rest of the summer...



The break scares me. Rightfully so. Because it feels so so good. Things at work have calmed down to almost a boring pace. I have no class until August 23. And wow. I forgot how good it feels to not have things pressing down on me. Things to read, to write, to take care of or to prepare for - ahhh, i'm loving it! The thought of resuming on August 23 becomes less and less appealing. But, lets not go there. No No. Lets talk about what we've been doing on my good ole break instead.

I've been cooking a lot! Or as husband would say, I've been chopping and stirring a lot. With summer here, I hate to turn on the oven, or even the stove. So in an attempt to not heat up our (ahem no central AC) house, I've been whipping up some no cook recipes. I even ordered a no-cook cookbook! husband excitement is practically uncontainable, i tell ya!

I've been reading. Not business crap. Real Reading. Books. Blogs. Magazines I had neglected for months. I've had the free time to catch up on my OWN blog. journaling. I have been renting and watching movies like nobodies business! Seriously. Can we say 3-4 movies each week, no joke. I've been staying up late, giddy with excitement, like i'm a college kid on a real summer break! Course Im not - so i'm dragging myself out of bed each morning, dead tired, trekking my way to Northeast Philly for work. I'm letting the kid stay up late too, as if he's on some sort of break too.

And the extra, nothing hanging over my head, time with the kid has been so wonderful. I've been spending lots of time outside with him. Playing. Running. Throwing baseball. Shooting basketball. Playing in the sandbox. Hiding in his castle. Splashing in the pool. Dashing through the water ring. Doing some indoor fun stuff like watching Diego and Sesame street. playing car wash and farm with the little people. Cooking together. Trucks. Lots of truck time!



Grocery shopping together. Fake grocery shopping and the real deal too. Let me tell you, my boys loves grocery shopping as much as his mama:) No joking here. I adore grocery shopping. I don't go by a list. I just go. and often. I say to the kid, " you want to go to the store??" my eyes flashing with excitement. "YES!" he screams, grabbing the bags! "STORE!". We hop in the car like we're going to buy candy, parking and dash in giggling with excitement. but we aren't buying candy! no no. we're buying real food.

fresh fruit. veggies. the kid points out pineapples. watermelon. canteloupe. strawberries. bananas. naming them off and begging to put them in the cart. we linger way too long in the organic food aisles, chatting about what to try, whats too expensive, and what looks especially tasty. a boy after my own heart i tell ya. Once in a blue moon, i'll dash to the store without him for a quick something. He cries. Yep. He hates to miss a grocery outing i tell ya!



We've had some company - friends overnight from TN. friends over for an occasional evening get together. Or an afternoon lunch. We've decided to park the car and not travel for awhile. Relax. Stay home. Invite folks over. See if we get bored. Stuff like that. Actually socialize with some people in our own home and our own town. Thus far, we're diggin' it...

The boys in philly...


abram and steph (my bf from TN!) ...


To top it all off, we've been attempting the whole potty training thang here on the Sonneborn homefront. Its going with with our little homeboy but it ain't all easy peasy. If he's running without a stitch of clothing on from the waist down, he's a potty king! not an accident to date when he's a naked boy. He goes to his potty to pee, poop, you name it! But you put some shorts on him and its all over. as in really all over. pee all over. He still goes to the potty for pooping. but the pee thang, ahh, only goes well if he's naked. Hmmm. how to make this transition? Not quite like I can take him out in his naked state! Not quite acceptable in these parts. Creative mama in me thought, perhaps i'll get him excited about some undies:-) and we were off to Kohls.

THIS is what we came home with...





He narrowed it down to 3 packs. His choice of course. FInally putting Thomas the train back on the shelf, He then had a really tough time deciding between the Diego undies and the MIckey Mouse ones. Why I don't know. He's never even laid eyes on Mickey in his life. After some serious inner dilemma, he went with his ole fave, diego. Clearly, the undies didn't do it. Sure, hes loved them but see above. Self explanatory I do believe. I got some hilarious shots of him with these I must say. But, being a public blog, I opted for these two cuties above. I may have to break down and read something about how to actually potty train a kid. Dang! I was hoping to lick this thing without having to read the instructions first:( Boooo! I hate reading instructions. But i do have the time now so there's really no excuse. Darn.