Sweet Summer Sweat

I just came back from grabbing a sandwich and iced coffee and it was truly sad to return to the office. It's a-MAH-zing out there. Actually a little too hot - I feel for those people running the Boston Marathon today. In anticipation of a.m. traffic jerkery due to said Marathon, I actually ran in myself instead of driving. It wasn't my fastest time, but it was a treat to go for a run and... get somewhere. I do adore my treadmill and how it essentially lets me be my own competitor and kick my own butt, but it was really nice to be out among the flowers and trees and skip the earphones in favor of letting my thoughts bounce around in the relative quiet. Plus my workplace affords me the opportunity to take a shower and even throw my clothes in the wash so I don't have pingy pongy running shorts funking up my bag all day. If it didn't take up another hour of prime HR time, I would choose this commute option a lot more.

11 days out from his second birthday, and I still marvel at how great this age is with our boy. On the downside, he's increasingly enraged by being told "no," but gets great happiness from using the word himself, repeatedly. On the upside, he also loves to say "hug!" accompanied with a real, wholehearted hug. He gets more independent every day, adds to his vocabulary by the hour (this weekend saw the inclusion of "ant" and "headband" - pronounced "heb-BAYND"). He's really, really into his Music Together CDs and asks for the "Hello" ("Hey-YO") song constantly. His capacity for sitting in a chair through a whole meal in a restaurant is increasing, and we had a great experience dining al fresco on Saturday. He discovered the joy of dipping foods in ketchup finally, and also started drinking milk with his meals through a straw. You just never know with this guy.

The togetherness and beautiful weather conditions actually made this whole weekend a package of excellent. After our aforementioned Saturday lunch, HR fell asleep on the walk home, which translated into a long family nap when we got there. I woke up feeling rested while the other two slept on, and I flipped on the TV to find "Hot Fuzz" playing and I was like, could this day get any better? Of course Mike had to leave for work which was a bummer, but the boy and I soldiered on and I got to drink wine and catch up on DVR after his bedtime. Yesterday was another pretty sweet day with lots of outside time, and discoveries and laughs. Oh and the Red Sox started showing up to games, so that's a nice bonus.

Here's Dr. No modeling his heb-BAYND:

I know the look says, "Woman, I am not the singer of Loverboy circa 1982, and you will pay for insinuating otherwise" but he actually requested to wear it and I believe the way it keeps his locks from his eyes has made him a fan. Anything I can do to put off the inaugural haircut, I'll do it.

On the Q-Tip, it's entirely possible that this is the first song from A Tribe Called Quest that made it as my song of the day selection. Of course it's a travesty, but it also doesn't surprise me, because when it comes to my Top 5 bands, I'm under the assumption that I've already kablammed you with them a hundred times. Usually I'm mistaken. All right, so though every day is a good day for A Tribe Called Quest, hot summery ones are the best. And this is my very favorite of their later work.