I think there is such a thing as a summer hangover. You feel it when you have to wake up early for school, stay late for meetings and follow strict schedules. You find yourself aching for the easy days of sleeping in, and dreaming of the time when all you had on the agenda was the pool and figuring out what to make for the next meal.

My summer hangover hasn’t been too bad this year. It helped that my mom came to visit, so we stretched summer out to its limits. And the weather is still summer-hot and humid. Also, being in our new apartment is really nice, and I enjoy being here and making it a home. With that said, this beginning of the year has been a lot of work.

We started back to work (Donnie had already been at work for 2 weeks by then) on the Monday after my mom left. I jumped in headfirst to my new position and was amazed at the amount of work I had to get done. I didn’t even get to planning my classes until the day before school started due to all the other responsibilities of IB coordinator. I also moved classrooms, so I had to set up again for the umpteenth time in my 13 years of teaching. The good news is, I’m finally at a place that I don’t have to bring work home on the weekends. I anticipate it will be busy the entire year though.

Along with getting into the routine of school, we’ve tried to get back in the groove of exercising. I’m doing early morning 5K’s and we’ve been doing a couple workouts a week. We found out our personal trainer lives in the building next to us, so it’s been super easy to plan workouts and even hang out with her a couple of times. We meet with her once a week at the gym, and then once on Saturday morning in the park by our house. This means that Paul gets to join us to play and do the parts of our workouts that he likes with us. He also has a good time with Christina who plays with him while we sweat it out. It’s been a really fun way to start the weekend and hopefully will get us back into shape soon.

Paul started first grade! He lost his other front tooth on the day before school started and I was a little bit relieved because I didn’t want another freak out like the beach in Spain. He has a male teacher this year, who seems super chill. I’m hoping that he has an easier year, with less emotional outbursts, but we’ve already worked through a couple of incidents. He’s like a sponge though, so smart and able to remember and retain so much information. He’s so interested in Minecraft now, which is funny to see considering how much I disliked it when I had to play it in grad school.

The weather has been iffy this year. We’ve had two full blown typhoons hit us, and one is hitting nearby today. It resulted in a nice Wednesday off school, but the rain and wind is crazy. I’m ready for cooler and clearer weather, but it will be month’s before that. The rain does bring cooler(ish) weather, but the humidity is intense. We spend a lot of time just hanging home with just us.

We took an impromptu trip to HK last Saturday, just to do some shopping and for a change of pace. It was fun! We hit Toys R Us of course, and our homebrew shop, as well as our American grocery store. We also tried a new beer bar called Second Draft. It was super hipster, we had some yummy dishes like edamole (edamame guacamole) and cumin french fries while sipping on locally brewed sour beers. Unfortunately, our plan to take the ferry was foiled because they were canceled because of the typhoon, so it took a little longer to get home. It was a long, but fun day.

This past week was long. Lots of rain, open houses, and soccer practices made for a full and exhausting week. We are having a chill weekend with the typhoon coming, but we did go out for a few hours last night to Luohu to do some shopping. Donnie got some new glasses, of course, and Paul a new Minecraft lego set, and we all got some clothes made. We used a new tailor, so we brought pictures of the dresses I want made, and then she took us into a maze of fabrics. We browsed and picked fabrics, then got measurements. I was only going to have one made for Matt and Alayna’s wedding, but ended up ordering 3. Donnie and Paul also got some suit jackets made, with some cool dragon design fabric. I’m interested to see how they turn out! The whole thing, 3 dresses and two jackets with fabric and labor were only $350! I’ll post pics later of what the dresses look like.

So as the summer hangover fades, and routine sets in, life takes on a regular rhythm. I appreciate the steadiness of routine, but always need something to look forward to. We have a month until our first break, but some fun events planned before that. A concert in a couple weeks, and Beertopia on the horizon. Sorry this post has been a little tedious, but that might be an accurate description for what life is right now. Much love to all.

j