Tuesday. Ten.

1. Tejan's spiderman costume came in the mail over the weekend. You should see the muscles on this thing! He looks SO cute in it. And the excitement level? Over the top. Too fun.
2. I'm so sorry that the rest of the country is experiencing ridiculously warm temperatures... here in Spokane fall has very much arrived - with cool mornings and fog and beautiful colorful leaves falling from the trees. I think it's supposed to be 75 degrees here today - but only for today and then we're back into the 60's again. I love the cooler temperatures of fall and would be very cranky if it were in the 80's and 90's right now.
3. My new favorite thing? A shot of sugar free peppermint syrup in my morning coffee. Yum.
4. I keep thinking maybe I want a cat. But Asia hates cats. So it probably won't happen. Besides, there's the hair issue. One animal's hair is probably enough for me to deal with.
5. Only three more cross country races for the season... it's been so fun to watch Kyler excel at a sport... I've always considered him cursed with my non-athletic genes - but he's a great runner. It makes me a proud mama to see him passing all the other kids when he races.
6. We had lots of laughs last night when Tejan started teaching us all 'tricks' you can do with your body... you should have seen us all trying to get our arms to turn like pretzels over and around our heads and attempting the splits... we were a sight.
7. I'm supposed to be making a handout for a class I'm teaching today. I have no self control.
8. Every year I say I'm going to start my Christmas shopping early. That would mean now, don'tcha think? Yeah... not happening.
9. I'm having to share my morning pot of coffee with Kyler now. Silly 12 year old started drinking it just to spite his sister because I said she couldn't drink it until she was 12... He heard that and said, "So that means if I wanted to drink coffee, I could?" Now I think he actually likes it. Silly kid.
10. Turns out the pronunciation of certain words is quite different in Sierra Leone... last night as I was tucking Tejan in, I had to dig under his blankets to find his top sheet. "Where is your sheet, Tejan?" I asked. He looked at me and through his laughter said "Auntie, this word sheet - in Sierra Leone that means caca. Poop." Oh dear. I've been spouting four letter words at bedtime without even knowing it. I reassured him that although that word exists in american slang, it's pronounced differently, and I was referring to the thin cotton blanket on his bed when I said it. I couldn't stop laughing for the longest time. Great tears were rolling down my cheeks as I realized what he thought I'd been saying. Sheesh.

Happy Tuesday, friends.

I hope you have a lovely day.