Thanks to the many people who wrote with suggestions and advice or just to commiserate or offer support on our ongoing school dilemma. I was overwhelmed and very grateful and I continue to be in awe of the thoughtfulness and intelligence of my readers. I am in the process of responding to all individually, but have not yet been able to finish doing so.

I spent a profligate Sunday at my mother-in-law�s. She�s recovering from cataract surgery and has been frustrated with being trapped in her house and unable to read, so we took AJ down to entertain her, whereupon she cooked us an enormous breakfast and BAKED US BLUEBERRY MUFFINS and I spent much of the afternoon reading The Da Vinci Code, which had been left lying innocuously on the coffee table. I�m irritated with myself for getting involved, because I have a huge pile of books I need to read first and because it�s just not very good � highly predictable in its unpredictability. But I�m easy to manipulate (by fiction at least) and it�s gripping and I�m going to have to finish it now that I�ve started.

I won�t, however, be getting much reading done today, as AJ and I are going to visit his friend Z., whom we haven�t seen in months, thanks to their conflicting school schedules. And if hanging out with two three-year-olds and a one-year-old (Z�s brother) isn�t the opposite of introspection, I don�t what is.

And now, I must take up my duties as assistant zookeeper at the �Park Zoo� � so called because the only zoo in AJ�s experience is the Lincoln Park Zoo � that AJ has built out of upside down chairs and laundry baskets in his room. AJ is currently attempting to incarcerate a stuffed lion puppet who doesn�t look as if he has any intentions of squeezing into his extremely small quarters. I just hope I don�t get stuck with the cleaning out of the cages. The fuzzy purple bunny isn�t too bad, but I�m a little worried about the huge blue elephant. I don�t like the look in his eye.

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