AJ refused to sleep today, hence I have not been able to write until now, when he has worn me down to the point that I am barely coherent. He was actually in an excellent, if not downright exuberant mood today, but that is as exhausting as the terminal grumpiness he�s been dishing out lately. He seems to be going through some kind of early teenaged mood swings.

While I was teaching water aerobics this morning, AJ and his dad went fishing in the river. The trip was less than successful in the actual catching part of the trip (which may have had something to do with the fact that after failing to dig up any worms, they decided to bait the hook with pieces of tofu dogs). A good time, however, was had by all. When I returned home, AJ was running around the house singing, �We didn�t catch any fish today� to a little tune he made up himself. He kept it up for at least 20 minutes, by which point both my husband and I were at a loss as to whether we should laugh like lunatics or bang our heads against the wall repeatedly.

After I�d showered and AJ had been persuaded to stop singing that particular song, he and I ran errands. �It�s a very doggie world today,�AJ observed in a sing-song voice as we passed several people walking dogs. First we went to the shoe store where we discovered the reason his shoes have been so hard to get on lately � his feet have grown 2 sizes in the last month. After giggling through the tickly measuring process, AJ agreed amiably to trying on shoes. But as soon as his eye landed on a pair of white shoes with red baseball stitching, the search was over. He put them on and refused to take them off until I begged him to try on a pair of dress shoes. With the baseball shoes back on his feet, the old shoes and dress shoes in boxes, we returned to the car, with AJ stomping his feet as hard as he could the whole way. Life is good when you have a new pair of shoes.

Next, since we were in the neighborhood, we checked out a new market and it was my turn to be excited. I have had two great food-related frustrations since moving here from the city. One is the lack of decent produce. The other is the lack of variety of ingredients. Both of these problems were answered. The store is not particularly large or fancy and is actually less expensive than the primary grocery store chains. But the inventory was amazing. The store seems to be trying (and succeeding) to attract both lower income local immigrant populations, primarily Mexicans and Polish as well as the higher income types who might be attracted to something like Whole Foods. The clientele shopping this morning was nearly evenly divided between the two groups. The produce took up at least a third of the store and included a vast array of ingredients for assorted international cuisines � lemongrass, lychee nuts, a gazillion different kinds of peppers, at least 4 different kinds of eggplant. There were quite a few organic options as well � something I get almost none of at the other markets. There is a massive butcher counter (which I bypassed, shoving a couple of packages of tofu into my cart) and a huge deli with the best cheese selection I�ve seen in this area and a bakery with lots of European-style breads and pastries. There were fewer aisles than a standard grocery store so there were fewer selections for things like cereal. But they had sections devoted to numerous nationalities. I found French cornichons (I am addicted to these things, thanks to l�Expres in Montreal) and Ribena and Flake bars from my childhood in England. Not to mention an aisle of products in Polish, whose labels I was attempting to translate for the ever-vigilant AJ, who was attracted to their colorful packaging. I was very close to dancing a jig through the store after I saw that they had 10 different kinds of lentils � some people need porn, I need legumes. I can�t wait to go back now that I know what�s there. Time to get out my cookbooks.

The afternoon was less productive than I would have liked, thanks to AJ�s naplessness. But once I accepted the fact that no dissertating was happening, we headed out to get his hair cut (he stomped all the way into the shop until the stylist asked if he had new shoes), shop for school supplies, and look for a birthday present for his friend N. We got hair cut and most of the supplies on the list from AJ�s school, but instead of a present for N., we came home with a game for AJ. Because I am a pushover, that�s why. The game is Mousetrap, one I remember loving when I was not too much older than AJ. We have been busy looking at Rube Goldberg cartoons and creating ever more fanciful constructions for his marbles, so the game fits perfectly with AJ�s current bent. Best of all, the very first time we played it, AJ actually won, relishing the cranking of the handle that set the marble rolling out of the bucket, down the stairs, onto a diving board, through a chute and a bathtub, eventually netting my small blue mouse with a red cage. �It�s okay, Mommy. Maybe you�ll win tomorrow.�

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