After a lovely early morning argument with the husband about stupid things (is there any other kind of early morning argument?) and in which both of us were far too easily offended, AJ and I spent the morning at the river�s edge with his friend D., and D�s mom and 2-year-old brother. The boys began by digging in the sand, but soon ended up to their armpits in the muddy water, throwing stones to see how big a splash they could make. It was a perfect way to start September. Well, the river part was, anyway. The argument I could have lived without.

This afternoon, however, I�m stuck in the basement sorting out a gazillion pieces of paper that all need to be turned into bibliography entries. It�s tedious work, but it�s also satisfying in that I can watch the stack steadily shrink and my bibliography steadily grow. I�ve been putting off the data entry for a long time, so the results are somewhat startling.

Unfortunately, the task is mind-numbing, and so I find myself with little left to say, except to point out to any who might be interested, that there is now a Harriet the Spy doll I wish she weren�t blonde. Harriet has never seemed like a blonde to me, although I can�t actually remember a particular mention of her hair color. Nevertheless, she may be headed into the Christmas stockings of my nieces this year. Or possibly into my own.

0 people said it like they meant it