I have been delinquent this weekend in just about everything. It was lovely.

Friday night, AJ�s favorite babysitter came over and we met friends � Mr. J., a high school friend of my husband�s, and his wife Mrs. J. � at our favorite French restaurant this side of the city, which we realized is exactly halfway between our two houses. When you have as much togetherness in one�s marriage as my husband and I have in ours, due to our working at home, going somewhere with somebody else become epic. We drank and talked and planned future meetings which will probably not really take place and closed the restaurant (of course, it�s not hard to close suburban restaurants, even on a weekend � 10 p.m and we�re the only ones left in the place).

As we climbed into our car, we hear a woman shriek. I glanced up at the BMW parked next to us and saw a man�s bare white knuckles and bald head pressed up against the steamed up and otherwise opaque windows. My husband quickly pulled out of the parking space before anything else got pressed against the windows. Or perhaps he was just worried that I might follow through on my stated intention of writing a note that said, �Was it as good for you as it was for us?� and leaving it under the windshield wiper.

Saturday was spent recovering from Friday night. AJ woke us up early and I was slightly hungover � it doesn�t take much these days. So we all snuggled in bed and watched cartoons with AJ. We eventually got up, but all three of us were groggy for most of the day. When my mother- and sister-in-law arrived for a brief visit, they found only me, as both the boys were sleeping. When AJ woke up, he was surly and didn�t really wake up until after they left. We all went for a stomp through the nature preserve down the street. The preserve has two entrances, one on each side of the block, and two paths between them. AJ decided that he should follow one path and I another (my husband was left to his own devices). For a half an hour we ran loops in opposite directions, tagging our hands as we passed. I tired long before AJ, who was still giggling as he ran when the sun started going down and it was time to go home. We spent the evening watching our White Sox kick some Astro butt.

Today has been similarly lethargic, although I did manage to get out for a 12 mile bike ride this morning, but only because my husband made me go. He was, no doubt, sick of my complaining about how tired I was and how I didn�t feel like running today. It was cold and drizzly, but the foliage was gorgeous and everything smelled of wet leaves and wood smoke. I rode along the section of trail that abuts the river we canoed on last weekend and stopped on the bluff to watch the fishermen rubbing their hands together in their canoes, trying to stay warm. After I returned, the day filled up with small domestic tasks. Grocery shopping. The cleaning and rearranging of furniture in my office (a project I am still completing).

And this evening I am listening to a symphony by elgan�s husband on CBC 2 while reorganizing the books on my desk while the rain drums at the windows. Tomorrow I�d better get back to work.

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