I spent most of yesterday�s morning work session screwing around with my conference paper that won�t get written and not getting anywhere. My friend L. called last night to express her even more pronounced angst in not getting enough writing done (If I don�t finish, I�ll be frustrated and may possibly look like an idiot; if she doesn�t, she�ll lose her job) and I described the problem to her as, �I have something to say, but I really don�t want to say it anymore.� The conversation was strangely cathartic. Although we didn�t really talk about our projects much, after hanging up I ended up sitting down and writing in 10 minutes what I�ve spent days trying to put on paper. I now have a coherent outline, complete with specific evidential examples. It should be pretty pro forma from here, assuming I can get the video conundrum figured out. I�d like to show a silent film clip, but I�m not quite sure how to present it as something other than either an awkward moment of silence or a moment of me talking nervously and irritatingly so that there is no silence. I don�t know why I�m worried. No one�s going to come � I�m on the first session (lots of people skip that in favor of breakfast), I�m on Sunday (lots of people skip all Sunday sessions so they can get home), my session has an incredibly dorky title, and I�m up against famous people speaking in another room.

I�ve set work concerns aside today, though, to help AJ celebrate Valentine�s Day, which has become a major holiday without my knowledge. He came home from school yesterday with a truckload of candy (I really wish we�d find some other way to celebrate holidays than by putting our children into a diabetic coma). He woke me up extra-early this morning with his present for me � a book he wrote and illustrated with his dad�s help called, �Wake Up Mommy!� If I can get the pages photographed, I�ll post them later. I also received the classic box of red roses from the husband, which, when added to the hand-painted vase (made of a plastic water bottle covered in masking tape) of carnations that AJ brought home from school for me yesterday, are making the kitchen smell like a flower shop.

AJ and I made our weekly library pilgrimage where we checked out a couple of books on chess (one for me, one for him). I haven�t played much since the short-lived days of the Bad Chess Club in college. AJ�s gotten very interested, thanks to Alice in Wonderland. We checked the Disney movie out a few weeks ago and he watched it at least once a day for the week we had it. He was so into the film that we started reading the book, which he also loved. We finished that and started in on Through the Looking Glass yesterday. We set up the chess board in a corner of his room so that we could map out the action. I explained how all the pieces moved and we looked at the picture of the chess board at the beginning of the book.

Last night, when we were reading before bed, he asked for the chess board to be closer so that he could �illustrate the story,� He grabbed Alice (white pawn) and the red queen and made them talk to each other. Later, in a diversion from our tale, he made Alice climb invisible spiral stairs around the rook until she perched on the top (our rook is flat, so this is possible). �I can see everything from here,� Alice marveled, �the whole world looks like a game of chess!"

3 people said it like they meant it