Today was largely a day of drudgery, but in a good way. I spent the morning at the library alone, trying to figure out how to deal with the plagiarism issue without out distracting from the chapter � it�s quite tangential to my research, but it has the effect of making a source I cite frequently in this particular chapter seem unreliable. I picked up AJ and we went to buy another box of cereal with a picture of Curious George on it because it is all he will eat for breakfast these days.

�You know who likes Curious George, Mommy?�
�Who?� I respond, even though I�ve answered this question many times before and I know the answer well.
�The Girl Next Door.�

Poor AJ, he�s quite infatuated.

The Girl Next Door is currently on vacation on a tropical island. We are feeding their cat and her brother�s frog while they are gone. AJ came with me to bring in their mail today and played on the swingset while I took care of the animals. I could hear him having imaginary conversations with The Girl Next Door that sounded frighteningly like the real thing. �I can swing higher than you can!� �No you can�t. I can swing higher than the house.� �Oh, yeah? I can swing higher than the trees.� �I can swing higher than the moon!� �I can swing higher than the asteroid belt!�

After lunch we had a family trip to another library. My husband worked while AJ put on a puppet show for me that involved a dinosaur in a superhero cape jumping up and down on Peter Rabbit as he cowered fruitlessly in a stuffed watering can.

We came home and got AJ to bed for a short nap while I took a real watering can and headed for the garden. Lucky for me, there was nary a caped dinosaur in sight.

After dinner, we all headed down to the playing fields by the river. They are surrounded by a ring of the flattest road in our otherwise very hilly neighborhood. We brought AJ�s bike, which he�s been afraid to ride, and I brought my roller blades, which I haven�t put on outside my own driveway (and then only once) in more than a decade. AJ pedaled, I skated, avoiding pebbles as much as possible, as they have the ability to send me sprawling, and we made a complete circle around the fields. AJ was both proud of himself for going so fast and also excited because it was so much fun. He has some kind of mental block against the bicycle � he has from the very beginning. I think he was genuinely surprised that he might have a good time while riding it. We were all feeling euphoric after our exercise, so we went to celebrate our good fortune at the local ice cream shop. AJ had chocolate ice cream with Butterf1ngers mixed in. I had a sedate lemon sorbet. We both ended up sticky and happy. Matthew Sweet was grooving through �Girlfriend� on the car radio and we were all jumping around in the car like teenagers, my husband shaking his head, me beating out the drum solo on my knees, and AJ wriggling from head to toe.

Summer�s coming.

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