I was awakened this morning by AJ�s tug on my arm. �The thunder�s too loud.� My husband had already gotten up to work out, so AJ crawled in bed beside me and we lay there listening to the rain drumming on the roof and the thunder crashing outside. AJ got up to run to the window and look out. �It�s like Snoopy always types. �It was a dark and stormy night.��

It was also a dark and stormy morning when we descended to find our driveway a lake and the stream in the backyard verging on river status, complete with rapids. When I arrived at the train station this morning, the rain had stopped and the entire village police department was in the parking lot drinking coffee and chatting affably with passers-by as the power company repaired down powerlines that had left the one-block square downtown area in total darkness. Clearly, it was the event of the season.

AJ spent much of the morning rolling up his left sleeve to admire the new Scooby Doo band-aid on his shoulder. He had his four-year checkup and received not one but two shots and didn�t cry at all. We got official word that the kid is getting skinnier � he�s still in the fiftieth percentile for height but only the thirtieth for weight � but that he�s still totally within the realm of normal. His doctor, whom I like a lot, answered all AJ�s questions about the human body (�How do you find germs in my pee? What color are they?�). She also talked to me about getting AJ�s IQ tested. Although people keep suggesting the testing, I�ve been really dragging my feet about it. I know it will help him when he gets to school � data is always good when dealing with public schools. But I�m balking at putting any kind of label on him. He can describe in detail the digestive process in technical terms, but he can�t do soccer drills with his team without falling apart � the latter confuses his orderly mind. To him, every time he plays soccer, he is the star of an imaginary game. In his current state at home, everything adapts to him. I�m getting worried about sending him into a world that will adjust their perception of him based on the box he fits best in.

I spent most of my morning fending off crazy Cubs fans who seem to be crawling out of every Loop sewer grate and who have clearly started drinking quite early. The train ride home should be a real picnic. Lucky I�m wearing my raincoat.

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