This has been a wildly busy but quite productive weekend. And somehow, with my new yoga-honed attitude, I managed to have fun rather than let the craziness get to me. Definitely progress for me. I am, if not a few steps further down the road to Nirvanathen at least a few steps further away from the loony bin. Progress is progress.

Friday evening was spent making my secret lasagna sauce (the secret is that there is no recipe at all � I make it up as I go along) and then falling asleep immediately upon arrival in bed. My husband, on the other hand, had a bad attack of insomnia on Friday night and slept uncharacteristically late on Saturday morning as a result. So AJ and I got up and went to the grocery store to finish our lasagna purchases. After we loaded up the car with ricotta and parmesan and noodles, I took AJ to the local doughnut establishment for a treat. He was slightly miffed that they had substituted black and orange sprinkles for his favorite doughnut. �It doesn�t look like Arnie,� he grumped before sinking his teeth into the chocolate icing. Arnie is the lead character in Arnie, the Doughnut by Laurie Keller. Arnie is a doughnut who is a little na�ve when it comes to the ways of the world. He is very excited when someone buys him and takes him home, but is horrified to discover that he is about to be eaten. He shrieks, terrifying the would-be breakfaster. In the end, Arnie and his purchaser find a way around the food chain. His purchaser has always wanted a dog, but his building won�t allow it, �Arnie, will you be my doughnut dog?� He asks. Arnie agrees and they live happily ever after.

I, for one, am kind of glad AJ wasn�t devouring Arnie this time. It worries me somewhat that AJ loves Arnie the doughnut so much that he wants to eat doughnuts that look just like him.

After AJ polished off Arnie�s cousin, we returned home and the cooking and cleaning frenzy began. My cousins came over around 1:00, and stayed until 5:00. The lasagna turned out perfectly, thanks to a phone call to my mother-in-law for her advice. AJ sprinkled candy corn on ice cream for everyone for desert. A good time was had by all. My husband left for the Blackhawks game shortly after my cousins departed and I had a lovely evening to myself after AJ went to bed. I had intended to work, but instead I washed all the dishes and got sucked into watchingAmerican Beauty, which didn�t seem that great to me, but I loved Thora Birch and the soundtrack and so I stayed and folded laundry instead of doing real work.

This morning I managed to read the paper and clean up the house and finish tracing all the bones for AJ�s Halloween costume. We went to church and then, an hour later, entertained my mother-in-law, her twin sister and my brother-in-law, who drove the two octogenarians out here. My brother-in-law brought AJ a hockey net and a bunch of hockey sticks that he and his brothers had used when they were kids. The three boys played hockey in the driveway while I poured tea for the older generation indoors.

After they left, I commissioned my husband to cut out the remaining skeleton bones while AJ and I drove to the ice rink�s pro shop to buy him some hockey skates, as a prize for doing so well with his skating lately. The fifteen-year-old son of the owner helped us and he was totally charming. He talked right to AJ without talking down to him and AJ ate it up. He�s usually shy to the point of hiding and refusing to talk with strangers but this time he was telling the kid stories as his feet were laced in and out of skates. AJ was most pleased when the kid mentioned how well AJ was sitting and that the kids who were in earlier were running around and screaming. AJ sat up a little taller after that remark. It was the first thing he told his dad about when we got home. AJ is very excited about the pair we took home with us, black and silver with laces longer than he is tall and gleaming newly sharpened blades. And his dad? His dad is jealous. �I never had hockey skates,� he said.

Afterwards, AJ came down to the basement to help me finish his costume. It now looks like this:

I�m hoping I�ll have time to at least tack the bones down with a needle and thread � I don�t trust the fusible tape I used to keep them on to stay put. I also need to remove the excessive felt fuzz. But overall, I�m pleased with the way it has turned out. AJ hasn�t seen the final product yet � I finished ironing on the arm bones after he went to sleep.

I also managed to finish the quiz for Tuesday. I think it�s going to be fairly hard, but the hardest question will be easy for those who came to class on Thursday. Those who missed class will probably be struggling. No matter how hard I try, I can�t seem to feel bad about that.

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