(This blog brought to you by Sohaib with Computer Geeks and Solutions in Woodbridge, Virginia. He came to our rescue when my laptop refused to connect to the network. After we paid $350 to have the entire system reconfigured, my darling offspring confessed to illicit computer use while we were in Belgium, including turning off the computer without shutting down. Oy. Thanks Sohaib for getting out here within an hour or two of our call and getting me up and running.)

I was so tired coming into this trip that I fell asleep in the taxi on the way to the airport, fell asleep at the gate waiting for boarding, fell asleep on the plane waiting for take off, dozed off and on for the entire eight-hour flight, fell asleep on the ride in the car from Dulles to Woodbridge, and then went to bed at the equivalent of 2 a.m. Belgian time and slept until noon Belgian time, 6:30 a.m. local time..

Y’all, I am a champion sleeper. I could be a gold medalist in the Sleep Olympics.

Rock Grrrl’s condo looks like she decorated it with me in mind. We both have a love of deep red, olive green, and khaki colors and a rustic, natural decorating style. We felt at home immediately, and Virginia’s grey skies and rain were a taste of Belgium. : )  The kids were excited by wall-to-wall carpet and delighted in its padding and squish factor.

Then they discovered the garbage disposal in the kitchen.

E-Grrrl says: What is that?

V-Grrrl: It’s a garbage disposal in the drain…

A: Yeah, it turns rotten food into a wet pulp, and that’s what hotdogs are made of.

According to E-Grrrl and A, the weirdest thing about Northern Virginia is all the pavement and all the wires. Electrical cables are all underground in Belgium and to see them criss-crossing the street and highways was strange to them. As I expected I would, I missed Belgium’s brick buildings and architecture. There isn’t room for sprawl in Europe so you almost never see commercial strip shopping centers and huge parking lots, and let’s face it, strip shopping centers and giant parking lots are big ugly. My kids, who are incredible chow hounds, were in awe of all the fast food restaurants lining the streets and popping up on every corner. They just couldn’t believe there were so many places to get junk food here. I laughed when E-Grrrl said, "Look, they have those things with the microphones!" Yes, those would be called "Drive-thrus."

Me, I was happy to be back in the land of the broad-bottomed woman. I feel so at home—and I know I’ll be able to find pants in my size. : )

June 30, 2007