Rock Grrrl and her friend Cindy started with the Belgian beers before dinner and after dinner was over, we made popcorn and opened a bottle of blueberry wine that I'd bought at a festival here in Belgium. Good stuff for those of us who like it fruity, though it made us all a bit nutty.

Under the influence, I spilled family secrets which I assumed Rock Grrrl knew about. She was delighted to hear how her younger brother's conception was heavily influenced by a pitcher or two of Singapore Slings and a fire in the fireplace and she learned who in the family had dabbled in mood altering substances during the 70s and how I got pissed and told off a certain family member's boyfriend when he crossed my path and did one of the Grrrl's wrong.

I should have been rounding up last minute things for the trip but I was too tired to move. When I finally showered and climbed into bed, I was wide awake and inexplicably anxious and annoyed beyond belief by mosquitoes and thinking of how much I was going to miss Petey the Cat while we're in America. Then I started to think of all the items I'd forgotten to drop into my luggage: nailclippers, razors, my son's sweatshirt, snacks for the kiddos, E-Grrrl's skin ointment, a bottle of ibuprofen, etc. etc. etc.

Since I couldn't sleep, I got up in the night and gathered some of those things and then went back to bed, with the stomach churning. Now it's time to get dressed, clean up and get moving. Oy. I'll sleep on the plane. I always sleep on planes....

June 29, 2007