Only Two Time Zones from Iraq
10:54 PM - Tuesday, Mar. 25, 2003
Hey! I'm back! Alive and in one piece! Yes, we have returned safe and sound from our trek to Holland and Belgium. I was really hoping Pres Bush would hold off starting the war until we returned home, but Wed the 19th, I think, the war with Iraq started. I talked to my mom while we were still in Holland. She said "You are only two time zones away from Iraq! Come home!"
No worries, though. well, no worries that were well founded. Is that a real phrase? Sounds like something from a Jane Austen novel or something. Oh dear. Was Jane Austen the author or the character? So sad to see one's mind just waste away in front of your very eyes.
But I am rambling (as usual). All the flights to and from were fine. Returning from Belgium, security was a bit tighter. "Do you have any electronics? Cell phones? CD players? When did you buy them? Where? Have you used them in Europe? Have they been repaired? Is it possible anyone has had access to your luggage?" The last question freaked me out a bit because it actually WAS possible someone could have had access to our luggage. Normally we are with family beginning to end. This trip I wanted to spend our last night in Brussels and visit the sights in the city there. So our luggage was in our rooms while we were out. What if someone came in and planted something? I remember a swarthy little man with an accent (ok, so everyone in Europe has an accent other than Texan) came in to check our mini bar. I didn't check his credentials!!
I was very thankful for my dear doctor and all the many anti-anxiety drugs she prescribed for me before the trip. In line at the Brussels airport, I realized I was praying non stop "Oh please, please, let us be safe. Please pleeeeeeeze protect us from danger" and on and on. Literally non stop. I decided perhaps God might need to take another prayer or two, so I popped a happy pill and the anxiety lazily seeped away. Aahhh--the power of pills.
So what did we do on the trip. . .Big family reunion of the hub's mother's side of the family on Sunday (16th). About 80 people or so there. Held in a beautiful old Catholic church that the grandparents started many years ago. So beautiful, with ornate hand painted wall murals, stained glass. The service was there first and I sang "The Lord's Prayer". Long story--they had asked me to sing months ago but trying to translate between me and the hub and his dad and his sister and the planners and the dad and the hub and me got to be too much for me, so I backed out. But that morning they asked again, so I said yes. And I'm glad I did. Fil(father in law) had never heard me sing, so it was important to him. I had to climb a tiny tiny little spiral staircase up to the balcony in the back to sing. If you want to feel like a total klutz, climb a tiny tiny little spiral staircase. I have small feet, but clunk bang trip fall--it was amusing to all I'm sure. Coming back down was even more interesting, as I had to climb down backwards, as if on a ladder. I am so pleased I did not fall all the way down and roll out into the church.
Visited lots of family. Hung out. Shopped. Rode bikes. Walked miles. Ate tons. Didn't gain a pound. There obviously is a lesson here somewhere about calories + exercise = fitness. But I never was any good at algebra.
Great trip. Great to be home too.
