Mid-afternoon, my doorbell rang just as it usually does when the witnesses come by. One friendly ring followed by another. I was dressed in only boxer shorts and a t-shirt and did what I usually do when my doorbell rings unexpectedly. I just sit there. Once my curiosity gets hold of me I look out the window into the reflection of my front door in the window across the street. It's not the most accurate way to do it, but it's better than leaning my head out the window and risk being spotted.

It just so happens that this time around I looked out the window to the reflection of Eva's brothers. They started moving away so I ran to our bay window, opened it, leaned out and yelled at them! "I thought you were the witnesses, Joris and Jasper!" They also had a package for me in their hands, presumably taken out of the letterbox that I immediately knew whom it was from. Kathleen.

I quickly added bra and jeans to my outfit/ensemble while they were coming up the stairs. Jasper had come to collect his old outfit from last Friday and Joris came by to print off some things he needed to mail. Are we used and abused? I don't mind and I wouldn't care anyway! Joris and Eva are going to file for their English passports soon and after Jasper went away I thanked Joris for prodding Eva along as well. She looked into getting her English passport last year, and for some reason it seemed a bit difficult. But if both of them do it at the same time, well it shouldn't be that hard with each other rooting the other on. I can't imagine Eva would sit there and let her brother get one before she does! (It's probably me adding that bit of sibling rivalry, after all, he's the one that's going to end up a diplomat and Eva, well we have no idea what she's going to end up being/doing. If the palm-reader was right 2 years ago, she's got a future in sports!)

I spent the rest of the afternoon listening to the cds Kathleen had sent to me (Audio High, Hip-Hop Mix Yo, and Andrea's Juicy Mix) not snacking and figuring out a few more things for bracketland greetings. One has to miss friends like Kathleen. I miss her more than I realize and it didn't take long to be reminded just how special she is and how far away she is at the same time. I suppose that's what we get when one takes off for LA to live out her dream and the other headed in the other direction to start on her's. If Kathleen happens to read this, I miss you! Come visit me!

As it neared the time that Eva was going to arrive, I readied the house. I'm trying to get better about having the house in a "nice state" when she arrives. I suppose it's taken me 2 years to realize that perhaps that's my half of the bargain. (though I'd rather take the other half any day!) While I was just tidying up the place, Eva calls me to let me know that she's celebrating/mourning the departure of one of her colleagues and they're getting a bit carried away with the pintjes. I told her that it didn't matter, and that I'd be here whenever she decided to come home. 5 beers later and a half-hour train ride...well I started walking and met her half-way.

She was goofy tipsy. We got some money out and walked to the fry place. We had at 't Smullerke (just up the street) and it's no wonder that it's supposedly one of the best in Antwerp. We never have fries super-fresh because we always bring them home. Yum! Fritjes...well...come to Belgium and you'll find out what I mean!

After our fries we went to Den Ijzer, a cafe next door, and had a couple more beers. Actually, it was my first beers of the day, but Eva's 6th and 7th. If that sounds like a lot, well it's not that many especially if you've got starchy fries in your stomach. Den Ijzer plays the best music and we sat there and visited over our pintjes and sorted out our list of problems/ideas/ourselves. Nothing drastic or anything, just the same ol' things.

Suddenly the music changed to war-themed music, complete with Boudewijn de Groot's - Meneer De President and Pearl Jam's rendition of Bob Dylan's Masters of War. We wrote several of the songs down on a coaster that we incidentally left there, but when we got home we managed to write several of them down again. It's great to have such a nice cafe so close. It's the same one we went to with Jennifer, Jasper, Nichole, Eva and myself back when they were here. I suppose it's like the "little Parisian cafe" which has great food and isn't so expensive but somehow we always overlook it. That restaurant, the frituur, and this cafe are on in a row but still we tend to trek a bit further.

Here's to remembering next time.

Oh, and by the way, only 2 days left until my verjaardag!

IN THE NEWS:
U.S.-led military strikes in the Iraqi capital today hit a hotel filled with hundreds of journalists and an Arab television network, killing three journalists and injuring three others.

AND ALSO:
After falling nearly a dime in three weeks, gasoline prices are expected to keep sliding to a national average of $1.56 a gallon this summer thanks to lower oil prices and optimism about the war in Iraq, the government says. (in this respect, a longer war would be better for smaller cars to make a comeback in the states. One has to love the ads for the new Mini. "Small is the new Black" meaning small is now the new chic.)