Baltimore, MD

I went to bed frantic last night trying to tie up all the loose ends--pay bills, finish papers, do laundry--before carting off to Baltimore. I slipped into bed just in time to catch the last ten minutes of the Iron Chef. Erik must have come home an hour later and got in bed with me around 1am.

We both tossed and turned, trying to get some shut eye. I was anxious about getting up in time to catch the shuttle to the airport for my early morn flight, and Erik was still trying to wind down from a major school project. We're both a mess around sleep and plagued with insomnia when the cortisol kicks in.

The flight to Baltimore was not, unfortunately, direct. Thus, it was hard to recoup the unslept hours. It was doubly difficult due to the talkative Philipina lady who sat next to me, boasting of her bad marriages (seven!) and how well she had raised her four children. I saw pictures of them at their college graduations, even. Curiously, at the end of the flight, she asked for my phone number, ostensibly because we had this incredible connection and should keep in touch?

I had a short stopover in Chicago, where I got a suprisingly good sandwich at the airport at a place called Potbelly (www.potbelly.com). A grilled turkey breast stacked high with fresh veggies and hot peppers. The tryptophan must have had a soporific effect because on the last leg to Baltimore, I fell asleep as soon as we began pulling out of the gate.

As soon as I was carted from the airport to my cousin's house by my uncle, I got dressed to go to the Austin Grill (www.austingrill.com). The service was slow, and it seemed as if they were understaffed, given the amount of tables in the restaurant. To offset, the chips and salsa were delicious. Freshly fried, warm and tossed with lots of salt. Yum! Of course, catching up with family, too, made the lukewarm service barely noticeable.

The chips and salsa, however, are the death of me at a Mexican restaurant. It's easy to loose track of how many calories you've consumed. By the time the entrees were brought to the table, I was no longer hungry. But there was all this food in front of me! I ordered a big taco salad with grilled portabello mushrooms and only made a dent in it. The food was good, but nothing to write home about. The drinks, unfortunately, were below average. I had a strawberry and lime margarita, but it might as well have been a slushy fruit drink. I take partial credit for this not-so-hot whistle whetter. I should know myself well enough to know that I've never liked blended margaritas.