Three Christians, a Muslim and one undecided sit at a coffee shop on a Wednesday evening.  No, there isn’t a punchline.  However, this opening sentence is the reason that I am writing at 1:45am.

I met up tonight with several of my girlfriends for our biweekly (that means every other week, not twice a week … right?) night out at Panera.  We moved from a conversation about late-70s/early-80s TV, during which I impressed everyone with my detailed knowledge of Alice, Gimme a Break and One Day at a Time, to a discussion of religion and international politics.  We all have different perspectives, which makes our time together so interesting.  But, I am also left with unfinished thoughts and unsatisfied questions when the time comes to return home to our little ones.  This leaves me tossing and turning in bed, anxious to reconvene and continue our debates on Darfur, Sharia law and the history of violence in the name of religion.  I don’t imagine, though, that my four friends would appreciate a party line phone call in the middle of the night.

I read recently that you shouldn’t lie in bed for more than twenty minutes if you are having trouble falling asleep, because bed should be associated with successful rest.  So, here I sit at my computer.  I think that the 6:00am alarm clock is going to be an unpleasant wake-up call, so perhaps I should do my best to shove politics and current events out of my brain and instead focus on counting sheep or listen to George Norrie drone on “Coast to Coast”.  That usually does the trick.  Wish me luck …