April 18, 2011 | Dulles Airport

AT THE BRITISH Airways Lounge. Fancy digs. I could get used to a life like this. Already I’m feeling like George Clooney in that movie where he goes from airport to airport. Except that the women don’t do about face when they see me. Neither do the men. I’m invisible, and I like it.

Bourbon on the rocks. Just two. That’s my limit. The first few times I flew overseas I would tell myself that if I drank enough, I would fall asleep. It never worked, and I arrived at my destination hung-over and sleepless. That ain’t gonna happen this time.

Michelle Bachman is on CNN on the lounge’s giant-screen TV, but thank God there is no sound. She’s gone now, thank God for that too.

We should be boarding in a little more than an hour. I got here way early, as I tend to do. I hate hurrying through airports.

I tried to sleep only a few hours last night so I can sleep on the flight over tonight, but I simply couldn’t get up when I woke up at 4:30, 5 and 5:30. So, we’ll see what happens tonight. If I don’t sleep, I don’t sleep. I’ll sleep when I’m dead, as Warren Zevon sang.

I spent most of the day cooking. I looked in the fridge this morning and saw too many things that would go bad in the three weeks that I’ll be gone, so I decided to cook it all and freeze it. I had some fresh tomatoes and tomatillos and lots of fresh garlic, so I roasted the garlic, cooked the t and t and roasted a few of the dried chiles from last summer’s harvest and created a batch of salsa. Froze most of it and set aside some for my upstairs neighbor, Toni.

I had some fresh zucchini, bell peppers and chayote, so I steamed them and put them in freezer bags. Ditto for the carrots.

I had two sweet potatoes, so I peeled them and cut them into strips, sprayed some olive oil on them and sprinkled them with garlic, chili powder and salt and put them in the oven.

I had about a quarter pound of chorizo, four eggs and a small bag of small potatoes. Made some chorizo con papas y huevos. Had a bit for lunch, set aside some for Toni (same for the sweet potatoes) and froze the rest. Oh my God: the chorizo looked and tasted great. I was sorry that I had no tortillas to make some tacos. The panful of chorizo and stuff reminded me of when my mother used to pack tacos de chorizo (among other things) before our long journeys up north each summer, or when we returned to Texas.

I was tempted to go out to buy some flour tortillas to make the tacos and bring them with me and then stand outside the airport to sell them. Could have paid for part of my trip!

The kitchen is a mess, but I don’t care. My cleaning lady is supposed to come by while I’m gone and she can take care of it, being that I’ve kept the place pretty clean while she has been on vacation.

That is it. See you on the other side.