Sunday July 5

Back from the family reunion in good old Roswell, NM. It's kind of stupid that we always pick the 4th of July to go there, that's when all the alien stuff is going on, but such is life, I guess.

As I told my brother, these trips aren't about having fun, they are about survival. Several things tend to trip me up:

1) the food: It's very different from what I eat at home. A lot of it just stinks, for one. There are NO GOOD RESTAURANTS in that town and the ones people like to go to, are just awful. The stuff we eat at the fam's house is different too, a lot of milk is used. Not good for my lactose intolerant ways.

2) the allergies: The wind and the dust are in more ample quantities down there than they are here. There's also the dogs... oye the dogs... Now, I'm a dog guy. I love dogs. My allergies can even handle one dog, two dogs, maybe even 3, but when they let 6 or 7 dogs run around the house, my allergies tend to go wild. A few years ago, one of the worst allergies attacks I've ever had in my life was because of the dogs.

3) usual family uncomfortableness: Those wonderful family moments that everybody has.

This time around, the trip was about as good as could be expected. My stomach wasn't as aggravated, the dogs were kept outside and the family strangeness was kept to a minimum.

So all-in-all, not too bad a trip.