last thursday i set out to albuquerque, nm to visit my family. my nana lives there as do my mom’s five brothers and sisters. my mom and dad were there visiting as well. it had been atleast 2 1/2 years since i had seen my nana and probably 10 years or so since i had seen the rest of my family so you can imagine my excitement to get there. as usual, my first flight had a stop-over in dallas/ft. worth, the sweaty armpit of hell. granted i have never been outside of the airport complex in dallas/ft. worth so i am just basing my opinion of the city on how they run their air control tower. i’m fairly sure they have a bunch of retarded monkeys running the airport. as our plane to albuquerque taxied onto the runway we were informed by captain oblivion that we were 12th in line to depart and it would be moments before we were in the air. i should’ve called “shenanigans!” when i heard that announcement. two hours and a crying fit later we were airborn. note to self: american airlines can eat my ass. when the stewardess finally came around with the drinks and stale peanuts i quickly ordered a vodka straight. she took one look at my tear streaked face and gave me back my $5 payment. the fat man i was squeezed against gave me a tsk-tsk look and i wanted to shout “they don’t fucking serve valium! it’s the next best thing, asshat!”

once i arrived in albuquerque i all but ran over every idiot to get off that plane. the minute i arrived at the baggage claim i heard my name over the loudspeaker. i threw up my arms and said “WHAT NOW GOD?!”. apparently my luggage decided it would go to salt lake city. for what reason, i can only guess to become a polygamist and marry a whole slew of other luggage.

you would think that with all that happened just getting to albuquerque only bad things would happen for the rest of the trip. nope. i had a great time hanging out with my family. i finally got to meet my twin cousins, valerie and neecie. my other cousin, marshall, looks like i did at his age: long hair, all angsty, finding new ways to shock the shit out of his parents with odd music tastes. we went to Old Town and got some culture, we blew bubbles with the twins, i drank wine with my uncle and dad, talked about my Pa (grandfather) and how incredibly awesome he was, looked at old photos of my nana, talked about how my mom was not the perfect angel she claims to be. in fact, she was downright mean to her brothers and sisters. we reminisced about the poltergeist that took up residence in the house back in the 60’s and how it was quite conceivable that it was back and reaking havoc on my dad’s laptop. i tried to teach the twins how to say “ya’ll” but they were not having it. all in all it was the best time i have had in years. i miss them all terribly.

San Filipe de Neri Church in Old Town

inside the San Filpe de Neri Church

a tree in the back lot of San Filipe de Neri Church. the caretaker who showed this tree to me was really nice, but a little clingy. i didn’t know if he had the hots for my nana or if he just wanted a tip

my dad playing around with a death mask

my nana has a cherry tree and peach tree in her backyard.

neecie: in thought

valerie said she had an owwie on her nose, so my dad gave her a band-aid

gerbera daisy with bubble. damn, i’m good.

and what pretty helmet trip would be complete without humping tortoises?

my aunt, who looks obsurdely like my mom, and her twin daughters.