05.27.05 2:35 pm

i know i'm supposed to be relieved that it is not raining on the weekend i'm moving, but does it have to be 90 friggin degrees?

seattle doesn't believe in air conditioning. with usual good reason. except for the fact that global warming approacheth with a vengeance (yes, i realize the irony of wishing for air conditioning to counter the effect of global warming.. but i'm HOT damnit).

so i'm home, sweltering (didn't i move from LA to get away from this kind of heat???)and taking a quick break for my sweat to cool on my skin before i start on round 3. i am approaching packing in my usual nonsensical way of doing all rooms at the same time, in no logical order. the effect of which is to have ten million half-full boxes planted along all walkable pathways in this tiny hotbox apartment. so yes, stubbed toes and bruised legs are already the painful side effects of my unorganized ass.

to briefly catch up on other news this month... i spent the last week in california (where it was also sweltering, and of course now it is not). the trip was eventful. the first night there, the mother got unexpectedly drunk, which i suppose will happen when she drinks scotch while we drink a beer or two. this had the effect of a truth serum, and she spilled some long-held secrets in front of me, my sister, brother-in-law, pious christian cousin, and albert. some of these secrets, in no particular order, included her affair with our church pastor, her affair with simon the backdoor man, a man from her work who gave her crabs, her free love sixties experiences, and i'll just stop there. we were laughing through it all, out of shock, embarrassment, and the way in which she told us. my family. the only way we can tell each other the most painful and secret of things is through humor. drunken humor, at that. god bless the repressed german-norwegian lutheran way of things.

when she started rolling around on the floor saying how drunk she was, we somehow managed to stop my brother-in-law from resorting to his frat antics of marking her face with permanent marker and taping candy all over her body. he did, however, manage to take a few choice kodak moments.

so albert's first night with the whole family involved carrying my mother to the car and helping hold the bucket near her head on the drive home.

other family fun events included taking my sister to the emergency room the very next night, around 2 am on a saturday night in downtown long beach. always a fun experience. what looked and felt like labor pains, ended up being gall stones. we're glad it's nothing more serious.

so within 48 hours of being home, i had the pleasure of carrying my drunken mother to bed, and rushing my sister to the hospital. luckily, the rest of the week was much less eventful.

it's good to be home. or it will be, when i move in tomorrow.

if i survive.

oh the sun, it burns.