i'm blogging this.

So I'm currently in Seattle, but it feels like another land, far, far away.

It actually feels like an almost timeless place. My entire immediate family are together, all eleven of us.
Alisha and Alex flew up from California.
Shaun, Leila, and Marzieh live nearby.
Justin, Sebrina, and Madison are visiting from China.
Mom and Dad flew from New Mexico.
And I rode down from Bellingham.
Also Leila's mom is here....so twelve really.
We're renting an enormous house on the lake and hanging out here.

And I need to add that each member of this family is a full person. What I mean is, have a lot of opinions and don't budge in their ways. As a result of this, the Mann family came to the conclusion, years ago, that we could not make a decision if more than three of us were a part of the discussion of options...which means that with twelve of us there is absolutely no way we will be deciding ANYTHING this weekend. Hopefully Shaun and Leila will bring by Scrabble and Dominoes and we won't have to.

I don't remember dreams from last night, but I do remember Alisha's breath on my ear this morning as she woke me, loudly whispering things at me.

Also, I have to blog about this. I can't help it.
Yesterday late afternoon my brother, mom, dad, and I went out to find a cafe and as we were walking on the sidewalk a man in a white construction truck, leaned his head out the window at us and yelled, distinctly, "Fucking Fags!"
Seriously.
It was kind of shocking.
My mom's rationale was that they were proclaiming to us what they were.

p.s. As I write this I'm sitting at the kitchen bar watching my family around the table. They're kind of awesome. I'm being told from across the room to "go get us some croissants" from a bakery miles away by my brother, while he holds his sassy toddler. My mom drinks coffee, Alex talks about riding his bike around a lake, Sassy girl speaks nonsense words, making eyes at each person until they pay her some attention. I can't keep track of what Alisha is doing. She keeps moving around. And dad is intently listening to Justin with a finger resting on his temple and Justin now speaks about renting an apartment that overlooks a park.