STOP IT RIGHT NOW: 12/10

It was the first time I had ever taken the 101 freeway up to the Bay and it really was worth it. The drive was so scenic and I was oohing and aahing practically the entire way up. I've made many a mental note to check out the Madonna Inn, but I'd never had a reason to go up this way before, so this time we finally made a quick stop to peak around and try to pick up a pie to take to my brother.

I think we went at the best time because all the Christmas decorations were up so it was extra crazy in there. Visual overload for sure.

I tried to make Pixelman take a picture of the mens bathroom - because it's famous, not because I'm a perv - but a dude was crapping so he got skiddish and ran out. All the more reason to come back.

This room is CraaaaaaaaaaaazytownUSA. An entire dining room dedicated to the color Pepto-Bismol.

Just a little more to go........almost there....

Nightmare?

Woke up to beautiful weather and started off the day with my favorite Morning Buns from La Farine bakery. The Peets Coffee across the street was giving away free drinks and you had the option of donating to their favorite charity, that was nice. I don't think my leopard pants blended very well with this part of town though. I may have been the only one not wearing North Face polar fleece.

Headed into the city to wait for my baby cousin (who is actually a full grown adult) to get off work...

Not The Bridge that Pixelman wanted to see, so we'll have to save the morbid sightseeing for next time.

Ended up at a bar that smelled like a gym locker. Very few places were open so we ended up stumbling into Thai Noodle House on Haight for our Christmas Eve dinner. It's awesome when you end up somewhere by default and it's actually really delicious. ~~Present~~(wow, I actually wrote that, how Asian of me)Pleasant surprise.

We are the Boot People.

Christmas was the mellowest day of all. Woke up late and leisurely headed over to another cousin's place where he cooked us the most party-in-your-stomach pot roast ever. We ate ourselves silly while watching an old Japanese movie about farting kids and an old school Hong Kong Kung Fu movie. It was inevitable that all of us would end up asleep with our mouths open; it's in our blood. I tend to wear this color combo a lot, but it just so happened it was Christmas Day. Extra point for inadvertent holiday color matching!

We got back to the house and instead of resting and allowing the roast to settle into one more layer of fatty torso insulation, we ended up obsessing over this Gyroball. There's a trick to getting it started, but for some reason neither Pixelman nor I could get it to spin. What started off as a simple ho-hum nothing, turned into the frickin Olympics of Ego and Patience. My brother came downstairs at some point because we were getting so riled up and, of course, gets it going in a few seconds. Then because we had put so much effort into getting the stupid thing started, we just couldn't let it stop...so we took turns keeping it spinning, even though our arms were about to fall off, looking at each other tired and defeated.

We wanted to jam back home so we jumped on the 5. On our last trip it was raining like Armageddon styles, so we were too busy trying not to die to enjoy the scenery. On this day, it was so clear and beautiful. Just try to tell me happy cows don't come from here...

I have the uncanny ability to hold my pee even though I have the most geriatric bladder for someone my age. This isn't really a skill so much as a mental glitch that results in frequent UTIs. There are times when I won't get up even once during the entire work day. I could pee so long I could sing you November Rain, including hummed instrumentals, without stopping once. For some reason on the drive back home I subconsciously held my pee until the last hour and a half, at which point I mentally challenged myself to try to hold it the entire rest of the way. Once we got near Magic Mountain, I was in cold sweats and already rehearsing how I would explain to Pixelman's mom why there was a yellow spot in her car, so when I saw a Marie Callenders near the exit, I couldn't stand it anymore and we pulled off. It was actually the perfect opportunity to get out of the traffic for a minute, release 85% of the water in my body and get some of my favorite cornbread. A Frisco Burger and Chili Patty Melt later we were back on the road and on our way home. There's no place like it. (except when you have a mountain of laundry)

THE END!