Cali '08

I've been taking my time putting these pictures on here. Cuz I'm lazy. And I like to let people wait and wonder...heh. Ok, so no one was really WAITING for this. But it makes me feel good, so shut the hell up.

As you know, you three that are regular readers, I went to California with my brother and his fiancee to visit my family. Here's the wonder that is us...

My cousin Nicole. She was all about odd body shaping that night.

Ohmigod. These two are such picture whores. I mean that in the best possible way of course! We decided that we had a paranormal experience. Note the Virgin Mary on the left. Or is it Jesus? Or is it Saint whats-his-butt? Exactly. Whatever works for cash on eBay (remember the grilled cheese sandwich that sold for money? REAL money, even!)

Nicole's husband Chad. He's making Carne Asada thingees. And looking dead sexy.

Well, I'm not sure if "sexy" is the word I was looking for. 

Big cheesy smiles? Check. Flared nostrils? Check. Perfection in a photo.

See what I mean about the weird body shapes? She is all hunchback-ish here. From left to right for those who aren't cool enough to be part of my family (Nikki, you've been adopted, so you're family now), is...Art (my bro); Nicole (his fiancee); Chad; and Nicole. Yeah. Lots of Nicoles. Must have been a popular name back in the day.

Nicole was taking this picture (yeah, always hand the drunkest person in the area a camera). She said the picture was too serious, so we took this one. My motivation is "serious". Chad's is "hope there's more beer in the fridge". Okay, so I don't know for a fact that this is what Chad was thinking, but he damn well should have been. Since there wasn't anymore beer. 

Uncle Bruce, Auntie Elaine, Nicole and Art. There is nothing creative I can think of to say. Must be losing my touch. Or I need another beer. Paul? Get me a beer...shit, he fell asleep in the chair. What the hell? Why is he not waiting upon me? Marriage is silly. Why do gays want to be married, you silly sillys.

Wow. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO REMOVE THE BEERS. I will totally rip your throat out. I look really tense. Perhaps this is where I realize this may be the last beer of the night. Nicole's looking all cute and has pretty girly nails. 

Dad, me, Mom, bro. When my husband asked about why my aunt and uncle have a wood stove in California, I said "Well, for heat honey. That's what people do with those. You put wood in there and light it on fire. Then flames happen that release heat." My black eye is sore today.

The other side of the family. From left to right, Nicole, me, Skip (in the back), Breanna, Abby (little girl), Arthur John (little boy), Mom, Uncle John, Aunt Alice, Art, Uncle Vince. Shit. That's a lot of peeps to get in that photo.

Nicole, Nicole, me at the end of Huntington Beach Pier. It was chilly on the water. The water itself was apparently 58 degrees. In case you were wondering, didn't go surfing nude or anything. Cuz that's crazy cold.

Me and my big brother. And my seven chins. What the hell? Why don't people tell me when my face does that in a picture? It's a digital camera. We can re-take all day long! 

The uber-happy couple. Nicole looks PISSED! Run, Nicole, run. Heh.

Cousins Bill and Nicole. I can't remember much but I vaguely remember some vacation a bunch of us took together (could have been a reunion or something, no clue really). We nicknamed Nicole "Nickel", me "Blender" and the boys something that I can't remember. We weren't the most creative children were we? But I bet we blew up the cute-meter. 

HOLY BARNACLES! I'm not sure why this entertains me. But it does, so leave me alone.

Those little black specks are surfers. Crazy surfers. What the hell are they waiting for? I mean, I KNOW what they're waiting for, but give it up. It's too cold you crazy mofos. 

I took this picture on the street in Huntington Beach so that I would remember that there is a sun out there somewhere, even if I don't get to see it again until May. Le sigh.

How cute is that shit? Makes you vomit just a bit in the back of your throat. Just kidding, it's adorable actually. Art worked hard on that heart thingee! This is on some random beach where there were no people. No people is such a beautiful thing.

Bill lives in Phoenix which equals him being a total wuss. He's on the same beach as us, but is way cold. Wuss.

This is one of those photos where you totally get why people live in California.

I'm sorry, but this cracked me up. I love random signs and this rates in my top five. So if an earthquake comes, I should run away? Hmmm...tricky, very tricky.  

Mom and Nicole. They both exude cuteness. But they are wild. Wild, wild, wild. Mom and her wacky drinking problem (ok, so it's coffee, but it's still a problem). Nicole and her wayward ways (ok, so she's not wayward at all, but I couldn't think of anything).

Uncle Bruce and his tag-along. Dinner in a tube! Delicious! We were all fighting over getting to have his dinner since it looked so good. Sorry. It didn't look delicious. I am such a liar. Good news is he's getting better and gets to graduate to big kid food soon!

Not sure if Auntie will ever speak to me again after posting this for all the world to see. I'm willing to take that risk because this photo cracks me up!

Such a mama's boy. Suck up. Love you, Art!

After being in California for a really short time, only about two days, we headed back to KC. Art and Nicole then drove ALL the way back to Nebraska on Sunday. This is what we came back to.

The 68 degrees is inside. DO YOU SEE THE OUTSIDE TEMPERATURE???? It's 3. As in "Holy shit...it's 3 degrees outside." As in "Are people supposed to live in a place that gets 3 degrees outside?". As in "Why DO WE LIVE HERE when it can get 3 degrees outside?" Yeah. I know that's exactly what you all were thinking. Just having been in Cali where it was cool, but not unbearable, it was even worse. Then...this started.

Shite. Just...shite. Anyone wanna go visit Cali again?

Seriously though, it was fabulous seeing the family and meeting some family that I've never seen. It was great and huge thanks to Mom, Dad, Unc, Auntie and the cousins for showing us such a good time! Hope to see you really, really soon! 

Love, 

Belinda