*achem*.

So! Sorry about that last post staying up so long. I was really hoping that leaving it up would somehow make the TSA notice and take down their stupid scanners before I went home. ... weellll that didn't happen, but at least I didn't have to go through any.

I went home! For the first time in two and a half years! And, my darling friends, if you're wondering why Kyra didn't mention this to you, the little ingrate, it's because I was only home for four days, two of which I was in sacramento and portland. When you don't go home for two and a half years, you are automatically obligated to see family first, or be threatened to be beheaded with a dull spoon, or something rather more painful.

But luckily for me I have wonderful family I love to visit. After visiting the awesome hostel in SF my sister manages, having dinner at a chinese restaurant with my parents and watching dad show off on the guitar, and I gave them the generous gift from the in-laws (they gave me a bunch of money and forced me to buy a present , a nice one, made in japan, that they would like, in a week! heh.)

The next day the rest of my extended family just happened to take it upon themselves to arrange two reunions, one in Sacramento, then a short plane ride up to Portland later we had a huge reunion and convened ten members in the same spot, most of whom I hadn't seen in over five years.
... kids really change a lot in five years! (But we knew that already.)

We talked about nerdy things, did magic tricks I brought from Japan with barely understandable english instructions, and ate lots of delicious homemade food, and drank dangerously delicious drinks until it got late. It was a nice excuse for everyone to get together after the busy holidays when they had all had their own separate plans, and there was still a tree up, and one of my uncles conveniently had a birthday three days earlier, so we got birthday cake as a bonus.

After the hilarious 'magic show', some of us adults went out to a bar and had more drinks. And much needed family bonding heart to heart talks. And then the bar closed, and other family members went to bed. So ... we went to another bar. The kind with ... dancing girls. (!) More drinks and bonding later, I sort of happened to fall off a bar stool, ( because of my simultaneous speech impediment, inner ear infection, and stomach flu ;)), and we got kicked out, which was probably for the best because the next day I had a flight to catch... a tiny plane, with propellers, that ran from Portland to San Jose.
Thanks to my pounding hangover, combined with jetlag, it felt like I was sitting *on the propeller*... but there was this amazing view of mount hood, mount shasta, the coast, and we flew low over san francisco and got great shots of the bay. Then my cousin picked us up and she was kind enough to drive us wherever my little heart desired, which was mostly Palo Alto. (I was very excited to find a gamestop there, as I had some shopping to do! ;))

Then, my last night in town, Mom decided the best thing to do was to go see Tron, which I hadn't seen yet because I thought it would be a big cheesy 3D effect soulless thing... was I wrong! It was awesome. ok, a little cheesy, a lot of SFX, but also nerdy in a good way, with a lot of soul. Maybe a little like my family, ;)

On the way home I found my lane in the airport was being sucked into one of the two backscatter scanners I've been complaining about, and if I were a little faster on my feet I could have gotten into a different line, but between my haziness from jetlag and a little subliminal masochism, I didn't do anything and found myself face to face with the Evil Naked Scanner of Doom! (dum dum duuummm). I just stood there, not moving, until the guy tried to wave me in it.

I just stood there and shook my head, and said, quote, 'I ain't going though that thing'. I was then shouted out, and it took me a moment to realize I was being shouted at to put my scarf through the baggage scanner, not to go through the ENSoD. I complied, and then realized there was a normal metal detector slightly to the right of the scanner. The tsa guy tried to point me through the scanner, but I shook my head, and then gestured at the metal detector with a hopeful look on my face, and he sighed and waved me through.

So I won! Take that stupid TSA. haha. ;) *achem*. But The Important thing is. I loves my family! They're awesome. Hope I see the again soon. ^_^