Hangin' with the family

This weekend was all family, all the time. We ate, we drank, we drove together to the next destination, ate some more, went to another destination, ate some more, gathered together, ate some more, talked, went out, ate more then went out to eat. Seeing a trend here?Like most families our best times revolve around food. Probably because sitting down to eat represents a time when we're all together, all as relaxed as we're ever going to get. Even without a cocktail or glass of wine (or two) to soothe the way.

My sis, bro-in-law and mom all arrived Thursday afternoon. My uncle (mom's older and only brother) also flew in for the festivities. Along with my brother and his family, throughout the weekend we went to Casa Orozco in Dublin for Mexican food, had sushi and Chinese take-out at my bro's house, went out for the big birthday dinner at the Slanted Door in San Francisco (Vietnamese food), had dim sum for lunch at Tin's Tea House in Walnut Creek, picked up pizza from Zachary's in San Ramon, had a couple of lunches and breakfasts and snacks at my house and generally stuffed ourselves so full we had no time for anything else.

It was a lovely weekend with fewer problems than you'd have expected. Or fewer than I'd have expected. There were a couple of temper flare-ups, a few sharp words, some exasperated fits but mostly everyone was sincerely happy to see each other and spend time together. As long as they got a break here and there.

Sis, bro-in-law and I got away Saturday morning and walked 4 miles at Inspiration Point. It was a cool, overcast morning, perfect for running. We had a lovely walk, enjoyed the gorgeous views. We saw the earliest wildflowers, the bay and bridges and reservoir (I love to show that off to out-of-towners), a couple of bunnies and no cows to interrupt our walk. As an added bonus my knee felt fine the entire time, yay for me!

Tomorrow morning I'm getting up at 4:35 am to get my family to the airport in time for an early flight, then it's on to the office with physical therapy in the middle off the day and allergy injections afterward. I'm looking forward to getting home at last, collapsing in a chair and pretending to put my house in order. In reality I'll probably feel just like this: