Feeling: good
Listening to: Martinis - Free
Reading/Watching: Bowling for Columbine, Fahrenheit 9/11, & Sideways

Potluck with my family usually takes about three days to fully clear away.

Bear and I had the extreme compliment of not being able to get much of the dip we made, and hearing people say, "Who made that? It was so good!" Hee. I have the strangest urge to become Donna Reed, and live for the shallow domestic satisfaction of culinary success.

On Thursday, I avoided the large main room for the most part, introducing mon coeur to the fifty-plus people there and assuring him quietly that he would not be expected to remember anyone's name later (except possibly mine). He actually managed to untangle the identities of my dad's four brothers, which is odd because they look so much alike, but was hopeless with the six sisters, the cousins, and the in-laws.

After lunch, he and I set up camp around a patio table in the backyard, munching toffee-covered-peanuts with all the cousins my age whom I rarely keep in touch with: Michael*, Bartok* (with fianc�e Kerry* in tow), and Marie*. I fell even more in like with Kerry, and she invited me to her graduation party in two weeks. By eleven, the group had grown to include Puppy, his girlfriend, and Michael's sister Michelle*. The nine of us drank white zinfandel from little silver goblets and talked about everything. It's the kind of event we're usually too scattered to enjoy, dropping in for a few hours at Christmas or distracted by the hordes of younger cousins who demand attention, and I can't remember having a better family gathering since I was thirteen or so.

We hadn't had such a closeness since we stopped playing superheroes in each other's backyards, and I worried that we'd outgrown each other the same way we did red capes. Apparently, blood still has a memory, and seeks its own, no matter how distant.

Goodbye hugs took a full fifteen minutes, just starting at one end of the room and working my way across. Mon coeur and I left at midnight, arriving back to crash at Bear's apartment rather later than we'd planned.

He and I drove back to Schoolville the next day, taking a scenic route down smaller highways and avoiding the interstate, and I am completely in love with... everything. This mood, while surely annoying to everyone else, feels wonderful.

The best part? It's only just become Saturday. There is still an entire extra weekend to enjoy.

*= All cousins' blognames taken from middle names, except Bartok, whose middle name I cannot remember for the life of me. Kerry is named for her favorite politician. :o�

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