1 Jul 02

Wheee! Here's a journal entry written while I'm on vacation. Currently, we're on the road between Albuquerque, NM and Barstow, CA. I'm writing this on my sister's laptop-- she brought it along, of course, and also bought an AC/DC electricity converter before we left so we can use it in the car without using up the battery. This means that while we're on the road, we can watch DVD movies, play computer games, watch Invader Zim (hurray for episode download sites!) and whatever else you can do on the laptop without being connected to the internet. I tell you, taking a road trip is certainly not what it was.

Anyway, we left San Antonio last Friday morning at about seven or eight. We planned to leave at 4am, but dad and mum didn't wake up to their alarm and I hadn't set mine (trusting that somebody would wake me). AnJa was still awake at that point I think XD() cos we both stayed up pretty late playing video games and stuff and she was like "at this point, we might as well just stay up" cos it was 1 or 2am or sommat, but I went to sleep anyway. Although she was awake, she didn't wake anybody else up because she figured they must have changed the plan or something. Aaaaanyway, we did get up and leave and stuff. Yeah. OOOHHH! I got Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon. I love that game! ..just thought I would mention that because I think I forgot it last time. I hate that Kabuki robot hardc0r3. Right, um, so we got up and left and drove all the way to Albuquerque in one day. We arrived at dad's parents' house around 7pm and ate supper wif them (chicken enchiladas). Grandma and/or Grandpa (I forget) asked me if I liked enchiladas. I don't really, but I said yes anyway because there was nothing to gain by saying no ;p Anyway, I don't HATE enchiladas, so it isn't like having to eat them was torture or anything.

Mum and dad got the spare bedroom and AnJa and I got the random extra room with the foldout couch, as usual. I tell you, Grandma and Grandpa's foldout couch bed is probably the only one in the world worse than the one we have at home XO It was also really hot so it was even harder to get to sleep comfortably... in the middle of the night, I had a dream that something was going on and stuff was happening, and then I was Catwoman (B:tAM original style, not the newer WB style) and I was in the forest fighting Batgirl, and I kicked at her but my leg hit a tree, then I woke up because I had also kicked in real life and my leg hit the metal bedframe and I got a nasty cut o_o()

The next day we got up early-ish, 9 or 10 I guess (hey, that's very early if you got like three hours of sleep one night and five or six very poor ones the next, interrupted by injuring yourself), and went to breakfast at this place Twister's. It was the four of us, Grandma, Grandpa, my cousin Theresa, her mother my Aunt Maria, her husband Michael, and her daughter Jasmine. I basically love all those people, but it depresses me to be around Theresa and co. Maria is over 40 years old and she's never had a job. Michael doesn't work either, so Theresa, who works at Wal-Mart, supports all four of them. Jasmine is one and a half years old, and she seems to be underdeveloped mentally... on top of that, aside from Jasmine, they're all obese. We didn't have to go to their house this visit, but we know from previous experiences that their home is usually filthy... anyway... it's just so depressing... and so strange, because Maria's branch of the family is all like that, then you have my dad and uncle Richard, both of whom are basically upper middle class with nice stuff and everything, and my dad's other brother Louie is an obscenely rich dentist. I don't know. It just seems strange that in the same family, you could have both extremes... of course, it really was (and still is) an extremely dysfunctional family. Sometimes we skip Albuquerque on our summer trips because nobody, even dad, really wants to see our relatives there... so, after breakfast, we went back to Grandma and Grandpa's house and did some stuff, then we went to Karen and Louie's Really Huge Beautiful Mansion-like House. Karen and Louie have five kids (Chris, Alex, Natalie, Ben, and Dominic, in descending order) and their family is strange too. But I really like the cousins, so it's okay. Chris wasn't there-- he goes to college at Emory in Atlanta and lives there year-round cos he doesn't go home anymore o_o Alex, who's a year older than I am, just got accepted to Yale and works at Petsmart. He's really cool. Natalie is two years younger than I am and has a pet goat =D She also likes this guy who lives next door who's cool because his name is Quentin and he has sheep, but who isn't as cool because he was over later that day and was being really annoying o_o Natalie says he's usually not nearly that annoying, so I guess I believe her. I hadn't brought my swimsuit because I didn't want to swim partly because I just didn't want to and partly because I hadn't shaved, but Karen really wanted me to and also wanted to buy me something, so after everyone (not including Alex who'd gone to work but including Alex's best friend Sean) ate lunch at this salad buffet place called Sweet Tomatoes, just the chicks (me, AnJa, Natalie, mum, Karen) went to the mall to shop for swimsuits. I ended up getting a really cute navy-blue one that zips in front, and Natalie got a couple of new ones too. Both of us got black skirt cover up things, and AnJa got shorts. Then we went back to their house and Karen provided us with new razors so we could swim XD() So we did. OHHh! Also, at the mall, after we had gotten our stuff but Karen and mum were still going around doing stuff at Mervyn's our somewhere, we found this rack of brooches that were extremely hilarious O_O There was a big ceramic apple that said "School is Cool!" and a gold one with a bunch of weird stuff hangig off it that said "School Rocks!" There was also "I Love 2 Teach," "The Best Soccer Mom," "I Do Nails," "Teachers Work Wonders," and just a big gold schoolhouse with a little bell that said "SCHOOL." We were very, very amused by those and kept the joke going the whole rest of the time we were in Albuquerque |P Then we found these sandals that were labelled on the wall as "fluffer scuffers" and "mushmellows" and were also amused by those. There were also socks that came with a button and had the union jack and some other stuff on them, and the little cardboard display thingie said "Comes with Button Pin!" but the font was weird so it looked like it said "Comes with Britter Pin!" and I thought they meant it came with a British pin or something and I was like "Who calls them BRITTERS?" and AnJa and Natalie were like "IT SAYS BUTTON" and made fun of me ;p

We had pizza for supper at their house after swimming. Grandma and Grandpa came over, but they left pretty quickly. They had a bunch of Foxtrot collections so I was reading those ;o Alex didn't get home until pretty late, but before he even got back his girlfriend Missy and her sister Lindsay came over. The thing about Karen is that she tends to sort of adopt everyone who's a friend of her kids o_o Also, even though neither of them has even been to college yet, everyone assumes that Alex and Missy are going to get married. Well, maybe they will. That would be cool because I like Missy. She's really nice. ^_^ Anyway, we went back to Grandma and Grandpa's house and AnJa and I proceeded to stay up too late again. The next morning, Theresa and them were coming to the house for breakfast, but AnJa and I didn't get up until 11 or so and only had time to say goodbye to Theresa before they left. I confess I stayed in bed reading and playing Game Boy long after I was awake because I didn't want to go be around them =| Oh, and we did sleep a little better that night because mum and dad gaves us the fan from their room because it wasn't high enough to do them any good, and we took the mattress off the bed frame and put it on the floor. Anyway, when we DID get up, we ate Dunkin Donuts (I had a semi-glazed cake doughnut and AnJa had a chocolate frosted w/nuts one and a chocolate frosted w/sprinkles one) and breakfast tacos from Taco Cabana (bacon and egg for me, two bean and cheese for her). After that, we went over to Karen and Louie's house again. Alex and Natalie were sent to Sam's to get stuff to make burgers and hot dogs and AnJa and I went with them because it's a lot more fun to hang out with Alex and Natalie than to stay and listen to Grandma tell the same pointless stories over and over while puncuating most of her sentences with "no, Raul?" Oh, also, on our way over there we (just my immediate family) stopped at the mall to get a father's day present for Grandpa (Dad forgot to ever send the card _-_) and an early birthday present for Grandma. Mum was in the Foley's or whatever picking out clothes for Grandma and the other three of us went around the mall to see if there was anything we could get for Grandpa. There wasn't, but we saw a Hot Topic O_O()() It was not like Hot Topic in San Antonio O_O() It looked all teenybopper and preppy and the logo was in bright green and white and it freaked AnJa and me out. In San Antonio, Hot Topic is a store that mum is afraid to go into ;o The lettering outside the store is in red and looks like it's on fire and dripping blood or something, and the interior is dark and they sell all this punk and goth stuff. I tend to think our version is the real thing because Albuquerque is kinda... like that. o_o Natalie informed me that dreams don't come true in Albquerque XD Anyway, we got Grandma a nice outfit we can only hope she'll like, then went to Walgreen's to buy some liquor for Grandpa XD() We also got wrapping paper and a bunch of Gatorade (because AnJa and I were dehydrated). THEN we went to Karen and Louie's house and stuff happened. Yeah. Anyway, at Sam's, they didn't check the membership card at all, so that was kinda weird. Also, Alex had gotten a shopping cart, then when we got into the store, Natalie was pushing it, and she let go of it and kept walking. I didn't want to touch the filthy thihg so I walked up ahead and Angela didn't get it either. Then when we had walked about 20 feet away, we were like "Oh, the shopping cart" and had to go back and get it XD()() Then AnJa, Natalie and I went to get hamburger buns and Alex said he was going to go get the meat and said he would meet us in the lettuce department, which amused us twofold because first of all, he mentioned the "lettuce department," and second of all, how long did he think it would take us to get hamburger buns o_o()() We found him still getting meat ;o Then we went looking for hot dogs and couldn't find any, and Alex was telling us about how one time he forced Ben and Dominic to call hot dogs "plumpers" for a whole day. Also, we were like "we need hot dog buns too" and they were RIGHT there so I picked up a package and said "here they are" only nobody else saw the hot dog bun display right there XD() so Alex said "That was a stunt!" Uweehee. Then we went up and down the frozen food aisles looking for plumpers (XD XD) and we couldn't find them, so we went and asked a helpful employee who said "go down this aisle all the way, it's on the right" and then there were hot dogs right next to her o_o So we all felt stupid. I mentioned the unholy love-child of turkey and pork because we got turkey pork franks and Alex though that was really funny XD() And then we got chips and lettuce and lee-eeft. And we did something in Natalie's room but I forgot what. o_o() Then we went to Alex's room and watched some videos he had made (he's thinking about doing film for a living). They were funny. Hurray. And then we ate burgers and... stuff... and then... ummmm... geez... well, a bit before six, we went back to Grandma and Grandpa's house and had tamales and posole. I didn't have any tamales, and I didn't ask for any, but Grandma got me one anyway, so I gave it to dad later XD()

Apparently Grandma is depressed lately. She said she doesn't really enjoy doing anything anymore except gambling, and that she doesn't want to live to grow old (as in, into her 70s). She's already on Zoloft, and according to Karen, she was even worse before that because she was actually suicidal and wept all the time and stuff. Karen also thinks she might have Alzheimer's. I mean, she's always told stories over and over, but Karen thinks it's getting worse. Anyway... I kind of thought about it... and I realised I don't think I would really be sad if she died... that makes me feel guilty, because what kind of person doesn't love their grandmother? I would be sad if grandpa died, or if either of my grandparents on mum's side did, but not Grandma. And like I said, I feel guilty. I don't know. Maybe I really do love her and would be sad and just don't know it. It's weird.

So anyway, back at that house, AnJa and I forced Natalie to watch the first episode of Invader Zim because she had said she didn't like it, and we couldn't imagine anyone watching a whole episode and not liking it o_o() Originally, Ben, Dominic, Natalie and AnJa were gonna play baseball, but Invader Zim replaced that. Ben came in and watched it with us, but Dominic wouldn't and kept bothering us through the windows or coming in and being annoying u_u Anyway, Ben liked Zim, but Natalie still doesn't. It's her loss. Well, she really loves NSync, so I guess our tastes just aren't totally compatible. Oh weeeell. After that we (Natalie, me, AnJa, Ben, Dom) walked to a park by the house, but they took away the merry-go-round (because of liability junk, Karen told us later) so we didn't have fun. AnJa, Natalie and I tried to swing, but instead of being the ( shaped swings, they were flat hard plastic, and the seats weren't wide enough for us XO So we went back home, and there was this old lady walking a really really fuzzy black Pomeranian named Mitzi, so we met her and she was soooooo cute! Then we got back and stuff ;p

I got another GBA for the trip, but I still owe mum and dad $70 unless I take it out of my savings account. Actually, I owe them even more than that because I also got Breath of Fire used so I would have something to play on it and a Floodlight. AnJa got Castlevania. Anyway, I'm in Krypt in BoF and I really like the game so far. I only have three party members and I don't think any of them are extremely cool, but they're all fairly cool, so it's okay. Something about the storyline and the Stone Robot reminds me of FF1, I don't know why. **MINOR SPOILERS** I was soooo lost for a while and I had to get online at grandparents' house to find out how to get past this one point. Turns out all I was missing was the knowledge that you can walk through forests if Bo is your front man u_u()() Also, later, when I went to fight the Gremlin in the Robot, I died twice before finally beating him because when "Gremlin gets mad," he still has, like, twice as much HP as was shown on the status bar left. So I kept thinking "Well, it's almost over!" only it wouldn't be and he would kill me. Bleh. **SPOILERS END**

We got up early today (about 7) to leave Albuquerque. I ate toast for breakfast. It's now about 4.45pm, and there are only a hundred or so miles left to Barstow. Hurray! I haven't had any lunch, but I don't feel at all hungry... what I've had today is a king size Symphony bar, a package with two shortbread fingers, a 64 oz. Dr Pepper, and 20 oz. of Gatorade. I think the others all ate protein bars or something as a lunch substitute, but I don't like those. Wheeeee. I hope Hole in the Dirt Barstow has a cinema. Izzy and Doug are awesome, so having to go to Barstow IS worth it, but just barely. =/ I need to go see Minority Report, the Importance of Being Earnest, and something else I forgot, and I also want to see Lilo & Stitch again. On the trip, I've finished reading Jurassic Park (very good book, Malcolm was awesome in the movie but even cooler in the book) and the fourth Harry Potter book. I want the fifth one to come out T_T My favourites in Harry Potter are Professors Snape, Quirrel, Lupin, and Lockhart, as well as Cedric, Sirius, Hagrid, and... errr... Bill Weasley. Of course, Harry, Ron, and Hermione are all cool too. Secret: I always knew that Hermione was pronounced "her-my-o-nee" and not "hermie-own", that is, I knew before I read the books or saw the movie. How I knew? Because I saw a Japanese poster for the movie and it had Draco, Harry, Ron, and Hermione all standing together and it said their names in kana. Doreeko, Herii, Ron, and Haamaioni. Oh yeah, I also kind of like Draco =D()()() But the trip isn't even half over and I'm out of books, I don't know what to do O_O!! I'm not sure if I mentioned it already, but I read Heretics of Dune before we left as well. I still need to read Chapter House Dune, or Dune Chapter House, or whatever it's called, and then I'll probably read House Atreides and House Harkonnen. But that doesn't change the fact that I'm out of books RIGHT NOW. Ohhhh, well. Okay, that works for one journal entry, so I save to AnJa's hard drive and will post it when I get to Izzy's =D

(x-1, x) (-infinity, infinity) (x, x+1)