My family was in town this weekend so the weekend was really tame. The highlights:

-we went to Irvine for my cousin Austin's 6th birthday. We were playing a game he got, BeyBlades (?) where these spinning tops things have to knock each other out of a plastic ring. I told him that whoever loses 3 times has to do a lap around his street (he lives on a court so it's not so bad). I lost so I had to do the lap. I told him I can run faster than Kobe and he didn't believe me so he said he would time me. He insisted on counting "in his brain." So I did the lap which took no more than 30 seconds and when I hit the "finish line," he was totally impressed. He said, "Wow! You took...11 minutes. You ARE faster than Kobe." Kids, man. I love kids.

-While my brother and I were waiting for my parents who were seeing a Chinese chiropractor, we found a Goodwill store. He got a $3 Bush CD (which I thought was overpriced for Bush) and I got 13 books for $7.96. God bless Goodwill.

-We met up with my mom's friend and her son for lunch. Her son asked me how I like living in LA. I said, "I hate it." My brother, enthusiastic to join the conversation, pipes up, "Oh I know why, Julia. It's because 1. People are impatient. 2. They drive crazy. And 3. GAY." I'm like, WHOA WHOA WHOA. NOT Number 3. I think he misunderstood me when we had driven through West Hollywood on our way to lunch and I was telling my parents how this was the center of the gay community and look...all those beautiful men...two by two...those amazing bodies........*sigh*........it makes me want to cry...... Sometimes I forget that I have to be very careful about the things I say around Michael because he's so literal.

- I was sitting next to my mom during lunch. She's not the most attentive person, so I kept taking things off her plate and eating them when she wasn't looking, confusing her as to why her plate was empty when she'd just served herself something. At one point, she served herself a dumpling. She put it on her plate but was more engaged in the conversation with her friend, so while she was reaching to put the serving spoon back, I speared it and put it on my plate. She picked up her chopsticks and went for the dumpling; she looked at her empty plate, confused for a brief second before picking up the serving spoon and getting another one without really concerning herself with where her dumpling went. She put another one on her plate, her eyes fixed on her friend. As she was putting the serving spoon back, I speared the second dumpling from under her arm and put it on my plate. She put the serving spoon back and looked down to find her plate empty; I could tell she was confused and a little worried, wondering if she had actually gotten a dumpling or if she was in the midst of brain deterioration. Her friend asked her a question so her attention got pulled back into the conversation; she reached for the serving spoon and got another dumpling. She put it on her plate and I speared this one too, putting it on my plate as she put the serving spoon back. As she animatedly told her friend some gossip without looking down at her plate, I watched her absently poking her chopsticks at the place on her plate where the dumpling should have been, trying to pick it up without looking down. Finally she noticed that something was amiss and looked down to find her plate empty, and a mound of dumplings with stab wounds in the middle of mine.