sweet talk wont get the job done

I recently returned from a family vacation to San Diego. I was forced against my will to drive down there with my mom and brother (ugh). A majority of the 10 hour car ride was ruined with my brother singing that annoyingly catchy song, "99 bottles of milk on the wall, 99 bottles of milk...", so for the most part, I was ridiculously angry. And the unusual L.A. traffic did not help my... fragile mood. The supposed-to-be 2-hour drive from L.A. to San Diego was actually 4 hours, because of extreme traffic. But apart from the drive there and the drive home, the rest of the trip was amazing.

The entire vacation was just party after party after party. I saw all my family that lived within a 40-mile radius of La Jolla, even some who I hadn't seen in years.. or ever. We had a fantastic time, and my Farsi (and Tu-Serkani) greatly improved. Oh, and food. I never had the chance to feel hungry because there was always a meal being served. And I can't resist good Persian food.... On the drive home, we decided not to stop at a restaurant for lunch so we could arrive home sooner, so we decided to stop at 2'oclock at a rest stop to retrieve our Joojeh (chicken) kabob sandwiches from the trunk and eat them in the car. I was fine until 1'oclock when I felt an intense sharp pain in my stomach. I thought something was terribly wrong with me. But.. turns out I was just feeling hunger, which I had not experienced in about a week. :D

I miss everyone already :/
Why do I live so far away from all my family?!

That would be my uncle (who I miss SO much!), me (freakishly happy), my mom, my cousin Ali and my cousin Kaveh... umm not exactly a flattering picture of all of us...

Family really means a lot. They're the only people who will love you no matter how badly you mess up (as demonstrated by several family members). I wish we lived closer, but when we do get together, I just feel a tremendous amount of warmth, and happiness. My New Year's Resolution is to spend more time with my family. I'm going to fly down to San Diego for my Spring Break and I'm going to try to call my grandparents at least once a week.

Happy New Year!