steal away

It seems as though I will never get to write tonight. I opened my computer in the front room and was suddenly engaged in a conversation. About 20 minutes later, I moved over to the living room and popped open the laptop again. I was followed. My 9 year old niece bombarded me with questions.

"What are you doing?"
"What is that?"
"What does that do?"
"Why are you doing that?"
"Is this what you do at work? It seems boring."
"This almost seems like a real computer."

I felt like the guy being interrogated by MacAuley Culkin in Home Alone? It was Home Alone, wasn't it? Who was he talking to? John Candy? Maybe that was Uncle Buck. Hmmm? I don't know. But you remember the kid and his penchant for getting under the skin of adults. My niece has definitely got that MacAuley Culkin thing going on. She looks at you with the deadpan of a triage nurse at a county hospital, scarcely reacting to any of your responses as if she hardly believes anything that you're saying. I eventually closed up shop again and talked to her for a minute before thinking of a suitable distraction to keep her busy. I handed her my cell phone and queued it up to one of the 2 games that are on it. Well, actually, its really only 1 game because solitaire doesn't rate in my book. Bubble Breaker fit the bill and so engrossed was she after about 30 seconds that I reached for my laptop again.

Just as I did, my sister came up over my left shoulder.

"What's that?"
"Whatcha doin'?"
"Are you working on something from work right now?"

The apple clearly does not fall far from the tree. I'm at my parents' house this evening and its still a pretty full house as the festivities following my niece's (the one that is 9 years the senior of lil' Ms. Culkin from above) graduation are winding down. I'm coming to grips with the fact that I'm not going to get any writing done tonight. I was hoping to steal away to a corner and let the words just flow but it's just not happening. Oh well, it's not the end of the world. There's always tomorrow. Besides, my sister is hardly ever in town so I may as well enjoy her and everyone else's company. It's always nice to sit and chop it up with family. There's something about having the face to face contact that the telephone just can't provide. We chatted about what she's been up to, recent triumphs and milestones reached in her life (besides hitting the big 4-0), and working outdoors.

Overall, it was a pretty good evening. My mom and her cousins collaborated to put together a fabulous spread of beans, rice, enchiladas, and various salads. My Uncle Levi brought his world famous tri-tip steak for the occasion. I was lucky to get some because it went quickly and I came late after getting stuck at work. I think he marinates this stuff in sugar or something because it is absolutely delicious. I'll be grabbing a spot on the couch tonight because not only am I tired, but I have a dentist appointment at 9am. I'm probably still firmly operating on Central Time since I was doing so for almost 2 weeks and there's no sense in driving all the way to Oakland (from San Jose) to turn around and come right back in the morning during rush hour traffic. I'm so tired that I don't even really care that my wonderful bed will be vacant tonight. I think my bed deserves a name. I'll work on that. The randomness is flowing out of control now. Clearly it's time to go to sleep.