end of full day one

So today started out with the adventure of switching hotels. Like I said, the pool was handicap-inaccessible at the Shilo Inn and my room smelled like cheap hooker and the manager last night was a real jerk about everything. So we moved across the street (quite literally) to the Days Inn, which has been exponentially better. Pete described it, I think, as an improvement of at least two orders of magnitude. So if you're even more of a mathematical nerd than he or I, you can probably calculate an integer approximation of hotel quality here in downtown Helena. Wow. I can't really believe that I just went there with that.

I was planning all day to give a detailed breakdown of what each of my relatives are like (so far). I just got off the phone with my dad, though; a conversation wherein I detailed pretty much everything I was going to write about. And right before that my mom interrogated me about my reaction to all these family members. So I'm kinda burnt out. Here's a brief recap, though, just so I don't feel like I'm letting myself get off easy:

Aunt Diana - Mom's sister
The one person on my mom's side of the family who I feel like I've spent any decent amount of time around in my life thus far. I just adore her - she's a neuropathologist, which is pretty cool, and despite the obvious risks of such a profession, she maintains a good sense of humor and is one of those rare people who gets really excited about cool things and just exudes bubbly energy. She's also a total dork, as evidenced by this quote:
[someone tells a story about their cat doing something ridiculous]
Diana: "Well, cats have a pretty small cortex, so he probably won't remember it for long."
Ah. Excellent.

Uncle Jeff - Mom's brother
The second-most-familiar member of this group for me, I've actually seen Jeff in the last ten years. He's such a cool guy, appearing very laid back and... just cool. Really good at what he does, y'know? One of those people who is very skilled and not at all pompous about it. I feel comfortable around him quite readily, but I feel like as I start to relax he starts to tense up. My mom has suggested that he's generally a very 'closed' person, but when he was my age he 'maximized' the opportunities of, I don't know, being young, and he doesn't always feel good about the choices he made at that time in his life. I was surprised to feel pretty strong disapproval from him about my decision to drop out of school.

Aunt Barb(ie) - Mom's sister
I've been pleasantly surprised to find that I get along really well with her. She and my mom don't get along very well, and I haven't really ever been given reason to think that I'd be able to get along with her either. But she's great. Very good at conversation, y'know? I guess being a good 'people person' is part of why she's a very successful attorney. Yeah, that's right, my aunt is the Assistant Attorney General for the State of Montana. I'm gonna try to brag about that to all my law-school friends.

Don - Barb's husband
He's just a kick in the pants. In the good way. I mean, a laugh and a half. Wait, those don't sound good. [Insert positive cliche about joviality here] Great sense of humor, almost manic curiosity about stuff in the world, and the sort of perpetual joker whose jokes probably don't get old until you have to live with him. We talked about physics and bikes over a couple glasses of Cabernet Sauvignon this afternoon.

Colin - my cousin
Barb & Don's younger kid. So he's 12, and I've never met him before. Jesus. A cool kid, very bright, and he's either young or open-minded enough to be nice to me, though I'm a total stranger.

Sam - my cousin
Barb & Don's older kid. He's 15, and apparently immersed in a phase of teenagedom which involves being a total dick to everybody. Hasn't given me the fucking time of day, and goddamnit, I'm supposed to be the cool older cousin. Not working out like I expected/hoped. I don't know how to even approach him - he's not someone who I would have been friends with at the age of 15. Too much money and family and goddamn fortune in his life, 'cause he takes it all for granted. I feel like I need to impress him, but I also feel like I care way too much and if I don't calm down I'll end up just acting like I care too much. Relax.

Terri - Jeff's wife
I don't remember ever meeting her before, but she's really sweet and likeable. I look forward to talking with her more. She's a baker and gets up in the middle of the night to go bake every morning. I can respect that, in the same way I respect many things I'd never be able to do myself.

Gary - Diana's husband/partner
I don't know if they're married, so suddenly my simple little labeling system has fallen apart. He too is very likeable. He's got the shock of white hair and leather jacket that might indicate an unlikeable comboy-type. His face is sharp, though, in an... intelligent way, with very deep-set eyes, and he's cool. Another very hard worker who's probably really good at what he does.

Jane - Mom's mom
I just love my grandma. She's so cool - all that stubborn individualism that my mom has, she got from her mom. What a character - as I've already told many people, she's a rabid animal rights activist, vegan, and cat person. Yeah, she has cats. Boy, does she have cats. Wow. Now I also have found out that she's of the opinion that Buddhists and Hindus "know where it's at." She hopes to "come back in the next life as a Hindu." Awesome. Today was her 80th birthday, and she took us shopping at the cool Co-op-y natural foods store here in Helena. It's cleverly named "Real Foods" (okay, not so clever) and they're pretty rad. I mean, they use fucking Intel iMacs at the register. No, as the register. Oh man, that's really really rad in my book.

So that's my grandma on the left, my mom's arm on the right, and one of the checkers at Real Foods in the middle. His name's Chris and, like every employee at the store, he knows my grandma on a first name basis. The iMac is kinda hidden, but trust me, it's an iMac. And they have 10 of them. Fuckin' rad.

Okay, so much for brief recap. Shit. I love writing.

The music that's been getting me through the last couple days:
Song - "I Summon You" by Spoon
Album for waking up - "Gimme Fiction" by Spoon
Album for falling asleep - "...Until We Felt Red" by Kaki King (apparently pronounced Khaki) (okay, I've gotta say, her music is awesome, AND she's hot. and only 25. her site's pretty awesome, too.) (okay, i kinda have a music-nerd crush on her.)

Favorite new self-care product:
Mountain Ocean Skin Trip Coconut Soap

See, this is me, happily clean after using said soap!


Okay, that's also me, alone in my own hotel room still wide awake hours after Mom & Pete went to bed. I think I'm gonna go walk to Albertsons. I'm jazzed. Please leave me a comment if you've read this far. Thanks.