Things have been really hectic and stressful at our house lately. We have to deal with our crazy landlord and it’s starting to wear me thin!

Jim stole me away for the afternoon yesterday and we had a great time eating in the Gourmet Ghetto and then bowling $1 games at Albany Bowl. We ended the night with dinner at my aunt and uncle’s house in the Oakland hills. Their house has an amazing view of the city and we arrived just in time to take in a beautiful sunset.

The whole afternoon and evening was a much needed break from the chaos that is the CouchSurfing house. The drive home was a nice transition from small intimate dinner in the hills to crazy raucous family in Berkeley. When we walked up to the house I could hear a lot of people in the kitchen talking and laughing and it made me smile. To realize that although I get burned out on being together all the time, I also miss it a lot when I am away.

I couldn’t help but get a bit warm and gooey inside when I walked in and everybody was together cleaning the kitchen and having a great time. It made me realize how lucky I am to have such a cool family to come home to. It’s really amazing that we have so many people living together in this house and, somehow, we all get along. Nobody fights and there isn’t one person who is passive aggressive. How did we compile a group of such amazing people from around the world?