And that's what friends are for....

So Christmas has come and gone. Not too much has changed other than I have a new bounty of cool gifts to play with over the next few months and I'm pretty sure that I have lost years off of my life by dealing with my family. Honestly I love them, but the holidays seem to bring the worst as well as the best out of all of us! So that's what friends are for; they're there to take you away from the family madness and remind you that it's ok to be selfish once in awhile and not worry about being the world's #1 daughter. As Sudha has already brilliantly concluded, the only relationships that seem to thrive over long-distances are the ones you have with your family.

One of my new favorite stories is from two night ago when JT kept me, Sudha, and Sam waiting on his doorstep for 10 minutes. Granted, 1) we didn't call before going over there, 2) he had a ton of family in his house who were already asleep at 10:30, and 3) well there isn't really a 3.

Thanks goodness it was unseasonably warm outside and I didn't mind staring at his barely cracked open front door as he proceeded to freak out in front of us about people being asleep in his house. Things that were said within those 10 minutes:

JT: "Well this is just unexpected. I don't know what to do"
Me: "You could let us into your house. If not, we can just go to my house, but I'm trying to stay away from my family"
Sam: "Well, can we just take some beer then?"
JT: "But you've got to be quiet"
Sudha: "What, like we've never been in mixed company before?! Like we don't know how to be quiet...."
Me to Sam after JT had run away from the door for the third time: "Call Daphne [JT's sister], she likes you and she'll let us in"
Daphne: " Why are you guys standing on the doorstep?"
JT: "oh... this is just so unexpected"
Me: " We brought movies-- Batman Begins and the Family Guy Movie"
JT: " The Family Guy movie?!?! Ok, we just gotta to be quiet in the basement"
Sam: "Look, it's not like we've got a 6-piece band with us"

So we were finally let into his house where we spent a very relaxing, family free time watching the Family Guy movie. Even though he has already seen it three times before, JT laughed harder and louder than any of us-- he was a 6-piece band in himself.