Comic Relief

Relaxing is tough work. OK, it isn't really work but it does keep you busy. I thought the idea of vacations was to recharge the batteries and come back to work ready for the next however many months of making ends meet. Well, after a week at the beach with family and friends I am ready to pick up the details of my life again, but I'm also exhausted. I mean how much fun can a guy really handle? This past week was particularly tiring... I mean fun. Several late night tall story sessions with 8 of my favorite people, each of us vying for the funniest line of the evening by poking verbal holes into the other, leads to a happy brain drain that I wouldn't miss for any amount of money. Oh, did I mention that we may be the loudest family on the planet? I think the volume is a result of each person being convinced that whatever he or she is about to say is simply not to be missed. So we say it very loudly. It all leads to an uproar that ends in us all holding our sides with laughing pains. Oddly, the quiet part of the weeks activities was provided by the youngest member of the clan, Ella. At just 20 months she is already a veteran of several family lung fests and seems to accept it all with an expression that echos DeNiro in Taxi Driver, "Are you talking to me?" You can tell that she's sizing you up... I have no doubt that her quiet days are very limited and we'll soon be the target of many barbs that will make us wish we hadn't interrupted so many of her naps.