It was a two pronged assault. My sister arrived with her hubby the friday prior to Valentines Day. Then the folks show up that Sunday. Sis leaves Wednesday, and the folks stay till Saturday. The juggling involved was acrobatic.

So sis and company (her husband's brother also lives in Manhattan) call Friday around eleven A.M. to see if I'd like to join them for lunch, prior to going in to work. It is well known to all (including baby sis) that with my schedule and undead fear of the sun that I usually don't wake till after noon. So the answering machine handles that request for a lunch date, and I bury my face in the pillow to resume my regular scheduled pass-out.

They call me at work and wonder if I want them to stop by with some nosh. Not wanting to confuse my stomach with an irregular appearance of untimely calories, I politely decline. "Ok, but were stopping by later for a tour." Sigh.

Let the grand tour begin. My sister's hubby drools over the server farm we got at work, since he's a geek too. The brother in law curses the fact that I have game rooms with pool tables, video games, and ping pong. Also he has a difficult time processing the fact that we have a basketball court on our roof. Apparently he works in the slave gallows rowing a war ship. My company is a party place, but you had to know that a Spanklin has to work in a party place. My sister takes advantage of the fact that our terrace offers a spectacular night sky line of the city, and snaps pics of the Garden, World Trade Center, Empire State Building, etc.

Saturday they buzz my door around noon. I take them for NY pizza. We play pool in a hang out for asian gangs. On the way home I pick up two more controllers for my Nintendo so we can romp gamer style. Damian shows up to see the ruckus. Brother in law breaks out his one hitter, which makes Mario Party extremely silly. Little nervous and proud at the same time. Pretty sure my sis has seen me get lifted before, but I'm not all the way sure. Sis is a tea totaller. And while my parents are skilled in the ways of alkyhol, they would not really understand or readily accept the fact that I toke. It is me however, and if sis and the like can't take it, then they can't.

Sunday, I take sis and hubby to a nice Thai restaurant. Roam around the East Village. The savage stinging wind commands us to seek shelter at my crib, where convienantly video games await. Mom and Pop arrive at their hotel in Jersy. A continual problem on this visit,Jersey that is. Actually Jersey is nothing but one big fucking problem. My regards if you reside there. Eventually the kids get tired and I direct them to their proper subway route, on the way to Docs to bathe it all in vodka.

At this point my brain is telling me that if I do not stop this story to be continued at a later date, that it will not play fair for the rest of the night. Actually needing a brain tonight, I think I'll listen to it.