Cleveland Richfield Rocks!

No, not the one in MN. (listening to: my head pounding)

Ok, so.. I spent last weekend in Ohio with Natalie. Meeting her family. They're wonderful, amazing people, and I'm totally serious when I say there isn't ONE of them I didn't like. Which is interesting, because I met them all. Literally. Every. Last. One. It was like a family reunion, and I was invited. The odds were high for embarrassment, and embarrassment there was. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's give you the play-by-play, shall we? I'll post one day at a time, so you can get the dramatic feel for the trip.

*NOTICE* I have pictures that help me tell this story, but at the moment, I can't get them onto my computer. I will post them as they become available, filling in the holes.

--DAY 1--
Our flight leaves Minneapolis at 7pm local time, so we had to be at the airport at 6. The idea is that I'll pick up Natalie at her house, and then we'll park at the Mall of America (specifically, one of the hotels next door) and then take the light rail to the airport. What I didn't count on was the fact that this is a REALLY good idea, so it's already been thought of. You can't park at the hotels next to the mall. They do nightly sweeps. Damn. So, we drive to the airport to park there. For $16 a day. For three days. Awesome.

When we finally get to the airport, We go through security, and because I didn't bag my liquids, my bag has to be opened and inspected. Apparently, the rule is that any container larger than 3.4oz cannot be carried on. Listen carefully to that... Any CONTAINER. It could be empty, but you still can't carry it on. Madjai loses his hair product, shaving cream and toothpaste. This is an awesome trip, and we're still in Minneapolis.

Now, sans-gels, we're hungry. So, we stop for a burrito at the airport common area. (By the way- two burritos and a coke at the airport common area is $18. Keep that in mind when traveling, folks.) This is Natalie really excited about leaving:

[[Picture of Natalie at Airport]]

And this is her burrito, which is decidedly less exciting:

[[Picture of Natalie flipping off her busted burrito]]

Skipping ahead a few hours, we land in Cleveland, and Natalie's Mom and Dad are there. This is a moment I have much apprehension about. Her Mom is a lovely woman, who reminds me instantly of my theatre professor in college. Uncannily so. Her Dad is a tall and affable fellow, who shakes my hand and welcomes me to Cleveland. (Side note: He calls me by my name as he's loading up our luggage. The first and last time he will get my name right all weekend.)

It's a 35 minute drive to Natalie's sister's house, where we are staying (let's call her Francesca). Francesca, I'm told, lives with a man (who we will call Brain, for two reasons) who is me in 12 years. I'm excited to meet him. Mom is very nice and is pointing out landmarks to me, and asks me questions about my life and my work. Dad is very silent as he drives, talking only twice to Natalie, and answering only direct questions with direct answers. I'm pretty sure I catch him staring at me in the rearview mirror at least twice with eyes of nearly infinite suspicion.

We pull into Francesca and Brain's driveway, and Brain meets us at the door. This guy is my style. He gives us a brief tour of his rambling suburban mansion, complete with a room that could quite easily control either several nuclear missile silos or rogue black ops agents in the remote corners of the world. Two computers, each with dual monitors (one of which is a 30" LCD), and every piece of equipment in this room glows either red or blue or green. I'm in heaven.

Francesca is a taller version of Natalie, with longer, straighter hair. She's lovely, and her and Brain make a cute couple. They have two children, "Harris" and "Jackie," who I will find out very soon are two of the CUTEST kids ever created. They are sleeping at the moment, however, so I won't meet them until Day 2.

We chat for a bit with Brain and Fran, and they make us feel instantly at home. I like these people, they're easy to talk to, and they are very down-to-earth. Also, as a bonus, they don't seem to be interested in quizzing me about my life. Which is nice, because it's late, and I'm very tired. As Brain shows us our guest room, replete with TV and DVD player, I realize that it's only 10pm my time. I'm still Exhausted from our trip though, so we watch 7 minutes of Adventures in Babysitting before passing out. This is the most sleep I'll get all weekend, and so far... I have no idea just how much is about to happen.