most important thing I learned this year

alcohol helps solve anything (usually)...haha okay now that I think about it, mainly just helping lift family tension at get-togethers.

This year, despite family things that have made me feel the down-est I've felt in a while...it's been a good year for my relationship with my cousins, aunts, and uncles, mainly thanks to everyone partaking in alcoholic merriment.

My uncle on my mom's side is usually pretty quiet and doesn't talk much during family functions just because he's not one to express himself much conversationally. But during Taco Night and after a mojito or two, he had turned a bit red, started talking rapidly about political issues (in Chinese while I was nodding furiously while hoping my dad would help me out my responding to my uncle...which he didn't), and then promptly passing out even before my family left to go back home.

During Thanksgiving, my food went cold and was one of the last ones to finish because I kept talking to everyone there, which is unusual since I normally only talk to my mom, dad, and sister when I'm at a family thing with my dad's side of the family. Even one of my uncles, who used to passive-aggressively make fun of me and my sister while boasting about his sons, was having a conversation with my dad (which made me extra-happy because brothers should be able to talk to each other like that) and, thanks again to alcohol, said that my dad's daughters grew up to be beautiful girls. He's finally redeemed himself in my eyes.

I'm not advocating drinking alcohol...just saying...it's not always so bad :P