The Last Supper (well, second to the last dinner before I leave)

*disclaimer: I didn't have a photo of the dinner so I replaced with a photo from my last birthday*

I finally treated my family to a meal. After 4 and a half years of working, I paid the bill for my own despedida dinner (and it wasn't cheap with the two bottles of wine and Mishi's duck main course at L'Opera). Well better late than never right? Some people treat their family after they get their first paycheck. I treated mine after I got my last paycheck.

They say every family is dysfunctional. I say every family is simply made up of humans so no matter what when you put everyone together there will be comedy and drama. That's the perfect way to describe my own nuclear family. My sisters and I can sometimes giggle for hours on end about nothing and everything with my mom muttering gigi tsio (Chinese for well, giggling I guess) under her breath and my dad just shaking his head and grinning at us. Of course, those laughs usually come at the expense of teasing each other or our parents or at peculiar relatives! (okay so I didn't say we're saints). My 3rd sister is more of the comedian. She is the one who gets teased the most and because of that does a lot of teasing on her own. My 2nd sister is the more serious one but can talk to anyone and my youngest sister is the baby so she's the one who has the most issues (teen-agers!).

When my parents are in a good mood, it is light and easy breezy. We don't really talk much about ourselves and our lives but more of lighter topics like our favorite gossip. We're not in a deep relationship my-family-is-my-best-friend kind of thing. But it is more than good enough. I sincerely like spending time with my family and don't dread it like some do. Travel is always good (but is usually a dramedy as usual).

The drama comes in pretty often as well. What do you expect from a family where PMS comes in to the equation 4 to 5 times a month and a dad who pretty much downs a drink (or two or three) nightly? Whenever someone (my mom especially) is in a bad mood, no one is spared. What's good about those times is that it can be cause for bonding. My sisters and I have laughed countless of times at my dad's nitpicking and my mom's oc-ness. And my mom and I have shared a look more than once whenever my baby sister would go on her bitchy rampage.

We've all had our fair share of parental disputes and teen-age melodramatics. What's weird is that I always thought those problems fade as one grows older. But it doesn't. I still have arguments with my parents, I still defy them, and I still dont agree with them on some things. But I've learned to appreciate and understand them more. I know they only want the best for me even though they show their love in the strangest of ways (hello dad and his calling me to let me know I can use Yahoo phone since it's cheaper). So this is what they meant before... Darn it, so they were right!