Mikaela and I ventured to her parents' house for the third time in three days, this time to celebrate her mom, who's now one year older. Hooray! Of course I brought my new camera, why'd you ask? Anyway, there were a lot of people there, most of who I see once a year; they're all very nice. Some of the highlights, for me, included meeting Ebelinda's parents as they're always a treat to see. Their kids are great. A few pictures of them bouncing on a big , erhm, elastic mat (English failed me here, but please comment this to help me out if you can find the word for me), trampoline are to be found in the gallery.

It was great to meet people. While the "old folks" talked away upstairs, we drank and ate downstairs. Kids were running around, people were kicking balls around, throwing darts, talking away and playing an old piano. Oh, speaking of playing music, Sebastian asked me if I wanted to jam with him and Tomas, one of his friends. Sure! I've lost a little of my inhibitions when it comes to playing music. It took me ages to get the nerve to play a single note on my electric guitar in front of Mikaela, but now I've just come to terms with my current guitarist limitations, and don't give a fcuk. Anyway, Tomas grabbed the guitar and I really wanted to play the bass, so Sebastian grabbed his drum-sticks and off we went. "It's So Easy" by Guns 'n' Roses was the first song. Here's where the blood comes in: the last person who'd played that bass before I did, played so hard using his thumb, that he didn't notice the skin broke and he started spraying blood all over the strings, the wood, the microphones and what have you not. Beautiful! Let's just hope I don't die from some blood-infectious disease, right? Well, it's been a long time since I polished my G 'n' R skills, but it was fun! Second came "Aneurysm" by Nirvana, if I remember correctly. That went even better! Then we-- or rather, Tomas and Sebastian, played "In Bloom", another Nirvana track. I know that track by heart, but it was transposed and I couldn't relate to the bass-playing even though I was playing two less strings than Tomas. Fcuk it, it was fun! We played until the family's next-door neighbour called and gracefully told Mariette something along the lines of "If you don't follow the regulations, you can just move outta here!" Very "South Park". It reminded me of the episode where the locals blamed all of their problems on illegal aliens, constantly lamenting their situation, using the same phrase over and over again: "They took our joooobs!"

Now we're home and I'm going to bed. Yeah, the gallery! It's to be found here. The food was delicious, really great; Mikaela's father, José, had made a big, plentiful paella, full with shrimp, rice, peas and other stunning ingredients, and there was a very nice fresh salad that Ebelinda and Sebastian had made, different kinds of cake, hams, cheeses (including a grand Manchego cheese), ice-cream, different wines, cider, assorted chocolate delights...yum. Check it out.