It's supposed to balance out

At family reunions, I mean. You gorge yourselves on every kind of food that's not good for you and/or not nailed down. Then you chase after the kids and do goofy uncle things. And you burn off all the calories.

So why do I still feel so unpurgeably full?

Our Dayton visit with the fiancé's grandmother and extended family was lovely, exploding tummies notwithstanding. Everyone has welcomed me—the gay boyfriend of the tallest grandson—as though I've been a member of the family since Justin and I both were suffering through our child-nobody-could-love phases. (Did I mention we went through some old photo albums while we were there? Did I mention the fiancé and I are now joining the local chapter of Survivors of Childhood Haircuts that Involved Tape to keep our Bangs Straight (SCHIT–BS)?)

Here are some memories of our trip home this afternoon, starting with a taken-from-a-moving-vehicle shot of the Warm Glow Candle Outlet, which is shaped like an actual candle:
Then the freakishly huge cloud of smoke we drove through on the Indianapolis beltway:

Then the bathroom stall of the BP Amoco in Frankfort, IN, where we didn't see Larry Craig, but we did learn valuable lessons about Jesus and following the rules: