March 31, 2002 | 7:04 PM

I spent most of the day at John�s family�s house for an Easter Gathering. It was so much fun. His family is incredibly sweet, especially his parents-- I like them so much.

His dad always calls me honey, which I find endearing. And I got to sneak off with him and John to drink beers and smoke cigarettes in the basement, where John�s dad actually has his own little antique bar complete with stools (stolen from John�s college dorm room�just the stools, not the actual bar.)

I also got to see a picture of John�s Mom and Dad when they got married. His Dad had Mr. Brady hair and was wearing a tux with ruffles down the shirt. His Mom looked incredibly beautiful in her wedding dress. They were so young�maybe even younger than John and I are right now. Scary to think about stuff like that.

I got to watch John and his brother and uncle and cousins play baseball (they asked me to play but I declined, because as much as I love baseball, I can�t hit the ball for shit and would�ve been embarrassed). Then John and I played football and pretended we were the Kennedy Brothers out on the compound, relaxing after a hard year of missile crises and politicking. I was Bobby (the cooler one in my opinion), and John got to be Jack.

We ate a delicious dinner�ham, turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans, squash, stuffing, and rolls. There was also dessert�chocolate mousse, a coconut cake that looked exactly like a bunny, complete with cartoon bunny face (sort of creepy), and tasty sugar cookies. I ate one of those Peeps marshmallow chicks too. Even though they are kind of gross, I always get this weird little thrill from biting their heads off.

John�s Mom and Dad loaded us up with goodies to take home, including a basket of fresh flowers. John�s Mom gave me a CVS gift card as a present, which was endearing and sweet in that dorky Mom kind of way.

I don�t know� I love being around people�s families. It gives me such a warm feeling inside. I wish my family lived closer to Boston (they�re in upstate New York) because I adore them so much (even though they also drive me crazy.)

Speaking of which, my Mom and bother and sisters are visiting in two weeks because my brother is looking at Northeastern and Clark as two possible college choices. He is a total science genius and looks like a movie star. I am so proud of him. I�m actually really proud of everyone in my family. They are all so intelligent and beautiful and liberal and driven. I was telling Jessie the other day�I never had that problem with family members being racist of sexist or homophobic. My Mom voted for Ralph Nader. My grandparents gave money to the NAACP in the 1950�s and my grandma wrote letters to the editor in support of civil rights legislation and school integration way before it was OK to believe that. My grandpa used to get taunted at the factory where he worked for having such an outspoken liberal wife, but he didn�t care�he was proud of her.. My family has tons of gay and black friends that are always over at our house, and it�s been that way since I can remember. I never thought it was weird nor did I ever see these people as being different from me in any way. Until I went to school, I thought everyone�s family was like that. I realize now how incredibly lucky I was.

I feel so happy right now, and complete and satisfied and glad to be where I am in life. Days like this bring out the best in my relationship with John.

That�s all for now. Will write a SAGA update tomorrow.