Thanks, mdonley! Luckily we're only going to be on the road about 4 hours, round trip.

I already got my driving done yesterday, thank god. We drove EIGHT FRIGGING HOURS to visit my husband's parents in Pittsburgh. He couldn't drive, because he injured his leg playing basketball, and wears an immobilizing boot as a result (for the next six weeks), thereby rendering him absolutely useless from a driving standpoint. I had to drive through the mountains of West Virginia, which I have never done before, and it sucked enormous donkey balls. I got to Pittsburgh last night, with my sweaty, hamburger-smelling fingers cramped from the death grip I had on the steering wheel the whole entire way. I gulped down half a bottle of Merlot before I sacked out. Today, let the eating commence! Good luck to the rest of you braving holiday travel. Boa viagem.

I have to drive 45 min each way to retrieve the new GF (she currently can't drive), and tomorrow afternoon we'll travel across town (25 min) to friends' house for dinner. Then friends are going out of town, leaving GF & me to housesit. If there's a lot of leftover turkey, I may make soup. GF wants to make cookies and buckeyes using friends' spacious, well-equipped kitchen, and I'm be the willing, cheerful kitchen-slave and taste-tester.

Indeed. Happy, safe trails! May your turkey be moist, your food plentiful, and your drunk, argumentative cousin mysteriously absent.

So glad we're not going anywhere.

Not holiday travel related but there was a fatal accident yesterday about three blocks from where we live. A teen in a VW Golf was hit head on by a pick-up truck. The teen was killed, the people in the truck were okay. Some of the traffic was routed onto our street. Two people had some sort of altercation right in front of our house. Yelling and screaming and "fucking" this, "fucking" that and lots of "fuck yous".

Slow down people, take care and you'll get to where you want to go in one piece.