Christmas status report I

Well, we survived the trip down. By Springfield, the snow had petered out to freezing rain. Daylight driving also makes a big difference. So while a five-and-a-half-hour drive did last seven (half an hour of which as spent waiting for a rollover to be cleared outside of Lincoln, Illinois), it was still much less harrowing than the murderous trip back in February.

So far, everyone's been basically at their best. Mom was up past 4 a.m. last night playing games on her computer, but she's only dragged me to one store so far, and when they didn't havewhat she was looking for, we gave up and came home. My stepmom laid a terrific brunch and she and my dad haven't bickered at all. Right now I'm taking advantage of a lull before dinner to ride their frustratingly slow Internet connexion, which is still miles fleeter than Mom's awful dial-up.

So, since I probably won't have another chance to get on again later, merry Christmas, everyone! Eat too much, drink too much, and generally enjoy yourselves. Soon the credit card bills will arrive and we'll all have to deal with the recession once more, but for right now the world is a beautiful place.