take this upcoming thanksgiving for example. most of the jerks around here will be trying to get out of town tonight, and get back here on sunday. i tried that once like 8 years ago and i’ll never do it again. so now i drive home thanksgiving morning and come back on saturday. this has lead me to never have to wait in traffic for upwards of 2 or 3 hours (each way).

i generally like the feeling you have around the holidays. yeah, it can be a stressful time, but it can also be very relaxing. i, of course, love the time off work. who doesn’t?

this year for christmas i’m making a trip with the girlfriend to her native lands of florida. it’ll be the first time in my life where i’ve not spent actual christmas day with my family. i’m not really upset about that though, as i’ll be in sunny florida (and i won’t have to attend the yearly christmas eve service my mother guilts us all into every year). i’m looking forward to meeting some of her family and whatnot, and of course spending time in a warmer clime than i’m used to.

along with not seeing my family for christmas day, this will also be the first year i’m flying very near to the 25th. only one other time i have flown near christmas was actually after the 25th (something like the 28th) with a return trip in early january. that experience wasn’t too bad actually. this time we’re flying down there on the 20th and coming back here on the 26th. i’m interested to see what it’s like.