December 22

It was an excruciatingly long day. The grown-ups ran around doing last-minute travel-prep related activities this morning while the shortish people went to school. Then I picked up said people from school a little early, we all ate, rode in a limo to the airport, and boarded the first of two flights. Here we are in Oakland, as our limo sped away in the background:

After a stopover in Vegas (where Isaac successfully conquered the Wendy's Baconator), we finally found ourselves bound for Baltimore, where we landed at 1:35 AM Eastern time, retrieved our luggage, took the (very, very long) ride to the rental car facility, secured our transportation --which is a humongous Suburban, since they were out of the BMW we'd reserved (cue my sad face)-- and headed for my grandma's house. And that's where I am right now: in the very same bedroom where I spent several years of my early life, looking at a clock that says 4:10 AM and wondering how I'm going to manage to be even remotely conscious tomorrow. (Or I guess technically I should say 'today.')

And now, I must backtrack because I want to get to my point before I fall asleep. You may or may not have caught it, but I referenced a limo ride to the airport. We don't usually take that route when we go places; in fact, it was the first time I'd ever been inside a limo. It was supposed to be a surprise for me, but a glance at an email in Adam's inbox a week or so ago gave me an inkling that he was up to something. I confessed that I knew and he gave me a hard time about it, but it was still a sweet thing to do for me. So for the sentiment (and the successful, mostly on time travel today), I'm thankful.

(And hopefully, that made sense, because right now, I have no idea if it does or not. Peace out.)