So. I'm in Dallas, safe and sound.

It's cold here. When I left my driveway, it was 72 degrees and muggy as can be.

In Dallas, it was 38 degrees, and of course will get colder tonight.

Basically, my sister lives five and a half hours due north of me. And that's under good driving conditions. We did not have those tonight, because it rained and hailed and the wind blew and it took almost six hours to get here.

What's this "we" you keep referring to? I rode here with my parents. In the back of their SUV. Listening to country music. Country CHRISTMAS music.

Yeah. So I remembered about ten minuites into the drive why I usually bring my own car.

BUT, with gas going up in price and we were going to the same place, for the same amount of time, and I couldn't think of a reason to drive myself, so I found myself riding with them.

I have said it here before, but I'll say it again: I love my parents. Very, very much. I'm so very lucky to have parents that I can be totally myself around, and they actually laugh at my jokes and understand me. Most people would KILL for parents like mine.

I think I was just freaked out because I wasn't in control. I can sometimes be a bit of a control freak (Tim's friends say: "A BIT? Whatever!") But I really do like to plan my own trip. To leave when I want to, to stop where I want to (Starbucks? On the freeway? Every fourty miles? With a DRIVETHRU? What a country!) But when I'm with my Dad, he takes on a Battaan Death Drive stance and we don't stop until our eyeballs turn yellow, and we are so caffiene starved we have the shakes. Our bladders must fill at the approximate inverse proportions of the gas tank empties. Plan your fluids, folks: Dad's driving now!

And I really, really do try to not bitch and moan. I know I do a lot, but really, I could be worse, trust me. Get me tired and needing to pee, yet somehow still thirsty, and see how much fun I can be. Now put me in a car that's just a bit too warm and I have no control of the radio.

My friends, the ones who know me best, are scared right now.

But I'm here, and without major incident. We laughed, we bitched, we made it. We're family, and that's the way it works.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to pee again.