Not sure if Santa did this much traveling

Man, I'm a bad blogger. Or just a liar. After intending to keep a log of our holiday travels, I couldn't even deliver one post from the road. I guess after that first day in Pennsylvania -- our night at grandma's -- I just settled into the routine. We'd arrive someplace, say hello, chat, eat, drink, go to bed, wake up and do it all over again. When I did find myself on the computer, it was either to get photos off my camera, look up something online, or for work. Not once did I find myself in a quiet, bored moment alone with my laptop with an urge to write.

So here's the outline of our odyssey from Dec. 22, 2007, to Jan. 1, 2008:

• Dec. 22: Left home, drove one hour to my parents'.
• Dec. 23: Left my parents', drove three hours to grandma's house -- over the (Delaware) River and through the (eastern Pennsylvania) woods -- in Mechanicsburg.
• Dec. 24: Left grandma's and drove three hours to Casey's mom's in Greensburg
• Dec. 25: Left Greensburg and drove an hour to Casey's dad's in Johnstown.
• Dec. 26: Toured Frank Lloyd Wright-built homes Kentuck Knob and Fallingwater in the Laurel Highlands/Ohiopyle region of southwestern PA. Casey's dad did all the driving, which was nice.
• Dec. 27: Worked. Took an hour break mid-day to head back to Greensburg.
• Dec. 28: Left Greensburg, drove an hour to Casey's sister's in Pittsburgh.
  
• Dec. 29: Left Pittsburgh, drove the six-and-a-half hours home, with an hour for lunch in Lewisburg, Pa.
• Dec. 30: Left home, drove four hours to Bryan's in Boston.
• Dec. 31: No driving. Cleaned Bryan's place, partied out '07 and into '08. Closely monitored intake to ensure good night's sleep and painless drive home.
• Jan. 1: Left Bryan's and drove four hours home.

Insane, no? It was a bit crazy, but it didn't really drag on me too much. The consecutive nights in Johnstown and Boston provided a noticeable break from the day-to-day packing, loading-the-car, unpacking grind. The fact that only one day in the Pennsylvania leg involved more than three hours in the car (and only one day overall was more than four hours) helped keep it from feeling like 10 days on the road, with shorter stints of visiting.

The main thing, of course, is that we were able to see everyone in both families for a good amount of time and we made it through the whole stretch without any injuries or accidents or speeding tickets. The car came through fine as the miles piled up past 124,000 and other than some mild rain on the 23rd and a morning of wet, non-sticking snow and then driving rain until we reached New Haven on New Year's Day, the weather was great.

So that's how 2007 ended and 2008 began. A year ago, we were preparing to begin our house hunting. This year, I'm preparing to finish what amount to the last two or three major renovations we have planned. Before long, I hope to have replaced all the floor mouldings so that we can insulate the walls, finished the basement by replacing the paneling and furnishing it, and finishing off the closet in the office so that it can be organized and will no longer look like a storage locker.

Some resolutions, if you will.