Cleaning up and battoning down

We're back from New Year's Extravaganza '09-10 and the wind, she's a-blowin'. We got out of Boston before the storm really set in, had brunch at Bryan's parents' on the water in Hull and made it home in the usual 4 1/2 hours. We'd driven out of the snow by Rhode Island and found dry roads by Connecticut. But upon our arrival home, we found wind gusts up to 30 mph, which are now gusting to 50 today.

To keep warm and to keep organized, we took down the Christmas decorations inside -- including the tree -- and tidied up the house. I'll leave the outside lights for later in the week, when nature's not so forceful. No harm waiting until the 12th day of Christmas, either.

So it's a day of cleanup and football, and I've got the Steelers flag flying outside hoping to bring them luck. They need to win in Miami and hope for a combination of losses by Houston and the Jets or by Houston and Baltimore or by the Jets, Baltimore and Denver.

Go Stillers!