"Attaboy, Clarence"

Mom had the bright idea of going to the suburbs of Philadelphia to visit a friend of hers; and she thought yesterday, the Saturday after the Thanksgiving that saw a whole slew of people driving instead of flying, would be a good time to do it.

I had the bright idea of riding along, mostly to get out of Washington for a few hours. I hadn't been outside the confines of the DC area since September of 2000. (I'm not counting trips to Front Royal, because you still hear about Warren County on Washington's local news. I believe FR is in Warren County, Virginia, but either Tino or Nicole will correct me if I'm wrong.)

Anyway, the visit itself was nice. Blue and her family are all very pleasant people and we all found plenty to talk about. An added plus is that I didn't fall asleep. In fact, with the exception of a fitful nap in the car, I broke the record for staying up time. I honestly don't recall the last time I was awake more than 12 hours.

After fighting our way through inexplicable stop-and-go traffic in the eastern seaboard's version of the middle of nowhere, I watched It's a Wonderful Life on NBC. Too many commercials, but they own the rights and I guess that means they can chop it up for money. Guh.

So, I cried, just like I always do; and I laughed, just like I always do. No, I don't mind watching the same movie every year. James Stewart gave a remarkable performance, and it's such a relief at the end when all of a sudden he's clean and at ease in front of the christmas tree.

On the whole I had a decent Saturday. Long, but not in a bad way. I slept in this morning, and now I'm going to get something to eat. Seems like the way things should be.

before - after