We rang in 2010 with a bang. When I say bang, I mean that we gorged ourselves on homemade jalapeno poppers and seafood gumbo. And ice cream. Oh, and Ding Dongs. But mostly gumbo. In sum , the "bang" may or may not have been a giant gas ball from all the food. I'll leave that for your speculation.

The long journey back to the South begins tomorrow. Neither Sarah, nor I, nor the dog, are looking forward to 23 hours in the car. Hopefully it will only be 23 hours. It's been a good vacation. Like all, too short.

School starts for Sarah on Monday. I don't have to go back until the next Monday, but I'll probably have to spend most of my extra week cleaning out the cat boxes. I'm sure they're going to be overflowing. Nothing like 4 giant boxes of excrement welcome you home.