i am a lucky loved one, indeed

i just got back from a wonderful weekend trip to ohio, again reminded of how wonderful it is to be in a house that feels like a home, even if it's not my own. my whole time there was characterized by low-key, low-drama smiles and warm exchanges. just what i needed, undoubtedly.

the driving aspect of the trip was a bit more eventful. somewhere south of pittsburgh on my way west, i snapped this pic with my phone, thinking it was going to be the oddest thing that happened to me on my way to whipple. au contraire, but i do still think it's a funny pic. what the heck does this mean? you can either turn a little bit left OR you can turn so far left that you turn all the way around? i know one of you smarty pants out there thinks that it means that you can do a U turn, but note that i'm coming off of a one way street, so you most definitely cannot. a little part of me was like, "ohhh, see this is why people from pennsylvania are not good drivers...they never really had a chance."

the dramatic portion of the evening began about sixty miles northeast of marietta (people like my dad who will wonder what exacly my route was for this trip can click here to see it). my first clue that something had started to go awry with traffic conditions was an accident that left one car on it's side agains the guardrail in the eastbound lane of I-70 and another on its top in the median. i was scary enough that i had to fight back the urge to call people i love and tell them both that i love them and that they absolutley must drive safely forever and ever. having just been able to regulate that urge, i (not kidding) see an expedition-type suv come flying over the guardrail (again from the eastbound lane) bounce in the median, spin all the way around, and come up over the guardrail toward my lane of traffic. they kind got hung up on the guardrail, but it was super scary. my hands were literally shaking when i called my dad to see when the "snowy" conditions would stop. i use the quotes because it seemingly wasn't even snowing hard, but somehow became excessively slick. scary, scary moments. i think i drove under 55 for the rest of the trip.luckily conditions were beautiful (but cold) all the way back. and i took a much better driving route. and i am no less thankful for the trip. would do it again in a heartbeat.

i had to add this last picture to prove to my mom that although not

all, SOME of my Christmas decorations are up. this is an old picture, but you'll just have to trust me that this countdown is actually right on track! tomorrow morning i will turn it and say to myself, "17 days to Christmas...that means 14 days until i go home and 23 days until new year's eve."