Through rain and hellish traffic, the 4-hour drive to Brian and Suzan's took just over 5.5 hours. We were grateful to have arrived there safe and sound, regardless of the hour. I love Thanksgivings with them, because it's a Thanksgiving of introversion; you don't have to sneak off to take time for yourself or make phone calls or just be alone. It's understood and encouraged, and I took advantage of it.

Brian ushered me into the computer room to hear something he had recorded. What started out as a normal audio blurb for his podcast turned into a recording of his reading of my admittedly batshit-insane entry, 'The Legend of Turkeymas.'

Or, as I said a few times that night, I'm not going to be able to live that entry down any time soon. What can I say? The level of insanity in the IT department was high on the day before Thanksgiving ... er, Turkeymas.

My photos trailed off as the day went on and I began to run out of social steam. I was glad of dinner, but watching and hearing my friends play Rock Band reminded me of something I should keep in mind for the future: karaoke makes my skin crawl. I don't know why I react so adversely, but I do. I found it easier to stay in the back room with my checked-out copy of Flatland, which I raced through much more quickly than I expected.

The next day was harder, but that's the next entry. Know this: Brian Richardson makes one hell of a good turkey. Photos are here: