So Esther and I spent the Christmas holiday with her extended family down in Alabama. It was a nice vacation and I enjoyed visiting with everyone, but it was really a long time and sometimes boring. Not bad borning, but I guess really, just slower paced than what I’m used to. I have learned that I like a certain pace to my life and when I am in a situation where I have to slow down, not of my choosing, I feel very … useless (?). I think it was because I was not in my element, I wasn’t able to work on the projects that I have been creating in my mind. The most important thing is that I think Esther’s mom got a lot from it.

It was a very long drive there and back. Esther really stepped up and drove a good share (half) of the entire mileage, which was great! I was really worried, especially after a goof up the night before, that I would be driving the entire thing, but thanks to Esther’s quick thinking, she was able to get on the rental car’s driver list.

An observation about Alabama: No Starbucks. At least in the portion of the state that we were in (as confirmed by the Starbuck’s Store Locator). This sucked because Esther and I were going to use a giftcard we got to get away for some “us” time.