we head out tomorrow evening for the drive back to VA for the holidays. the gray rat will make its native journey east. the gray rat is our car. it isn’t an insult to the car…the car looks like a gray rat. as a friend said, if we added a few whiskers, some teeth, and a noise it would be a rat. it is an ugly car. the ugliest car i’ve ever owned. but, it works for us here. we park it in an alley under the L tracks…we drive it rarely…and no one ever messes with it. but, i must say i am in no way looking forward to the 12 hours in it that start tomorrow. the last time we did this drive we rented a mini van…pure luxury. i am guessing that even the penske truck we drove out here initially is going to look good after this trip. the good news is we can connect the ipod. jason is finally uploading music (so he won’t have to listen to chanting the entire wayJ). it took him a long time to try itunes out, but once he got what to do he became an addict. he is determined to upload his entire music collection. the guy has thousands of CDs. i am doubting even our 60 gig ipod will take all that. hopefully the music will sooth the trip and make the hours pass. that and talking to jason as we search for strabucks and jesus signs.

tripp, i am glad to have you back..can’t wait to hear about the adventures. i’ve been reading “the world is flat” by thomas friedman and he talks many times about japan. mostly about the leaps and bounds ahead of us they are in wireless technology. i thought of you as i read…according to friedman you can get wireless in train tunnels even in the country. who knew! and i can’t even get a cell signal in parts of DC.

the final bit of news, jason passed the ny bar. it was great to finally know. he walked out saying he was sure he passed…yes my modest husband…but you never know. so getting that result was huge news. we celebrated at an amazing sushi bar in town. jason had a fresh talapia sashimi as one course (of his 12). the talapia was freshly picked out of a tank, killed, and served immediately complete with head and tale as decor. as he was enjoying his sashimi i watched the fish, wondering how long ago it died. then the mouth moved and i almost passed out. i am unsure if it was real or i imagined it…jason didn’t see it. i couldn’t even look at the plate again. ahh…even thinking about it makes my heart race a bit. yipes. fresh fresh fish.