I am home. Two days on the road. The first day in some of the ice that hit Indiana' s southern edge. After iI passed Mount Vernon, Indiana, and highwy 55, I was on easy street. No ice and cars driving at regular speeds. Got only as far as Blytheville, Arkansas and called it a day. It took me three hours to get 66 miles in the beginning. I was on the roa for the second leg of the trip by 5:28 a.m this morning. Made it as far as Nachidotious and was falling asleep while I was driving so I stopped and got a room and slept for a solid two hour. Felt very refreshed and drove the rest of the way home. It was only a little more than two hours. I was home by 8:30p.m. Karsen and Ramona came out to meet me. I held Karsen and couldnt believe how heavy he was. He felt so good in my arms. I held him and held him close and it felt so good.

It is good to be home. Joe Cox, my plumber from Newburgh, called me three times to see how I was doing. He called me while I was still in Michael Sr.'s house and told me not to go through Kentucky, which was my original plan, because of the ice. That was the best advice ever, because a second ice storm hit Kentucky and I would have been right in the middle of it. Thank you, Joe. went west from Indiana, to Illinois, to Misssouri to aAkanss to Texas. Great road , great trip. It is so good to be home. My bed feels even better than I remembered.

I went to bed around 10p.m. and awoke to the smells of pecan pie and a cherry pie that Matthew has made. Ramona has made the dressing. Wonderful Christmas smells throughout the home. There is no place like home.

Merry Christmas to you all, dear friends. jk