With the embers in the engine finally out and the excitement of a 5-alarm fire dying down, we got back on the road.  We laughed and laughed.  No more challenging the universe, Traci.  The goal changed to pulling into Grandpa...

Dropping Mom off at the airport was every bit the disaster I expected.  It was double trouble... full waterworks from both of them.  She's a pretty big deal to the kids and the same level of excitement when she arrives...

I dropped off Scott at the airport and took a deep breath.  I did some of that Oprah motivational talking to myself. For the first time, I became Captain Traci. “You can do this.  It’s going to be fine.” By noon, we...