Ready for the Holidays!

Jenifer and I kick off our holiday vacation tonight! We've been building up the excitement for a couple of weeks now, having gone out and purchased our Christmas tree and decorating it with the first ornaments that we have purchased together. We also have been watching some of the old Christmas movie standards every couple of nights. I have to say, this is the most I've looked forward to Christmas in some time.

So tonight we're heading over to her parents' farm in Mexico, Missouri to spend the weekend with her family, and on Christmas Eve we'll drive down to Knoxville to spend a few days with my family. It'll almost be like an entire week of Christmas! After that, Jen and I will be driving to Fort Worth to see Beswick and to attend the Cotton Bowl, where Mizzou will be playing Arkansas on New Year's Day. It'll be quite the road trip!

Now, I'll make a plug for two things that keep me from dreading all that driving. First, we'll be cruising in our sweet Honda Civic Hybrid, so we should average about 48 miles a gallon--cutting our gas expenses in about half. Second, the car has XM radio. Let me tell you... I never much had an interest in satellite radio before we got The Smug (I hope my friends will catch the South Park reference...), but it is awesome! Pretty much any kind of music or talk or sports you could ask for, right at your fingertips. And you don't have to keep finding new stations as you drive across the country, either. If you haven't tried satellite radio yet, I do strongly recommend it.

So what are some things y'all have been doing to get in the Christmas spirit? Have any big plans for the holidays?