Hatch, already.

The worst part of any holiday, for me, is the anticipation. You know, that impending misery of spending hours upon hours with people you have spent your whole life trying to escape. Well, maybe you don't know. For most people, today is a happy day to spend with people you love. I guess my problem is a general lack of people I love, let alone love spending time with.

But once the anticipation is over, and I'm driving here, it's not so bad. Then it's just a survivor race. How long can I stand being badgered, criticized, and annoyed? Four hours? Five? An entire day? A week? If I make it an endurance test, a game, it's not so bad. If I don't, the anticipation is justified, and then we're back to square one.