Several months ago, when we were booking our flights for the holidays, it seemed to make sense to skip our annual pilgrimage to Austin in order to see my family at a cousin’s wedding in St. Louis between Christmas and New Year’s. But when Stephanie learned last week that she could work from home before and after Christmas, it didn’t seem right to stick in San Francisco while my family was at home in Austin. I’m all for feeding that first-born spirit of making my own traditions, but frankly, the holidays are best spent with family (a chance I only get once or twice a year). So we decided that if we could afford to change our flights, we would. And we did.

Unfortunately mother nature didn’t quite get the memo, so on Sunday, our newly booked flight to Austin was canceled due to weather just after we got through airport security. To make a long story short, we got to Austin after midnight, an arduous 5 hours later than planned, but all that matters is—we got to Austin. Which meant we were able to spend a lovely Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with my family.