Can't you see the sunshine, can't you just feel the moonshine...

The week leading up to a vacation is the worst, right? You have a million things to do before you leave, but you can't focus on what's in front of you long enough to get anything done.

Not only that, but the days start slowing down the closer you get to departure and, if you're like me, the night before leaving is usually full of anxious anticipation rather than sleep (and considering my flight leaves before sunrise on Saturday, this is going to be particularly annoying).

Anyway, that's where I'm at right now. And with that in mind, here's a disjointed series of thoughts…

Sad news on the Oakland Mills front. It seems the Fire Rock Grill has closed for an indefinite amount of time for, apparently, indefinite reasons. This really sucks. Bad. But at least it frees up a couple of parking spots in the village center.

Somewhere there's a tree on a clear-cut hillside thankful for its safety…

Jack Johnson, who's pretty awesome, just came out with a new album on Tuesday. It's called Sleep Through the Static and so far, I like what I hear. But I'm a pretty big Jack Johnson fan (understatement), so my opinion probably isn't worth much to the disinterested music fans.

Two cool things about the album. First, it was recorded using only solar energy, which I got no problems with. The second is he's using its launch to promote All At Once, described thusly:

All At Once is a social action network providing information, tools, and motivation for individuals who want to become active in their local and world community.

All At Once brings together non-profit organizations and fans to create change - your actions, your voice, and your choices all have a huge impact.

All At Once connects people together through a new online community (full site to launch March 1 – come back and check it out!). AllAtOnce.org is a connecting place for people to discuss issues and events, learn about non-profit groups, and take action together.

Pretty cool.

Finally, I'm a little hesitant to mention this because anything can happen, especially when talking about weather, but it looks like my jinx has come to an end. You see, in my life I've taken only two extended trips away from the East Coast in the middle of winter. The first time was January 1996 when I went to New Orleans and the second time was February 2003 when I went to Las Vegas.

These dates may not mean much to you, but to weather nerds like myself, these dates are spoken of in hushed, reverential tones. In the last twenty years, Howard County has received more than two feet of snow from a single storm only twice, and both times I was somewhere else wearing shorts. And each time, a little bit of my soul died.

When I booked the tickets for my trip to Montana in December, I was afraid that we'd get another mega-storm this week, but such a storm now seems pretty unlikely. Which is fine by mean, especially if it means more snow out west.

Alright, that's all I'm saying for now. Probably nothing tomorrow, but stay tuned next week for some stupid posts and pictures (and perhaps even another guest blogging appearance from a random family member) from Montana.