So I arrived back in Rhode Island just over a week ago, and after two days of driving, I turned around and got back in the car to pick up a friend at Logan International Airport. You know, every once in a while, you come across someone you just never seem to lose touch with. Beth is one such friend. We were inseparable through middle school and high school, and though life has taken us about 3,000 miles apart, we still manage to pick up right where we left off, no matter how few and far between our visits are.

This Christmas was a little different than most, in that, instead of spending the day with extended family, my parents and I spent the holiday with Beth and her parents. It's funny how some friends just seem like family over time. It's not something I can put my finger on, like one moment when I suddenly realized how close we'd become. No, it was more like a progression of memories: ski weekends in New Hampshire, mountain biking trips around the condo, summers at White Mountain Ranch, dancing at the top of the Biltmore, trips to the beach...and countless others. But somewhere along the way, our families became more like family than friends.

Well after a beautiful Christmas dinner with family and friends, I'm sitting down with my parents to watch War of the Worlds. We just paused the movie so my parents could make some holiday calls, and the three of us are sitting in the living room awestruck by my mother's new toy...a robotic vacuum cleaner that is making its way past my feet as I type. Well, it looks like it's on its way down the hall. According to the manual, it will find it's way back to the charger when the floors have been successfully vacuumed. What will they come up with next?