September already?! WHOA. I'm excited, because the new calendar page means that Peter and I are taking off on our first ever long-ish road trip tomorrow. We're driving to Boston, and we're splitting the journey up a little--a quick two hours' drive tomorrow after work to my parents' house, then getting up bright and early Friday to motor for nine-ish more hours.

We have never been in the car together for more than two and a half consecutive hours before and I'm not a little worried. I feel like we should have done this a while ago. It kind of seems like surviving a long stint cooped up in the car with your hunny-bunny should be a prerequisite to marriage...a relationship litmus test that determines if you're going to weather life's storms or not, right up there with things like sharing a gnarly stomach flu or dealing with one another when only one of you is rip-roaring sloppy drunk.

Reasons Why This May Not Be A Great Idea After All

My singing. I like to sing in the car. And dance. And rap. Did anyone see the movie "The Heartbreak Kid"?

That's me. I sing for hours in the car. Peter is not a singing and dancing type. I don't know if anybody remembers how The Heartbreak Kid ended. I definitely don't...but I don't think Ben Stiller and the Watchmen broad ended up staying together. And I'd like to make it to our first wedding anniversary.

Hurricane Earl. All week I have been anxiously checking those annoying "storm tracker" websites panicking that Hurricane Earl is going to swoop into New England and wreak havoc on our little mini-break. The weather peeps have been giving that frustrating "it doesn't look like a problem right now but oooh hurricanes are unpredictable!" response. Not helpful! Fingers crossed that Earl stays far away. (He also needs to stay away from Halifax too, as coming home Monday to find a tree through our roof wouldn't be the greatest Labour Day surprise).

Sense of direction. I have a fully undeveloped sense of direction. I get lost in our neighbourhood regularly, I can't find foods in the grocery store, and I have to do "Never Eat Shredded Wheat" to remember the difference between East and West, so I'm pretty bad whether I'm driving or supposedly reading the map.

Biological differences. Males and females have to eat, drink, and go to the facilities on completely unique schedules, which means that for the whole 11-hour drive, one of us is going to be either holding it or cursing the other for having to stop so often 100% of the time. I predict bitterness and probably a raging UTI. You're welcome for that last bit.

So what are our secret weapons for getting to Boston (and home) in one piece? Lots of good car music, quality snackage (lots of water and a mix of healthy stuff like nuts and bananas with chocolatey and/or salty junk), and a schedule that has us taking turns behind the wheel to split up driving duties. When all else fails, we'll play the license plate game. We'll also be documenting the weekend with lots of pictures so hopefully there will be some shots to share when we get back.

Wish us luck, and feel free to throw any advice for how to survive a long-ass drive with your sweetie our way! Have a great long weekend!