Seriously stressing out

Twelve hours from now, we will be on our 520-mile drive down to Detroit for the state finals. My role is chauffeur and chief navigator--I know the route pretty well by now, so the navigator work should be a snap. My wife and son will be in the role of passengers.

Well, they do more than that. My wife decides when we need a pit stop, and my son helps decide when we need to get snacks. Rather, when he needs to get snacks. The two events usually coincide with each other, so it usually works all right.

Part one (Wednesday) is driving to our motel in Flint. That should be about nine hours and 460 miles. By that time, it should be about 7 p.m., and I'll be ready for some rest.

My son's apartment is another hour away, and we'll travel that last part of the trip Thanksgiving morning. In fact, we'll probably spend most of the day at the apartment, watching football, movies and watching the kids playing videogames. With luck, I'll even get a chance to take a nap. Since most restaurants will be closed, we may opt for frozen pizza for our Thanksgiving dinner. So it goes.

Friday morning, we need to get going VERY early. The game starts at 9 Central Time. (10 a.m. locally, but I keep thinking Central Time for simplicity's sake). It's the first of four state championship games that day.

For us, it means we have to exit the motel by 7 to get a very quick breakfast, stop at my son's place (an hour away) to pick him up and then drive into downtown Detroit for the game. My older son is coming with us this time; he got the day off, and he's never been to Ford Field.

That Friday morning could be tough, getting my wife and son going much earlier than they usually do, plus the added stop at my son's place. Last year, it was just me and David, and my wife didn't come along; we got there in plenty of time.

I have to really impress upon everyone the importance of arriving there at least a half hour before the kickoff. If it were just me, there would be no problem. I know I can do it. But getting the others motivated enough to be ready in time is sometimes like herding cats. When my wife and I talked today and she said we should be ready to go by 8 a.m. Wednesday, I said to myself, "We'll see about that."

At least tomorrow, I don't have to be at the motel at any set time. But on Friday morning ... they're not going to hold up the game for me.

Then, after the game, we get back together, climb in the car, drop my son off at his place and then start the 500+-mile trip home. It will give me plenty of time to think about my story. But I won't be able to do any actual writing until I get home, whenever that is. And, by the way, maybe I'll be writing about a state championship.

And now here's the latest: They are forecasting possibly heavy rain in the Flint area on Wednesday, changing to rain and snow that night--several inches of snow, continuing into Thursday. (Back home, the weather should be just fine.) The storm should be gone by Friday.

Can you tell that I'm trying to deal with a lot of stress right now? I think I have been dreading this trip for months, and it's all coming down in the next couple days. Ready or not, here we come.