Disclaimer: There was no death. My wife and I love quoting tv shows and movies. Especially kids' movies. "Flaming Death!" is from Bugz Life, and we use it way too often. Here? At least the first word was accurate. Carry on...
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So, our Holiday was already pretty busy. Last weekend we had 4 Christmas parties to attend in different cities, in 2 days. Aside from me being sick and some slick roads for a brief time, it seemed to be going pretty well. Then there was the roughly 1 1/2 to 2 hr trek home. And about 20 miles from home:

Okay, that's a HORRIBLE over-exageration on my part. But, as I was passing a semi with a car in front and behind me, my car suddenly started to make a loud knocking sound, sparks shot out from beneath my car (according to my wife, who was in her car right in front of me) and flames kicked out from my hood. So, while my initial reaction was um...

... Yeah, we'll pretend I said that. And we won't ask my 12 year old son - who was sitting next to me in the car. Because he may have a SLIGHTLY different interpretation of what came out of my mouth.
Still, once I was done getting us out of the car, getting the hood up, realizing my motor was toast

(yeah, we'll pretend I ever had a car that started off that nice)
I just started to shake my head and was glad that no one was hurt. My youngest (who is 9) was also very glad we did not have the entire car catch on fire - because she was well aware that she had Christmas gifts in my trunk (it's all about priorities, pumpkin). Luckily, Christmas stuff has already been bought, and I survived my Twisted Metal Experience:

That said, my wife's been needling me (and rightfully so, we've needed one from this century) about getting a new car with our tax returns in a few months. I get the feeling we'll be picking one up a bit sooner than that:

Merry Christmas, honey
So, stay safe for the holidays, and hopefully yours are a -bit- less eventful than mine have been so far. Any interesting stories to share yet as the holidays draw near?