Over My Dead Chassis

Your outlook on everything changes the moment you're given an 8 pound soft squishy breathing thing to take into your home, and as time goes by some convictions get stronger, some slough off, and you find ones you never knew existed. I respect Jimmy as a person so if he shows interest in something that squicks me out I may waffle a bit on my opinions, such as...why not let him sit on a smelly santa's lap if he wants to. Buzz Lightyear gun? Hmm, I mean if he's already using sticks as guns and I keep an eye on any possibly developing deviant behavior, mmmyaybe I'd let him keep one. If he really wants to wear pink jelly shoes, they're his. If he wants to risk his neck as a football whiz, that'll be me wincing in the bleachers at every game. I admit, I cross my fingers HARD that I can nip any interest in those stupid dirty cumbersome germmobile grocery cart cars in the bud (I'm thinking of telling him they'll make him gay. Ha! J/k. And, not that there's anything wrong with that.) But a clip from tonight's news generated a recurring low rumble from the bottom of my lungs as I heard "over my dead body" roll out of my mouth in response to something I feel strongly about keeping Jimmy safe from: The School Bus.

I know it's kind of iconic and a rite of passage for the American child to ride a school bus, and I have many years experience of all kinds of public transportation and think a kid's romance with school buses will wear off faster than he can say "OMG I HATE THIS BUS!" But bus bullies and boring bus routes aren't the reason for the My Dead Body rumble over the thought of Jimmy being in one, it's movies like The Sweet Hereafter and the absence of seatbelts and Google News proving that school bus accidents are an alarmingly common occurrence, and pattern CSR calls that I get from school bus drivers on field trips in search of a gas station because they clearly didn't have the foresight to plan before they got a bus full of kids on the interstate, and local news stories from today which confirm my suspicion that I just can't take the risk on trusting school bus driver people. So nope, sorry Jimmy, no school bus for you. I know, I know...I'm just so overbearing.

Every New Beginning Is Some Other Beginning's End, In a Good Way

I took this photo yesterday, before I sent VW Credit our final payment, before I own'dr!




Sure, there's still some more paperwork to be had before the screws recognize that sheezal'rs, and perhaps Lady Cabrio could use some tidying-up and a fourth hubcap, but STILL!!! I feel so accomplished. I remember getting that payment coupon book as a newlywed back in 2004 and my stomach sinking when I saw the final payment date of SEPTEMBER 2009. I remember flipping through the book wondering where I'd be at certain points in the future...but the book's now shut, here we are at September 2009.

In these 5 years we've moved from Salem Street to the house that we bought in Libbytown. Our kitty head/face count has remained the same and we even gained a new human head/face to boot. A small VW convertible is hardly what anyone would call a family car, and I've even walked into dealerships with hopes of trading in for something bigger, but as the 20-something saleskid pressured me ("well you're not going to keep the car, are you???") something jarred loose in my head..."payment-free after SEPTEMBER 2009" was certainly the best deal in town. Releasing our li'l unit from this monthly obligation makes our 4-seat, 5-speed, 2-door convertible more of a family car than any Odyssey payment could ever hope to be!



And no more signing off on 60+ month car loans, ever!!!