LOOK WHAT I GOT!

<------------------------------- Isn't it PRETTY?

Yes, I realize it's purple. But it's MINE! And look! Look at how nice and shiny and roomy it is! Look at how the rays of sunshine stream over it, making it look like the gift from heaven that it IS!!!!!

So first things first. No, I will not be changing the name of my blog. I realize that I no longer need to lament the fact that I do not own a vehicle with a capacity for more than four and a half people, but I figure it's good to hang on to the things that remind us of more challenging times. Like having to cram three car seats into the back of a Grand Prix while your ass hangs out the window. Or seeing if you can keep your cool when one assorted child or another kicks the back of your seat for the four thousandth and sixty ninth time. In ten minutes. Or attempting any kind of road trip with more mileage than going to the grocery store.

So my blog name stays. But lo and behold (*cue fanfare*) I HAVE A MINIVAN! ALL HAIL MY MINIVAN!

Here's how that beautiful sanity saving piece of metal came to sit at my curb:

Last Saturday after the dodge ball tournament Banana had a play date across town with one of her little Kindergartner friends. So I tossed her into the Pontiac and we headed off on our way. I dropped her off and on my way back, there it was.....sitting at the curb on 12th street with a nifty little "for sale" sign on it. I eyeballed it while driving by and continued on home. I was hungry. And even my desperate desire for a minivan couldn't trump the needs of my stomach after a full day of dodge ball spectating. Besides, I figured it was out of our price range and our tax refund hadn't come yet and I barely spared it a second thought.

Fast forward to this past Tuesday. I picked Kbear up from pre-school and since she insisted on getting in the car on the side the Chunk's seat is on, I had to coordinate the logistical nightmare that ensued while getting her buckled into her car seat. Poor K is the munchkin stuck in the middle of the Pontiac's backseat. Have you ever been to a movie where the people on both sides of you won't share the armrest? That's been Kbear's life for the last year or so. And let's face it, even adults don't like to share the armrest on the airplane. Four year olds don't like to share ANYTHING.

We finally got her settled and headed back towards our house to pick up Banana at the bus stop. And on the way, that shiny purple minivan popped up in my memory bank. A quick glance at the clock showed me that we had plenty of time to meet the bus, so we took a short detour.

And there it was. This time I pulled to the curb and got out to take a better look. A 2000 Dodge Caravan. A very PURPLE 2000 Dodge Caravan that looked to be in pretty darn good shape. And the price was right. I wrote down the phone number on the sign and after grabbing Banana off the bus, ran home and promptly called for some more info.

That's when I met "old guy." Old guy's name as it turns out, is Chester. Chester is eighty five years old and gets vans from government surplus auctions because they are well maintained, cheap, and easy to resell. He also has a slight tendancy to spit bits of fried chicken at Skippy when he's talking but we didn't know that until later and anyway that's really neither here nor there. Chester told me that it was a great van and had 60,000 miles on it. That's when I started pestering Skippy to come with me to go look at it. I pestered him and pestered him and then I pestered him some more and finally on Friday we left the girls with the neighbor, grabbed the baby, and we made it over to see Chester and take the van out for a quick spin.

Two hours later, it was ours!

So YAY! ALL HAIL MY MINIVAN!