Give in and move on

Further to my last post, you know that we have been having a hard time finding the perfect new car for our family activities. So, today we gave in. The good news is that we sold our old too-small car. The bad news is that we sold it as a trade-in for a new pretty-big minivan. Well, new to us. We are no longer a single-car family. We are now a single-minivan family, complete with DVD player, automatic doors, and room to sleep at least two when the "stow-n-go" seats are stowed to go.

As we were finalizing the paperwork this morning, I couldn't help feel sad that my once hip Volkswagen Westfalia, Volvo station wagon, or Jetta life was about to be reduced, uh, I mean expanded, to an eight passenger minivan. Then, I was told an unexpected story that kinda cheered me up.

Jacques, the credit manager at the car lot, has three girls. He also has a minivan. Except, he traded in his beloved Porsche for his family-fun Dodge Caravan. Porsche....for a minivan. Porsche. Minivan. I just about peed myself when he told us.

I guess if he can leave his European engineered lifestyle behind, I can certainly leave my European engineered lifestyle behind too.

As for the younger members of the family, they have died and gone to heaven. All the doodads, gizmos, and gadgets are enough for them to call me "the best mom in the world today."

"Why today?" I ask.

"You didn't buy the van yesterday," was the reply. Earning points with my teenager; not a bad byproduct of the day.

Now, I am sitting here accepting our situation, which means planning our first trip with the new home on wheels (something about sleeping in a van turns my crank, pumps my water, cools my fans, and sparks my plugs - right up there with yurts, tree houses, and houseboats).

Hmmm. Where to go, what seat to stow, what movie to bring? Decisions, decisions, decisions.