Confessions

I didn't go to church this morning, and that makes two Sundays in a row. I'm pretty sure that's never happened before in my life. But... last week, Lucy had a bad cough, and this week, Bob and I stayed up late preparing for his week-long trip to PA, and then I was up early, folding clothes for him, proofreading his papers, and trying to find our missing garment bag. We never found it, and I swear we searched everywhere, which must mean that it's in the Corolla, back at the Collision Repair Shop (where we would be having it repaired ... if we were having it repaired. But we're not.). Anyway, by the time we finally had everything together and the car packed, it was 10:30, and church started at 9:30. I put the girls down for a nap, and then I took one myself. Don't tell.

I fell in love with a chair someone had set out at the curb. It was old, upholstered with terrible fabric, and incredibly sweetly-shaped. I asked Bob to drive by it yesterday, but he "forgot." He gave me his blessing today to go lug it home and put it in the garage 'til we can have it reupholstered. I'm still a little sad about this: when I actually got out of the car to look it over, I really did love it. But the fabric had burrs in it, and there were big moisture stains under the seat cushion. I just wasn't up for it. But it was so cute...

Today, I was driving down the road (very carefully, since some kind folks lent us their nice minivan for the week Bob's gone), and as I was crossing some railroad tracks, I heard (I thought) a train honking, really loudly, really close. I don't think I visibly panicked, but I was freaked out for the three seconds before I realized that an ambulance was a car or two behind me, warning us to get out of the way. I'm still a little shaky, thinking about what I thought was happening at that moment.

We bought a car yesterday. I've told a couple people, and everyone's reaction changes once I describe the car a bit. I love cars, and I enjoy shopping for them, and getting a good deal, and driving them... but this was not an exciting car purchase. It just wasn't. It totally met our goals, and I imagine it will probably be a good little car for us, but: it's old. It's not pretty. It has a lot of miles on it. The paint's really dull. I'm not excited about driving it. Etc. However, as we progress with our Total Money Makeover, we're committed to not taking on any new debt, even a tiny car loan. So we paid cash for the little car, and it feels good. It's a Toyota Corolla, if you're curious, which is what we're replacing, ironically. But this one is a LOT older. A lot. Which is fine. I guess.