Real fast I want to tell this story before I forget. We play "slug bug" in our car but we play it Brasilian style....the word slug bug in Portuguese is "Fusca". So when you see a slug bug you yell out "Fusca ..." and the color in Portuguese. Well since playing this game the girls have learned their colors in Portuguese - a big reason we started the game (Trying to help with the dual language thing) During this process, they have not only learned their colors in a foreign language, they also have fallen in love with Fuscas. Since we currently only own one car, Lyse one day asked Ben how much a Fusca cost. Ben told her a crappy one that was painted ugly would be cheap but a nice one would be expensive. My little Lyse is a thinker and since she knew her dad wouldn't drive a Fusca (cause it is a girl's car) she didn't say much more.
A couple days later while driving home from school, Lyse turned to Ben and said, "Dad we should buy a crappy Fusca. For MOMMY to drive. Then paint it not crappy." That little smarty pants took a few days to ponder and figure out just how she could manage to get the car she wanted, in the price range affordable and even how she could work around the "daddy won't drive a fusca" rule :)
Now onto the blog thoughts of the day. The forward above was thought about at the end of the blog post but it was too dang cute to put in the end :)
My dad and mom both grew up in homes where the fact that they had 1 car was still the norm. When I was younger, I remember only 1 car. I also recall the day we got 2 cars. It was a HUGE deal in our family. My mom and dad would both have a car to drive. As I got older the car numbers grew. My parents went from a 1 car family to at one point a 5 (possibly 6) car family! My parents are back down to a 3 car family. My in-laws are a 3 car family as well.
Ben and I - well we have been a 1 car family for a few months now. When Ben came home from his mission instead of purchasing a car, he paid for school and purchased an engagement ring. Since I owned a car we decided to have him use an extra car his parents had until we got married then we would make 1 car work. It did too. We lived in Holladay, I worked in West Jordan and Ben worked in West Valley. We managed to make the 1 car work between all of that. When I had Katy, I quit my job and Ben and I continued on with the 1 car. We got married in November of 2001 and we were SUPER excited in December of 2003 when we finally purchased a second vehicle.
Seriously, it was like HEAVEN not having to get up and load Katy in the car so that I could have a vehicle for the day. I miss those simple days though. The days when driving Ben to work and picking him up were part of my schedule. I still have dreams and think fond thoughts of our little black Nissan Altima!
Sharing a vehicle over the last 8, almost 9, months hasn't been too bad. Since I was a stay at home mom and Ben was out of work, the only thing we had to do was drive carpool and get kids to where they needed to be.
That simplicity is now soon to be gone as well. Ben has to be to work. I have to be to work. The kids have to get to school. Buses do not work in any of the cases! Once I am home we can work some things out. Seriously this has been a HUGE dilemma!
I got my work schedule this last week and I know I will be able to get the kids to school each morning. If Ben's schedule worked out I would even have time to get him to work and I could even pick him up..the problem is his schedule will vary. There will be days he has to be to work 3 hours before the kids have to be to school and others he has to be to work at the same time they have to be to school. Since the school and his work are 30 minutes apart in good traffic, and I will be driving in peak rush hour times, this is just not working! If it all comes together right, I would be spending 2 hours in the car in the morning, work for 6 then spend another hour in the car at night. Ummm...no thanks?!?
The other problem is I work during the hours of when I am supposed to pick up Lyse from school. I can't physically be 2 places at 1 time. I can't be picking Lyse up and answering the phone (although I wish I could). This is the one time I am realizing that working from home, while overall GREAT for our situation, also has draw backs! I thought it was hectic when I had to share 1 car and just drive Ben to work. I have no clue how I am going to spread myself thin enough to get all this done with 1 car.
Due to our situation, we are looking for a second vehicle. When I sat down and figured out the amount of gas I would go through to be chauffeuring everyone all over the valley, I realized we could make a car payment for about the same.
Now comes the decision time. What kind of car? Truck? Commuter? Take out a loan for a little nicer or hope to get by with a $1000 car? These are all the questions going through my brain.
I have been praying hard. We found one vehicle this week that fit EVERYTHING perfectly but I am concerned. I feel good and when I pray and really think of our whole situation it is like a no brainer. But and this is a HUGE BUT, I hate going in debt. I hate adding anything else to what we already have. Car payment, gas, insurance, maintenance...that will all add up. Will we really save purchasing a second car? I mean yes my time is valuable but if you are shorter on cash than time...you make the time work.
I am soooo split on this whole thing. Ok well not so split. I actually really want to just buy the vehicle. I feel good about it. I am concerned about having to get a loan for it. Not a lot of places love handing over money to people that were unemployed for 11 months. Even with good credit scores they want to see something a bit more stable when it comes to income. I don't want to have my credit checked and loan denied. That doesn't look good on credit.
I have a LOT to think, pray, ponder, pray, deliberated and then pray about it. Any input would be appreciated. :)
On a couple side notes:
I love my family. My husband is the best thing I could have ever dreamt of. He is my sweetheart, best friend...the one I want to be with 24/7. He truly is the one that completes me and makes me want to be better. I LOVE my girls. I am so grateful for them and the blessing they are in my life. Katy is so kind, sweet and thoughtful. Lyse is a constant hoot. I am truly a blessed woman!
As for nutrition - umm full time KILLED me this week. I am up a total of 3 lbs. I know, I know...3 flippin' pounds. What you don't realize is how fast that can get out of control. I FEEL those 3 lbs and my pants don't fit as comfortable as they had. I know some of it is water weight cause I can feel the retention and I know I haven't been that good about drinking my full water the past few days. The other is stress eating. I gotta get that under control. The last is exercise. I am sitting in a chair for 7 1/2 hours a day and then not going to the gym cause I am plain tuckered out. That can't be the case either. *sigh* Wish me luck! I am hoping this will help keep me accountable!!
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