New Wheels

Wow, is it hard to choose a vehicle to drive these days. First there's safety to consider. If you have an accident like we just had (rolled, spun, and skidded the car), safety is a main priority. I felt like I wanted the exact same car (in my case - a VW Jetta wagon) because it kept me and my kids so safe.

Then there's gas mileage. The higher the better for this environmentalist.

I wanted to purchase a used car because when well cared for and well built, cars have a much longer life span than many people take advantage of. It is also much greener to reuse something and extend its usable lifetime.

There is cost to consider as well. Sometimes life would be so much easier without money!

And then the kicker for me -- availability. You see I want to still drive a stick shift (manual transmission) car. There just aren't a lot of them around. And I want a station wagon for carrying bikes, bins, and other stuff.

So a used station wagon with a stick shift, the highest safety ratings, and the highest gas mileage. There are not a lot of choices.

Have I mentioned that I also do not want black interior (living in Maryland black interiors are rather like ovens in the summer) or silver/grey/white exterior?

Yes, that leaves me with precisely zero choices. Not even worrying about the price yet ... So I have to give something up. Stick shift? Hell no. If I have to drive around, I might as well enjoy it and not fall asleep :-) Wagon? nope. I gave up on color. After all, just last week I had a blue car -- and I distinctly remember not wanting blue. I wanted green. But in 2002 when we went to the dealership the green one sold while we were driving there. So blue we got.

Just yesterday I drove home my new car. It is silver. But, it is a 2002 VW Passat station wagon with a stick shift, grey leather interior, great safety ratings, and with the lowest power engine has the best gas mileage I could find in this type of car. She is happy in our garage. I even baked a birthday cake for her yesterday. After all, she was build in Dec 2001 in Germany. It is really her birth month!

A Day of Firsts and Lasts

Yesterday was an exciting and eventful day. A day of firsts and lasts.

Son got his first pair of shoes repaired. He now knows how easy it can be to fix something you love.

Son used his debit card from Young Americans Bank for the first time. He paid to have his hiking boots repaired so he can have them for his next boy scout excursion.

Daughter did a forward roll on the balance beam in gymnastics class and did not fall off.

Both Son and Daughter were in their first car crash. I totaled my car. First time. Hopefully last as well. Here's my wonderful car:





You can see that we were hit by a car coming perpendicular to us - right in the driver side. We rolled over 3/4 of the way (yes we were upside down and on the roof for a short time) and spun around. We landed facing the wrong direction, up against a curb, and sideways on the driver's side of the car. Some nice gentlemen stopped and yanked open the car doors and helped Son and Daughter out. They had already unbuckled and were trying to get out. Daughter was on the passenger side in the back and was completely unharmed. Son was on the drivers side in the back and banged the corner of his eye on something. He has a small cut and a black eye. I have a few cuts on my hands but nothing that a standard size band-aid won't cover. The young woman that hit us and her toddler daughter were fine as well.

I love my VW Jetta. It kept us safe. I am sorry to see her go. She was fun to drive (I still drive a stick shift). But I have driven her for the last time.

What to do now? Hmm... We'll have to see how living within my green values plays out for figuring out future transportation. Until then, we are happy to be so lucky. Our time here on Earth was clearly not finished. I can't wait to see what the future holds for me!

Want more pictures? Check out the annotated crash pictures - done by my loving physicist husband. Get out your little matchbox cars for some physics/mechanics modeling...

Happy Birthday!

Today my big kid turns 10. Wow. Its been fabulous to watch him grow. He has made especially big changes this last year. Maybe not compared to infancy, and I understand development will soon be happening at warp speed (otherwise known as adolescence). When I look at him, I see a capable, intelligent being who has lived a completely different set of experiences than I did at the same age. He has matured a lot emotionally this year. Before, he would play with kids who were mean to him just because he so much wanted to play with someone he didn't care how they acted. Now, he tries to play and hangout with them, but can walk away when he doesn't like what they do. Yesterday he actually left the neighbors party where we all were because the kids were playing meanly with him and just him. He simply got his shoes and walked home. No blow up, no meanness back to the kids. He told them how he felt and gave them a chance to change and they didn't care to. It doesn't even matter so much if they were being mean on purpose or were simply unaware. We talked about socialization and how our social interactions might be different from theirs at school. He just came home and played with his xbox - happily. I was amazed.

So what did my wonderful Son want to do for his birthday? Open presents! Lots if possible :-) So I gave him lots of small things and wrapped up even the non object presents. Then he opened them throughout the day so he was able to open something every few hours on his special day. What did he get you ask?

Present 1) The one thing he asked for was to go to the movies to see the High School Musical 3. He's never seen a movie in the theater. Sitting for that long was difficult until recently. Since the movie hasn't opened yet, I just wrapped up a homemade coupon for a Movie Theater Experience.

Present 2) I also got a book for him titled Choosing Your First Power Boat. He has developed an interest in powerboats and going fast. I couldn't get him a boat for his birthday (or pay for the gas for said boat;-) but I did find a way to support his new passion. The Universe provided for me here because I got a book for Daughter from paperbackswap.com . As always, when I order a book, I check out the other books from the same seller since it saves on shipping costs. There the book was - waiting for me.

Present 3) In the spring, we opened a new bank account for him with an ATM card. He loves using it for depositing his savings and taking money out for his purchases. But he dislikes the fact that you can only take money out of the ATM machine in $20 increments. Not very friendly to those who want to just take out a little to spend. So one of his presents is a new bank account with a debit card from Young Americans Bank. They make checking accounts and credit cards available to young people. As a matter fact, there is an age cap to have an account there - 21!

Present 4) A cozy that I crocheted and then felted for his ipod. The earbuds fit in the case before I felted it but I didn't know how much it would shrink. Oops. I had attached a loop so that it would slide onto a belt and that part worked out fine. Maybe I'll make another one slightly bigger so those ear buds fit too...

Present 5) I reminded his teenaged cousins (actually second cousins) that is was his birthday and he would really like to have it acknowledged by them. Yeah, both of them emailed Son today with birthday greetings. He was happy.

Present 6) The way cool dude that Son met at the Live and Learn Conference, Pavi, called to wish my Dude a Happy Birthday. Ok, so I did call Pavi's mom this morning to tell her it was Son's birthday and I did put the phone call idea in her head, but I knew it would make Son feel really good to talk with his friend.

Present 7) The Dinner. Everything Son really likes. Juicy steak (organic). Birthday cake. Another dessert (apple pie). Homemade bread with oil and spices. A vegetable for the rest of the family. I had a big salad too. Crystal glasses for everyone. Yum!

What a fabulous day for my big guy.

Shopping with Mother In Law

My basement pantry is finished! I'll try and get a picture up tomorrow. I cut and added the last shelf today and am very happy with it. The top shelf is all for empty canning jars. Right now, the second shelf has last years applesauce and the 8 jars of tomato sauce I have so far. I will be making pickles tuesday or wednesday and will add them to the shelf as well. I am trying to figure out what else I can make that we will appreciate and that can be canned using a water canner. I was reading Danielle's blog a few days ago and was inspired by her usage of her new pressure canner.

The guys came back from cub scout camp and things turned out pretty well. Son had a lot of fun and so it was worth the trouble and The Calls from Last Sunday. Oh, and my mother-in-law is visiting us now. Daughter and I picked her up yesterday from the airport. We had a nice field trip to the airport (lots of process questions were answered). I made a big mistake already. I agreed to go shopping for Daughter's birthday present with her. I hate to shop. She loves it. She bought way more for Daughter than I would have preferred. At one point she asked me what Daughter would like from the toy section. I said not much. Daughter had not expressed nterest in anything from Target's toy section but she had said she needed some new toys. I let the two of them browse together and now Daughter will be getting toy horses and accompanying stuff and a croquet set. I hope she uses them and enjoys them after she gets them of course! I am getting better at releasing control over my kids. I can see that when I watch my MIL interact with them. She is very authoritarian. We shall see what she thinks of our unschooling life! Did I mention she works for the NY State Department of Education?