The husband and I went car shopping this morning. This is a project in which I have been completely and totally disinterested, much to the annoyance of my husband, who wants to get on with things already. Neither of us has ever owned a new car. We�ve each had a string of unbelievably reliable and long-lived hand-me-down cars from very generous family members. And while I don�t see any problem with this, he�s feeling that he wants to own a new car before he turns 40. I don�t really have a problem with that either, other than the fact that I�m not sure it�s entirely necessary and there are probably about nine other places we could put the money. He works hard. He should be able to buy a car if he wants to. I�m trying to be supportive.

And I have to say that after this morning, I�m coming around to the idea. The husband had already been for a test drive, but he wanted me to go, so we headed to the dealership after dropping off AJ at preschool this morning. The car I drove had 7 miles on it. We doubled its total mileage in our little spin around the �hood. I don�t think I�ve ever driven a car with fewer than 5 digits employed on its odometer. Plus after driving a soccer mom vehicle for the last couple of years, I�d forgotten what acceleration was like. I was glad I didn�t get pulled over on the expressway. I certainly should have been. Plus I hand visions of Thelma and Louise dancing through my head. It would have been so easy to just take off for the afternoon. I don�t think the cops would have found us before nightfall. Not with the license plate being magnetic and all. Of course, the child abandonment thing would have been an even bigger problem.

The packages available on new cars totally baffled me. I felt kind of the same way about buying our new condo, when we had to pick out all kinds of stuff that I really didn�t care about very much (�What color grout do you want in the second bathroom? Sand? Or Putty?�). Do you know that people actually pay extra to have the name of the vehicle detailed in gold instead of chrome? Who the hell cares? And what is the purpose of a �rear spoiler� anyway (and, for that matter, is there any such thing as a front spoiler?).

After our driving adventure, I stopped at the bookstore to pick up some old favorites of mine for my niece�s birthday this weekend. She�s getting a Nancy Drew that she wants, The Wolves of Willoughby Chase and, of course, Harriet the Spy. Every girl should read Harriet the Spy. I hope she likes them. I love having nothing but nieces. I don�t think AJ�s going to appreciate most of my favorite kids� books, as after a point I wasn�t too interested in anything without a female main character. He is, however, currently enamored with one of my earlier favorites, A Little House of Your Own, about creating your own personal space. His new phrase of the week is, �I�d like to be alone, please,� which we have taught him is more polite than his preferred �Go Away!� Both are generally delivered with a banishing arm and pointed finger.

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