LADY ABOUT TOWN!

You can't write a blog unless you are sitting in front of your computer.

It seems to me a long time since I've posted...but wait, I have a good excuse. I have been behind the wheel of a new car instead!

Now, it is not really a "new" new car -- just a new car to us. Those of you who know us will remember that Jerry had a minor accident early in December that put our old van out of commission for good. I mean, we thought we could still drive it, but the insurance company called it junk and said it wasn't worth repairing. So to our dismay, we reverted back to a one-car family.

There was a minor little problem with that, however. Our remaining car, a 1993 Buick with 150,000 miles on it was far more unreliable than the van we had been driving and we couldn't count on it for anything. We had good mechanics to work on the Buick, but they would shrug their shoulders when we talked to them about the NEXT repair job and say, "Well, you know how American-made cars are!" With the demise of our van, we now had to share a car that might or might not work at any given time.

Luckily during the four months we shared the Buick we only had to rent a car once, and that was to drive to and from San Diego at Christmas. We needed to be assured we could get down there and back, and we didn't have that confidence in the old Buick. It would have been nice to be able to go shopping for a new car, but unfortunately our ship had not yet come in.

But surprise of surprises! Take a look at the smile on my face as I stand beside our "new" car, which I've dubbed Nannette. Son Garry and his wife Nancy purchased a new car a couple of weeks ago and offered to let us have the car that was being replaced. We jumped at the chance: a 2003 Mazda Tribute in very good condition. Oh gosh, did that solve a problem for us and make us happy!

Jerry said I could pick which car I wanted to drive, and my thinking was that if one of us was going to be in the Buick when it broke down again, I didn't want it to be me. And since taking possession of Nannette, I just haven't had time to do my blogs as faithfully as I would like. I mean, I can think of hundreds of little things I need to do in the course of each day, all of them requiring me to get in my new car and drive (of course)!

Do not laugh at the fluorescent green steering wheel cover that you can see if you look carefully. That color is to help me identify MY car when it is sitting in front of some big box store amid all the other silverish vehicles. No one else has such an eyecatching cover!

Anyway, we are so greatful to our kids for doing this for us. I am sure Nancy is enjoying her beautiful new car as much as I am enjoying her beautiful old one. I guess one of these days I'll get over being enthralled with Nannette and can get back down to business as usual...in front of the computer, for sure!