Archive for October, 2009
Cars
I have had a great interest in cars for much of my life, it has been a means of freedom to me. I am a little prejudice when it comes to brands when it comes to vehicles, and you can tell what I prefer by looking at the makes of the cars I have owned in my short life. I have had a ‘91 Honda civic, ‘92 Lexus, and ‘06 Honda odyssey.
My mother’s history of cars haven’t been all that grand. She had an Ford escort when I was little and due to not changing a belt the engine was destroyed, sadly from then on my entire family got a bitter taste in their mouth from that experience. Then my mom had a four door VW rabbit, while my father drove a GTI. Mom’s car was named Tweetie as it was yellow and just a sweet little car, while my father’s was named Thumper as it was a fast car and when he shifted there was a bit of thumping as he shifted hard and fast.
The next car was a Sunbird and it was a tired, tired car. My mom bought it from my father’s girlfriend at a steal but honestly the mistress of the hour should have paid her to take it off her hands. I remember the roof was only foam and would shed every time we got into it, and a pen was the shifter. My mom needed a car, only for a short while as my mother finally left my father and relocated to be closer to her family.
The next family car was a Toyota Corona and I would spend my days sitting in the car pretending to drive, pretend shifting in the driver’s seat. I just imagined driving for a long time and merely stopping to have an adventure where ever the road led me. Then my mom got an old Honda Accord, and we were all so proud of her. It was a fantastic car that lasted for 7/8 years, turned out she got the one year of Accord that wasn’t that great and when it died, it died. They didn’t release that car in Japan which meant replacement engines were incredibly expensive.
By that time I was figuring out what my next car would be as my ‘91 civic hatch back simply didn’t feel all that adult. I sold it to my mother for a steal and bought myself my 92 Lexus. The civic took care of my mom for six months then began to putter and act up then we helped her shop for her current car, a Nissan Sentra. The husband fixed the civic which was renamed Put-Put as it became my little sister’s. Put put was just traded in for a Accord coupe as my sister was craving more horse power and something with a/c.
That is my current car history, nothing compared to my husbands, but three cars fit me and I love to do the long haul with cars. I also get emotionally attached so there is no reason to replace or trade cars all that often for me. I think one of the reasons my husband loves me is because we can talk about cars and have a debate as he is open to almost any and all makes and models, while I tend to lean toward the Japanese cars as they have been fantastic to both myself and my family. Hey, if it isn’t Japanese or German, my family has little to no interest. Terrible but true.
Moving, Moving, Done!
I was raised as a sort of nomad. I have moved multiple times during my life, went to 5 elementary schools. I was used to it. It was always due to circumstance, trying to make a better life for the family. I got used to being the new girl. I just completed my third move as a married woman, my first move as a mom.
Let me just say, moving is for the young. I was reminded of muscles I forgot I had and was reminded that I am definitely getting older. Oh, and packing with a toddler is an marathon sport. You pack, the child gets excited and unpacks you before you turn around to tape up a box. Your habit of powering through until you are done are sanctioned by your child’s needs and wants. Just because you have 15 more boxes to pack doesn’t mean that your child will willingly entertain himself for the 45 minutes you need. Even though he usually plays by himself for an hour around that time. Nope, your schedule has changed therefore so has your child’s.
I have to admit I was blown away by his hysterical antics during the process. Q has become incredibly vocal about everything. He seems, like his parents, to have an opinion about nearly everything. I love that he realizes now that speaking up and communicating is much more effective than screaming and whimpering.
I am now living in my first house in seven years, I still can’t believe it. I am simply blown away. My son is thrilled with the space, my husband is over the moon with the garage and office space he now has. I am just overwhelmed and kind of miss being able to see and hear everything going on in my home at all times.
I don’t miss hearing my neighbors bathing at midnight. I don’t miss worrying about our movie being too loud for our neighbors or having a migraine and praying they don’t watch a movie that night. Parking is less of an issue, that is very exciting. The yard is much more private, I don’t always have to greet neighbors when chasing my child into the apartment. What can I say? I am a girl that enjoys her privacy.
I feel like we are entering a new era. We were kind of hip and city dwellers when we lived in our apartment (not that we were ever really hip). Now we are further from town and surrounded by families, minivans are everywhere out here. Which is both comforting and terrifying.
Though we have some more work to do, my tired old butt would love to be done with this moving business. So for now, today, this evening, I am sooo done!
Music
Today on my lovely morning walk I was listening to my favorite Pandora station and heard the Isley Brothers ‘Footsteps in the Dark’ and all that kept playing in my head is ‘It was a good day’ by Ice Cube. I then recalled all the times I would get excited over a ‘new’ song and my mother would immediately let me know that either it was sampled from another song or a remake of a song that I should listen to. In the beginning I would fight valiantly determined to prove that she was wrong, but in a short period of time she would prove she was right and in this process she imparted a great respect of ‘older’ music.
I have lived with many different family members which has helped form who I am in a multitude of ways. I am in awe of how much it has formed my tastes in music. Music is huge in all parts of my family, everyone has a passion about some genre. One aunt insists on listening to her favorite motown or country while we eat. My uncle and mother have a soft spot for anything Luther Vandross, the even saw him perform together. My paternal grandmother loves gospel, and soul music.
The moment my husband, then fiance, went out to visit my Father’s side of the family he proved himself to be a good choice when given permission to play my late grandfather’s records and had most of us remembering a plethora of great memories. He just kept choosing songs on different albums that either made us laugh while reminiscing or just look at each other with tears in our eyes knowingly. Shortly after that My grandmother, my aunt, my father, even some of my cousins let me know that he was a good choice and he was approved.
I met my husband because of music. He was the DJ at a cousin’s wedding, he was cute, and he was the only single man at the venue I wasn’t related to. I asked him to dance and from the moment on both of us were twitterpated. The moment I knew that he was something special was when he sang to me while going for a drive. The moment I knew that he was ‘the one’ we were listening to the radio while watching the fire works for the fourth of July. It is only appropriate that a dancing fool marries a DJ.
I love to sing, though I rarely make anyone listen. My adorable toddler boy regularly sings along with anything and everything. Thankfully we think we are raising yet another music lover. Music is just such a moving wonderful thing. I wonder just how quiet and boring life would be without music. ::shudders:: Never mind, too quiet, must search out more music.