Rerun

That's right, if you're opposed to watching reruns, then perhaps this post isn't for you, because yes- we've been here before.

At the risk of being redundant, we are in the midst of car-buying decision-making woes yet again. We have the Rav4 that came with N's birth, but the pink bike (aka 2nd vehicle) is getting a little tired of being stuck inside this blizzardy winter, and our wallet is taking a hit because when Anthony drives me to school and then on to take Natalie to day care he has to go past Starbucks to the tune of "Tasty treat! Tasty treat!" in the backseat- and who is he to deny the little scone lover? (Especially when there's an Earl Grey tea in it for him as his "reward" for driving.) Then there's the issue of whoever has the car is the sole driver for the day- it might make more sense for us to split the tasks.  So after about 7 years of one carness and a growing desire to be a bit more lazy, we've decided it's time.

So we're back to the ole "which car is right for us?" waffling. We originally got the Rav4 a few years back because we thought it was a nice mix of a small car + big car (3rd row sqiiiisssh when needed). So now that we have the perfect middle car do we go smaller, or bigger?

A Soft Close

Surprisingly enough (to us), we've heard from quite a few people about our lack of blog posts. So it's time to ring in the new year by (once again) reviewing our original "to do's" from the first post in 2010.

1. Build house (sub-categories: choose architect, builder, go through committees, move out, tear down pre-existing, non-conforming (PENC) structure, build a new one that might be slightly less non-conforming but at least will have insulation, move back in.)
2. Buy a car.
3. Find out if I still have a job next year. (Would greatly help with #s 1 and 2)
4. Have a baby!!
5. Get my dog to stop barking randomly.
6. Figure out all the sub-categories for #s 2-5.
7. Start blog to help organize the chaos that is rapidly descending on our lives.

I really love crossing out items on my "to do" lists, so this was quite satisfying. Unfortunately Zippy hasn’t stepped up to help out with number 5 yet, and after our recent trip to NY, his "needs improvement" list is growing. It now also includes, “Get my dog to not chase snowplows.”

Zippy and Sophie frolicking in the snow, 

right before the snowplow came by and added another element to their playing.

Actually, we could revamp the whole list with new goals in almost all the categories.

1. Landscaping and smart interior decorating and storage.
2. Figure out how to get our other vehicles (bikes) easily in and out of the house in all types of weather (see #1).
3. Aim for success and happiness at our jobs and our job/home balance.
4. Make our million daily decisions in raising our happy, healthy toddler.
5. Yep, see above for the same old dog goal. Sigh, Zippy...

He looks innocent enough.

It's always about the journey, right?  

Housewise, we still attempt a project here and a project there... 

Books for bookshelves

But overall it's now in a state that is allowing us to live. So consider the goals of 2010 closed out, and the blog itself on "a soft closed/semi-sporadic" mode as we leave more time for other adventures. (see #4)!

Anthony and Natalie

Race Point Beach on New Year's Day

-J

29

I didn't realize this would be a magic number for us as a family, but I guess it is. We were married on a 29 and now our incredible daughter was born on a 29, so it's clearly a life-changing number in our books.

Especially since, in true nonconforming fashion, our daughter decided to come very early and very quickly. Fortunately the good old Tacoma got us to the hospital just in time (albeit with the gas light on). It was its last big drive before being traded in.

Car and house stuff (while related) are obviously minor in comparison, however looking back on the to do list that started this blog, we did manage to check off buying the suitable family car and submitting paperwork for committees on that very same 29th day as well.

It's fun when you do it all at once!

- J

An Alphabetized Recap of July (So Far)

Agonizing decisions

Big baby belly

Cankles

Driving weekly to Boston (sometimes on dirt roads in an attempt to avoid summer traffic)

Everything at once

Floating in the ocean

Gear breaking

Hot and humid

Inching. Forward. Ever. So. Slowly.

Jumping, jabbing Flippy kicks

Kiddie pool- best gift ever

Lots of sunscreen

Mali visits

Negotiating for cars sucks

Overheating

Plans nearing completion

Quiet? Not our dog (especially when the mailman comes)

Rusting frame...why not now?

Scorching heat

Thumbs of fury (watching Mali text)

Up in the air about everything

VERY hot (have we mentioned this yet?)

Windsurfing instead of waffling at times

Xander? Still looking for viable name suggestions... (comment box below)

You'd think this house would go faster- considering the size

Zoning submitted?

- A, J (and a little bit Mali- in between texting)

Our Child Will Be Driving a 2000 Toyota Tacoma

Part of our year of growing up is to get a more family-friendly vehicle. The truck has served us well. It will be hard to switch to something else, something more child seat friendly, but it has to happen. (Just like the band-aid ripping off when Craigslist took our kayaks recently.)

Now it's time for the truck. However, the truck doesn't seem to know this; like the Energizer bunny it just keeps going and going and going. Sounds great, right? Hmm... here lies our dilemma and options:

1. Our truck's frame is supposedly prone to rusting out, and if that happens Toyota will buy it back at 150% of the excellent value *cha ching*.

2. We lived in Oregon sans salted roads for too long, thus this has not happened yet. It's running great and looking great, so who knows when this will happen?

3. The truck's not really built for a car seat (although it does fit).

4. With the whole house-building and baby-coming stuff (not to mention outstanding student loan), we don't want an additional car loan.

5. The truck is worth way less as a trade in (we already tried to trade it in at a dealership).

6. We don't really need two cars, but should we hang onto it until it rusts out or our kid needs it for college (buying a cheaper family vehicle in the meantime, as well as paying the extra insurance to have two cars)? Or should we see if we can sell it on our own so we can afford a nice family vehicle now? And what should that nice family vehicle be? (Below is one option- if we were going by coolest ad...)

Back to the truck- we've posted it for sale (Craigslist: Cape Cod), and I guess we'll see what happens. The emotional attachment is hard though. It's a decade of our life, and that decade's lifestyle that we're parting with here. Someone called about it the other day and I was tempted to tell them it was not for sale anymore; that that part of my life could not be bought- but we have to move on to our new lifestyle now, I suppose.

(Too bad it's not the seventies or something- then the truck would be a great family car. You could just throw the kid, the dog, and anything else right in the back there!)

-J & A

If Only We Could Make Decisions As Fast As Zippy's Hair grows

It's time for another trim. Anthony's outside working on that as I write. I should mention that it's already dark out and he doesn't appear to be using a light source of any kind. Trimming a black dog in the dark of night- huh...I wonder how this haircut will come out! Hopefully, because we're spending more time on decisions like a house design and a different vehicle, they'll turn out slightly better looking than I'm expecting Zippy to look.

-J

"To Do" List

(In no particular order, although I'm numbering them for my own love of structure.)

1. Build house (sub-categories: choose architect, builder, go through committees, move out, tear down pre-existing, non-conforming (PENC) structure, build a new one that might be slightly less non-conforming but at least will have insulation, move back in.)
2. Buy a car.
3. Find out if I still have a job next year. (Would greatly help with #s 1 and 2)
4. Have a baby!!
5. Get my dog to stop barking randomly.
6. Figure out all the sub-categories for #s 2-5.
7. Start blog to help organize the chaos that is rapidly descending on our lives. (check on #7)

Timeline ticking...

-J