A Job for a Kindergartener

Back in December we lamented the fact that we were going to miss our house demolition (See posting "Just Like That"). We hoped that our neighbors or friends might capture it for us. As we watched the footage for the first time we realized that our awesome neighbors, the Lovell family, not only captured the teardown, but the kids also got to help!

Here is the highlight reel from the day:

Funny that the LONG version of our demolition still comes out to just 12 minutes 36 seconds. Here's a link to it for any enthusiasts with some more time on their hands: Teardown Full Version.

-J

Dig This!

Zippy and Natalie- a final visit

The water is off. The power is off. Temporary power is on site and now heavy equipment is parked in our yard, towering ominously over our tiny house.

It was septic tank moving day yesterday and fittingly we had a front row seat from the, ahem, bathroom of our temporary abode next door.

The viewing gallery

The excavators were really nice, even "waving" their digger at Natalie and offering me coffee. (I felt guilty- it should be the other way around... if I knew how to make coffee). It was awesome to watch them rip up things and dig their big holes. Bundle-of-nerves Zippy was a bit unsure about the whole thing.

- J

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