Add three house plants, subtract one car

My car is now posted for sale on Craigslist. SOB. As much fun as I've had shopping for the Next Family Vehicle (and it HAS been fun), I don't really want to get rid of my car. I want some little magic elf to wave his wand or blink three times and somehow stretch the back seat enough to accommodate two car seats and one grown up posterior. I've given serious thought to how we might ferry our kids and neighbor to church in two trips, but there have been a few times in the last two weeks when we've picked up my sister or driven a friend somewhere and I think to myself, "That third row of seats will be AWESOME." And I've thought a lot about keeping our car and getting a second bigger car, but we've navigated life successfully as a one-car family and two cars seems like too much. I mean, Phillip takes the bus to work. I drive to Target. We never leave the house after seven and when we do go places we go together.

And so. My car is listed for sale. I am so sad. And a little bit terrified of having to deal with the General Public types who will want to test drive it and then hand me a fake cashier's check. BECAUSE HOW WOULD I KNOW? But that's if anyone even responds. I think we may have priced it too high, but it's less than the Kelly Blue Book value (did I even know what KBB stood for before I started the Next Family Vehicle Project? HA HA HA) and our car's stats are better than the other car stats currently listed. Not that I am biased or anything.

My sisters would like you to know that they are totally sick of reading about cars. And then I say, "Wait! So you read my BLAWG?" And then they hem and haw because yes, they totally do, but they don't want to give me the satisfaction of admitting it.

In other news, my kid was absofreakinlutely adorable today.

So I'm rolling around the floor with my bear. SO WHAT?

Even though he only took one nap and it was at the wrong time. (My mom is always asking me if Jack took his nap at "the right time". Which I think is her not-terribly-subtle way of making fun of my Neurotic Tendencies.) The wrong time means he woke UP from his nap at noon and did not care to take another one, but fell right asleep at seven so at least there is that.

And what a splendid day we had! There was that trip to Target which totally canceled out the fact that I am rocking the grocery shopping lately. We all know what a money suck Target is, but I outdid myself today. And I can't even figure out what I should return because I NEED IT ALL!

Then we took the car to the car wash, in preparation for the Selling The Car Photos, and oooh, was that a hit. I was a little worried, since Jack is freaked out by certain noises. When he was a teeny tiny baby I dropped some ice into an empty glass and the howling could be heard in the next state. He hates the dust buster and regards the Roomba with deep frowny suspicion. I wasn't sure how he'd react to the Loud Crazy Tunnel Of Swirling Mops, but it turns out we could have gone again and again and again, such was the pointing and the oohing and the kicking of feet.

I like car washes AND ferries.

And then we were off to Fred Meyer, the nearest supplier of house plants because OH MY GAW, people, the NESTING, it is INSANE. Last week I cleaned every surface in my kitchen. I know normal people do this on a regular basis, but I can't stand the whole "as soon as I clean it it's dirty again!" issue with the kitchen. So I wipe up the obvious spills, but the crumbs under the toaster? Eh, let'em stay there. But no, I cleaned under the toaster, behind the wine rack, the sink, the counters, the cupboards, the drawers, the window sills and the little dusty ridge on top of the microwave. And I've been bawling out anyone who dares to spoil my perfect shiny kitchen. Today I dusted. DUSTED! I set the Roomba loose while Jack took his nap. I put all the toys away, even though I knew they'd all get dragged out again. And after rearranging picture frames and plants and knick knacky items, I had a few empty spaces which meant: more plants! I bought three more plants and Jack and I potted them outside (well, I potted them, Jack went around ripping up the geraniums and bringing the petals back to me, like he was actually bringing me flowers and not bits and pieces of flowers). When Phillip got home I made him shower me with Doesn't Our House Look Fresh and Clean compliments. Now if only the nesting instinct also covered the bathrooms...

No one has responded to my ad yet. And it's been THIRTY WHOLE MINUTES. I forsee a bit of paranoia this week, perhaps some obsessive-compulsive email checking. SIGH.

Comments

[Lindsay]

Heheheh. I like how he is looking at you like YOU are the crazy one from the floor there. Yay you for deciding to stay a one car family. One less thing to stress about and make payments on is well worth any stategizing required to get everyone where they need to be. Good luck with Craig's list!

[Kate P]

You are on a cleaning/nesting tear! And Jack looks so cute with his bear and on the ferry! Oh, I *so* thought of you and your car hunt when I tried to wedge myself between my niece's and nephew's car seats in my parents' station wagon on Sunday. (Not a recommended maneuver but thankfully we were not going far.) I'll say a prayer to St. Anthony that someone decent who is looking for a good car will find your ad.

[Madame Queen]

We sold a car on craigslist and it actually wasn't too bad. We got exactly what we were asking for it and we had the couple wire the money right into our checking account, so I didn't have to worry about the whole fake cashier's check (because I totally *was* worrying about that!)

[Becky]

Hmmm, I wonder if I could catch that nesting compulsion without the whole gestating part of the equation... my house could really use it!
:) Becky
http://www.stinkylemsky.typepad.com/

[Tara]

It's like you are interrupting whatever he has going on there with the bear. Too cute!

Good luck with the car sale. We had a great experience buying our Accord off CL a few years ago.

[Jen]

I am twenty seven and I love going to the car wash. I do not generally admit this to the public, but seriously, it is fun for me.

[lee]

you didn't mention diesel in the ad so it doesn't show up in my old dusty fancy search filters i set up back when i was car shopping. it does look lik you've set a good, mid-/high- price, which is always my vote for craigslist.

you could always go dutch!

[Liz]

Oooh! Good luck with the sale. I bet it doesn't take too long. (inshallah) If Kate P is enlisting St. Anthony's help, I'll see what St. Jude can do for you. :)

[Laura]

Too cute with that bear. Hope all works out on the car : )

[Jess]

Your kid is adorable EVERY day, and also, I KNOW that certain people read my blog and don't tell me about it, and it creeps me out a little bit to think about what other people are reading my blog and not telling me about it that I don't know about. Hmph.

[Charlotte]

The ultra-checking bit won't stop. I have a friend who was having a mad love affair with eBay, and hectored me into giving it a go. It was nervewracking. I couldn't stop checking and for the first few days all I could think was "Why no bidding? Why no bidding!" You'll be glad when it's over and even more thrilled that you probably won't have to go through it again.

[Tavon]

Details up the Car pane associates (and includes a modest bellman of suggestions for lone women drivers)
http://autoglass.1sthost.org>auto