staying in

So we've been down to one car for a couple months now.

The brakes on my trusty old 1996 Altima were going out and I had more important things (like spending a month on vacation in Arizona) to spend our money on, so it sat in the garage.

We finally took it to the shop last week and, like every other time we've ever taken it to the shop, they found 800 other things wrong with it resulting in a bit of sticker shock at the quote.  I'm not doubting our mechanic seeing as how parts of my car literally fall off if you shut the door to hard.  Problem is, the car is seriously old and has over 240,000 miles on it so we just aren't sure it's worth fixing.

We went back and picked it up and it is, once again, sitting in my garage.  Useless.  

I've been carless a few times in the past 3 years.  Only difference is now my husband uses his car at work all day so I can't just drop him off and take the car.

I was a supportive wife and assertively declared that I don't have any real need for a car.  Target will survive without my weekly treks in to hunt orange stickers.  But I'd be lying if I said I didn't have myself a little internal pity party.

Boo to being stuck home indefinitely.

I spent a few hours feeling pretty sorry for myself and then I had an epiphany.

I like being home.

I'm not sure if it's that I'm growing up and finally seeing how much I do have or if I just think it's too much work to pack up two kids for pointless errands, but I don't need a car because I'd rather stay home.

I like watching my kids play with all of their toys instead of going out and buying more and having no time to play with any of it.  Seriously, I've never seen our toys get played with as much as they have the last few weeks.

I like letting Josie pick out her and Gabriel's clothes and not having to undo her proud choices to make sure they match.

I like throwing a blanket in the grass and dodging the freezing cold water from the hose while Josie and Gabriel run through the sprinkler.

And I really like listening to Josie plan a birthday party for her horse for two days and then getting a special invitation to the festivities.

It was awesome.  She made gifts and wrapped them and hung wrapping paper on the walls for a birthday puppet show.  And we played hopscotch in Horse's honor.  It's his favorite.  Girlfriend's got some serious party planning skills.

My days feel longer in a good way.

We aren't rushing around trying to make more minutes fit in an hour.  Everything just fits.  School, chores, play.  I think we are all feeling extra happy and content.

Of course, I'm still praying that something opens up and we can make a wise decision on the whole car situation.  But it turns out having to spend my days at my house just isn't as big of a bummer as I thought it was.

And I think Horse agrees.