Visions of Minivans Dance in Her Head...

I don't know if it has been previously blogged yet, but Harold, my 1998 Ford Escort, died in the beginning of October. It was decent timing, the Durham family I worked for was becoming a Carrboro family that weekend and Scott and I were already talking about how we could start saving for a new van by March.

So we just went with it. Ellie and I have become pros at the Chapel Hill bus system! Time seems to be flying past with the holidays and the mild North Carolina weather has been something to be truly thankful for!

But now I'm missing the time I'm losing without a van. The buses are free and they run often, but they are horribly indirect. Jack's family lives only five minutes away, but it takes an hour to get there and another to get home. Three days a week equals six hours of my life that I could be using doing other things.

Recently, I've started to paint. I would love to have more time to indulge in this past-time! I would also love to get up at 5am on a Saturday, pack up my computer, and sneak out to a coffee shop to do some blogging before Ellie wakes up! Ellie's bedtime is nonexistent because we get home at 7:30 most nights and she misses Scott and he misses her. So they are playing and spending time together when she should probably be getting ready for bed. Or she falls asleep on the way home and wakes up full of energy way too late. I have sort of given up until we have a van.

Anyway, it's just for a short time. I'm sucking it up and looking at the positives. No gas or upkeep to pay for. I've been losing weight with all of the walking. Sitting on a bus is pretty stress free when compared to driving amongst the masses every morning. So in all, I've got nothing to complain about.

But I still can't wait to get that van!