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New (Rental) Car for Mama
The other day I walked out to get into my car and spied a yellow piece of notepaper stuck under my windshield wiper. Immediately my heart sank. It could be a secret admirer note I guess but that doesn’t happen that often to me.
On the bright side, it wasn’t the small white $49 parking ticket for failing to park on the other side of the street on street-sweeping day. I got one of those the other day and that did NOT make me happy. I must be getting old or something because suddenly FORTY-NINE DOLLARS seems like so much money to me! I could park on the wrong side of the street for two months and buy myself a very small used car for that price! Sheesh.
However, a parking ticket would probably be a lot less hassle than the impending doom that this note held. Just as I suspected, it was a hand-scrawled message from a really nice girl named, Mimi, saying she had accidentally side-swiped my parked car. I looked down at my left front fender and sure enough there was a nice big four-inch crinkle. Not just a scrape but a good ol’ dent and a scrape.
I knew Toby wouldn’t be happy. You should hear him go on about how and where I am supposed to park this car so that it doesn’t get dented or scraped. I hate to say it, but this car is a prized possession in this family and we are fools to have bought it before we own a house with a protective garage. Every nick and dent has taken a year off my life I think. Sometimes, I wish I never got rid of my ratty but dependable old Honda Civic.
The good news was that Mimi had a conscience and left her phone number. God bless Mimi. What a sweet girl. Nobody ever leaves a note when they scratch up your car in this neighborhood. I will be eternally thankful to Mimi and her insurance company. She has definitely got some good karma coming her way.
We made the call and Mimi turned out to be just as sweet as her note. She quickly and efficiently got us in touch with her insurance company and they took care of the rest. I dropped off my car at a body shop yesterday and found myself in a brand new Kia-something-or-other rental car.
It smells like an ash tray and has really weird blind spots but it’s not that bad. Not nearly as bad as I expected it to be. I thought sure I’d get stuck in something turquoise and plastic with big bumpers and mush for a gas pedal. What can I say, I’m a bit of a car snob.
I’ve been driving my small red sports car for three years now and I love it with a passion. No minivan for this mom. (Yes, I admit that not all minivans are bad, Bethany, and no, my small car does not have a dvd player that will occupy my kid on long trips but…) I just love small cars.
I love being close to the road, feeling every curve and bump. I love that my car could easily win a street race if I ever felt inclined to lay down some rubber. I love that I don’t have to worry about rolling it when I take a curve at 80 miles an hour (well, maybe not that fast but I could). I love the comfortable leather seats that hug me snugly and never give me a backache on long drives. I just love everything about it.
So yeah, I’m probably going to miss my small red car for the week that it is in the body shop but I have to say I am getting a kick out of this Kia thingy. The windows are giant and the back area is a hoot. Bug thinks it’s her new playhouse and she cries when I make her get out of the car and come into the house. I plan to take it out to the sticks later this week. I’ll let you know how it drives.
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Long live the epic walk!
We set out on an epic walk today. I’m sorry for using that word, epic. I read somewhere that somebody hates it when people use that word to describe things other than something something something but I can’t remember what the something something was or who said it or what irritated them about that word being misused so I’m going to use it anyway because I’m ignorant and it has a nice ring to it.
Anyway!
Bug had a bee in her bonnet about taffy and I only know of one place where you can get taffy (besides the grocery store of course but that’s boring or Old Town in San Diego which is a bit out of our way). That place that I know is Balboa Island. There is a candy store there that has barrels of the stuff. So we decided to walk there.
I don’t want to completely give away where we live (though it’s not that hard to figure out thanks to google and some bad choices I made several years ago) so I won’t say how far we walked to get to Balboa Island. But it was far. Far enough that it took up most of our day but it was the best day walking adventure we have ever had. It wasn’t really that far where we would need to pack water and a lunch but we dilly-dallied. Something Bug does very well.
We discovered a new park that has fantastic play equipment. While Bug sea-sawed and swung on the swings, I day dreamed about all the birthday parties I could host there if only Bug’s birthday wasn’t in January. I might just have to throw her a half birthday party some year because summer birthdays are so much more fun than winter birthdays.
When we finally pried ourselves away from our new favorite park and ambled over the bridge to Balboa Island, we found that there was a sand castle contest going on. Who knew! Not us. I really need to stay more updated on these things. We LOVE sand castle contests.
Balboa Island’s sand castle contest was just our speed too because the beach there is so narrow that the castles were pretty small and un-impressive. We could have entered this contest and beat the pants off them. Next year I might just have to do that. Also, unlike our local sand castle contest, this event is on a Saturday which means I might be able to enlist my family who can never make it to anything other than meeting (church) on Sunday. Pass it on, Mom!
We walked around a good chunk of the island. Bug chose the water route and ducked under all the docks that moor boats along the water’s edge. She got a kick out of waking up all the ducks that sleep there in the shade during the heat of the day.
Walking around the island is so pleasant. There is a big walk way along the water and butting right up against it are all the tiny little Mc-mansions. Everyone is always out enjoying the day and many of them strike up a conversation with you if you are walking slow enough, which we always are. Bug made many friends today.
Of course we got some taffy and then it was lunch time so I ate three tacos while Bug ate three bites. As you may have gathered, I’m not so swift on uptake when it comes to the no-treats-before-lunch-rule so I paid dearly for that one. And then I spoiled her even more by letting her get a frozen banana that Balboa Island is so famous for.
I was thinking that she might eat the banana and get some nourishment from that but I am an idiot because she ate all the chocolate and sprinkles off the banana and then decided she wasn’t hungry anymore! I should have known better. I would have eaten the mushy frozen banana but my teeth are sensitive and I don’t really like cold things. Yes, it’s true. I drink my water at room temperature and I don’t like ice cream that much.
Then we ambled back home just in time for Bug to fall dead asleep in her bed an hour late for her nap. Which was fine. We’re living summer hours here at La Casa de Ponnay. Bedtime is often pushed back an hour or more. I don’t really don’t care that much. Sometimes she even sleeps in when I let her stay up and then I don’t have to get up at the crack of dawn, which is really really nice.
It was a great day. I’m tired out from walking. Bug is tired out from playing. I don’t feel guilty for keeping her inside all day watching tv or stuck in the car while I run errands. It was a great Bug and Mom day. Long live the epic walk!
