No Time for Anything

Well, I should be doing deskwork right now . . . or sleeping. It's 11:31 PM as I start this. But, instead, I'm listening to Annie Blue growl at Tucker (she's just caught what I think is her very first mouse and is feeling very protective of her prey . . . soon to become a late night snack, I think), Tucker bark back at Annie Blue (all of this going on in living room, mind you), and drinking a sub-par Chocolatini (I don't have the recipe down right, obviously) while waiting for Tom to return home from a guys'-night . . . from which he said he'd be home no later than 11:00 (did I mention that it's 11:31? . . . 11:34, now).

Ah, well, life on the ol' frontier.

No segue here, but . . . .

I feel that a public apology is in order to my oldest and very pregnant friend. Why? I have been a lousy blister lately. She's largely pregnant (did I mention that?), and I have had no time to respond to her phone calls or e-mails. Nor did I call her yesterday. On her birthday. Her 37th birthday. I'm a poop. A big, ol' poop. I over-extended for the month of June (well, through the 4th of July weekend, really), and I'm paying the price with my (lack of) attentiveness to friends . . . and family, for that matter.

Enter the fact that it's Father's Day, and I didn't see mine today. Why? I wasn't organized enough to host the afternoon-of-fun-followed-by-a-luscious-dinner that I'd been planning on. Instead, we've rescheduled for Monday, the 23rd. Which reminds me . . . I don't think we've celebrated his August '07 birthday yet. Hmph. Something's wrong with this picture.

So, sinking into a true PIT of guilt now, I'll share what we did on Friday. We bought a car. A brand new car. A car with only 5 (yes, that's f-i-v-e) miles on it. Did we need a new car? Well, in the sense of "new" being defined as aNOTHER car, yes, we kinda did. The Subaru Outback needs a new head gasket. That's $1300. And, it has a million miles on it. (Well, not quite, but you get the idea.) The Subaru Forester just GOT a new head gasket but then revealed that it's burning oil. Prognosis? New engine. Finally, gas is up to $4.11, locally. Answer? A new, fairly-energy-efficient vehicle. Enter the red (ummm, we're SO not red people?!) '08 Toyota Yaris that we bought on Friday. It's a clown car. Literally. Teeny. No, it's not like the Le Car (well, that's redundant: the the car), but it's small. Fortunately, the inside is comfortable, and there is room for two humans and two dogs . . . although we have yet to actually experience this travel combination.

But, the fact of the matter remains that I was raised to understand that you never, N-E-V-E-R buy a BRAND NEW CAR because of the depreciation it experiences the second you sign the papers and drive it off the lot. On the flip side, fuel-efficient cars (and especially this one) are not losing their value. And, we could buy a used one for pretty much what we paid on Friday . . . without the warranty. So, there ya have it: we have a new . . . a brand new . . . car. (Although it still seems like the horn should toot out Barnum & Bailey's theme music every time it blows!)