We traded in my beloved Civic for a Lexus. A Lexus I say, did you hear me? Me, a Lexus??
Crazy talk.
But I was tired of getting stuck in the snow, of having to strategically select alternate routes through my neighborhood and downtown St. Paul to get to work because my car couldn't handle snowy or ill-plowed streets. And no matter how good the snow removal, when it snows 10 inches or more in 24 hours, the plows just can't keep up. We considered a smaller SUV or cross-over, but ultimately decided an all-wheel-drive sedan would do the trick, we didn't really need the cargo space.
We had talked about trading in my car in a couple of years, but Wayne found a used Lexus for a great deal at a dealership north of us. We went up to take a look, liked what we saw and bought the damn thing then and there.
Change of subject.
This year our spring break happens to fall during the exact same week as my stepsister's and her family's. This meant that for the first time we can coordinate our vacations so that our annual winter/holiday get-away doesn't have to take place on a rushed weekend between full school/ work weeks. We can leisurely take our time getting to our destination and spend extra time with each other!
At the same time, we had to figure out when to get to Tracy to celebrate Wayne's mom's birthday which is in early April, so we decided to go down the earlier part of our spring break. We'll be celebrating both Easter and her birthday on the same weekend, even though her birthday is technically closer to the first weekend in April than the last weekend in March.
Change of subject once again...or not.
My aunt recently passed away. She was much loved by many near and far, not least of all her own octogenarian sister and brother-in-law who live in St. Peter, MN. Could I, perchance, drive them to the funeral in Michigan?
It took a little finagling to get our schedules and locations to work, since I will already be halfway to our destination in Wisconsin on my vacation, but I believe we've finally worked it out where I will meet them halfway across Wisconsin, drive them all the way to Michigan, and drive them back after the weekend is done.
Something I could NOT have done had I still been driving my little Civic. There's no way I would have asked two people in their 80's to ride in my tiny little car with no suspension for 8 hours.
Something I could NOT have done had we also had to be back in Tracy celebrating Wayne's mom's birthday, something that -- at his parents' advancing age -- we do not want to miss.
Something I could NOT have done had I not already been on spring break and already planned to take most of the days off to make this trip. As it is, I will only need to take one additional day off of my planned vacation for the trip back home.
I truly believe all of these seemingly unrelated incidents aligned together to allow this trip to Michigan to happen. And while I'm not looking forward to the reason for our gathering, I am looking forward to the gathering itself, seeing cousins I haven't seen for a decade or more, aunts and uncles and all sorts of relatives I probably don't remember meeting.
Thanks, universe.
P.S. This is the hat I am wearing to her funeral. She was too joyful of a woman to wear all black.
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