Bogger Back in Business

Alliteration aside, blogger is back to working for me. It was doing this really great trick where I would write up an entire post and then as I hit "publish" the text would delete in that second before the post was published. I even tried to trick it by "editing" a post or "previewing" a post, but it still kept coming up empty.

But it is back and I forgive it for letting me down. I am too easy to placate... it didn't even say how beautiful I was or bring me flowers.

And boy has it been a busy little while since I was in the blogging realm.

I think I might now be a grown-up. Frightening, I know. Sure I've had a full-time permanent job (benefits and all), I've had apartments, I even have friends getting married - so many friends getting married - but I have crossed the line in the last few days. I have bought a car. Yes, friends, I am now the proud owner of a cute, shinny black 2-door Honda Civic. ("Very practical" is what most people say.) I did all the research into buying a car, called sellers, examined cars, took cars to mechanics to have them checked out, learned what one must do legally when buying a car (title, registration, insurance and so forth), negotiated prices and finally wrote a great big check and I did it pretty much on my own. In a lot of ways it seemed a bit like a new game with all sorts of rules and strategies to learn. And I won!! I won I won I won!!! I won a car, whoo hoo! Okay, I actually PAID for a car, but it sorta feels like I played this great big game and won this great big prize. Let's just hope the car works all right. So now I'm one step closer to being an official adult. Hmm... maybe I should go and do something irresponsible and juvenile to bring things back into balance??

I don't quite feel that it is real yet. This could be because I've not yet gotten straight with car insurance (so many choices!) and so can't drive it, but I also haven't gotten to tell people or mark the occasion really. All of my parents are in Mexico (the two sets didn't go together, they just happen to be in the country at the same time) so they know nothing of it and I don't have many friends out here in Oregon, so there isn't anyone to mark the event that way either. I'm hoping to get the insurance thing settled in the next day or two though and a good friend is driving down from Seattle tomorrow, so maybe it will feel real after that. Maybe I'll drive it to Monday Night Football with my step-brother next week as well.

I did take a beer out to the hot-tub that evening after the car was delivered. I sat relaxing and watched while the stars came out and the moon rose over the river. I was feeling so blessed to be in that moment when a shooting star dashed across the sky. It was downright portentous. It is so lovely, and incomparable, to be naked in water outside, particularly with moonshine (not THAT kind of moonshine!) around you. Each time it makes me realize that I don't get the chance to skinny dip nearly enough. Nice evening in the tub though it was, it wasn't exactly a, "Yeah, I just bought a car and I'm celebrating" sort of thing.

But right now I have a tuckered pooch snoring and dreaming (she is twitching all around) on my feet – she likes to be right up on you – so I think maybe I’ll shower her with some affection and worry about celebrations later. I think Brooke’s Boot Camp is too much for her!