Driven

Our car will finally be on the barge this week. Finally. It is due into Seattle a month from now. There was a bit of a hold up, so it got onto the third barge, and that is leaving asap. Whew!

Because today we finally return our rental mini-van from Hertz. We were supposed to return it to Midway, but the Aurora location will take it back for no additional fees. Too bad the Bloomington Hertz won't take it back without an additional $320 one-way fee! So we will have to drive it the 110 miles back to Aurora. Oh, well, I like driving. We lived for two years without any real ability to just get in a car and drive somewhere. Our "mall" was the AC Grocery store. At least we don't have to return it to Midway Airport!

So coming back will be a nice haul in MY NEW CAR! A truck, actually. I picked up a 2004 Dodge Dakota at Prescott Brothers in Sandwich, Illinois. It's awesome, and I have always wanted a truck. It's got a crew cab so the four of us fit just fine. Amy has taken to calling it "Darth" because it is black with black interior, and when we first test drove it, there was a release of air out of the brake that we swear sounded like Darth Vader's breathing under that helmet.

We needed the truck to help us get all the new furniture down to Normal that Amy bought. She did really well though, managing to get a household worth of furniture for about $200. At the Goodwill in Batavia, we got an old armoir and dresser for only $140 for the set, and a couch for only $40. Graciously, my mother gave us a few things, like Morgan's and our bed frame, a coffee table and end table. We picked up a nice little 27" TV at the Wal-Mart for only $189 and now that cable and internet through Insight have been hooked up, we are good to go.

Amy is on another job interview right now and then we will take the drive to Aurora and back. The kids look happier in this picture above, taken at Amy's grandmother's house in Bremerton, Washington. I seriously missed that green color, the color of life.