Vehicles...yes really!

So I am sure that alot of people consider a post about vehicles as rather materialistic or just plain silly.  But I'm hear to tell you that I USED to judge people based on what they were driving....and this my friends is coming back to haunt me in a very BIG way.  You see I am FORCED by necessity to drive my van.  And I am not talking about your average decked out minivan, that most soccer moms drive.  I am talking about a huge white, no comfort, door panel broken, 12 passenger, smells like the back room of McDonald's, with room for the kids, and most of the dogs, van!    Our (read "my") van houses much more than my wonderful enchanting seven angelic children.  It houses enough pet hair that we could create a whole other dog, blood and sweat from when the kids either picked scabs, got bloody noses, or the thousands of times I have picked them up after sporting practices.  It also houses enough germs to wipe out the greater Peoria area from the multiple picked noses, or the hacking of little coughs that are always left uncovered.  I can't forget to mention the windows so covered in writing and fingerprints that everything looks a little blurry when you look out, or the multitude of shoes (none matching), books, cups, garbage, and everything else no one but me can see. 



NOT my van...but pretty close!



Believe it or not, and even with all of this, I really do like our van.  For one, we can all ride together - believe me it wasn't fun going multiple years always riding in separate vehicles.  We have been able to take trips to Disney and for the most part enjoy it.  We have carried cross country teams, slumber parties, lots of babies and children and pets.  We have cried, laughed, ate, played, and slept in our van. 



 

BUT - drumroll please - it SUCKS to park.  Parking decks are a no go for the most part, and if I do actually try to navigate it, I hold my breathe thinking we are going to surely take the top of the van off or be on some crazy you tube video showing us sitting there stuck.  And, everytime I try backing out of a parking space and someone with a cute little convertible, (who has obviously never driven anything bigger than a matchbox), has parked incredibly close, I envision running over that cute little car instead of desperately trying to avoid hitting it. 

Now we do have two, yes two other vehicles.  One is my husbands work car, little, cute, stick shift, over 200,000 miles on it.  He drives it most everyday to work and it would only hold three kids.  The other vehicle we own is a GMC Denali pickup.  This was a present I gave to Bill for our anniversary two years ago.  And while I could choose to drive it, it is so nice that I am scared to wreck it, and  it wouldn't solve my parking dilemma as it is as tall as the van. 

So, I circle parking lots looking for places to "pull through" so I don't have to back up, and I hold my breathe as we drive into and through parking decks hoping that we don't end up on you tube EVER! 

Really, why can't they make cute BMW convertibles in 12 passengers?