number 13

Elliot is, at this very moment, cleaning out my beloved VW Passat Wagon in order to make it trade-in worthy for a....gasp....minivan.

Yes, it has come to this. But seriously, traveling 1000 miles to visit family in Texas in the wagon with three kiddos, a dog and luggage is a bit much. And we do travel down south at least twice a year--sometimes three and it'll be nice to have when my family visits. And so many countless reasons why a minivan would fit our life right now.

The wagon was our first really new car (2002)--we bought it when we found out we were expecting Vivian and I got a new job in 2006. We knew that we needed reliable transportation to tote around that bundle of joy. It is/was family chic in my mind--leather heated seats, sunroof, has a CD player AND a tape player, huge 'trunk' for the dog(s at the time) and matched (get ready to roll your eyes) the new Prada bag I had bought when I found out I got the job with my current employer. Well, the overpriced purse has been stowed in its dust bag for some time and now I sport a lovely cross-body that allows my hands to be free as a wrangle a two-year-old into a carseat. The times, they have changed. And I'm okay with that.

Elliot and I have owned--wait for it--12 cars since we have been married. We will have been married for 13 years this July.

Buick Le Sabre-Baby Blue
Chevy Corsica
Monte Carlo 78
Monte Carlo 79
Chevy Celebrity (we bought with wedding gift money)
Chevy Cavalier
VW Golf (craigslist)
Buick Skylark which Elliot bought for $10 off a guy at Pizza John's
Chrysler Minivan (when we didn't have kids)
Ford F150 Truck
VW Passat Wagon
Buick Le Sabre--bronze metallic -mist

It's been six years since we purchased the V-dub. And five since we bought the bronze-metallic-mist LeSabre. So in the first 8 years we bought all those cars listed--a total of 10. Wow.

So number 13 might just be a minivan. Just don't get me any of those stick-figure families to put on the back and I'll just be a-okay.

~leah