The Times They Are A-Changin'...

Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin'
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'.

Indeed they are.  AND I love this song……..though it’s talking about something much deeper than just my LIFE CHANGES, it still is something that I can relate to at this point in my life.  Growing up, letting go, learning to change and adapt or be forever lost in the growing hustle and bustle of life these days.  Becoming more patient, more understanding, more sympathetic, more accepting……..all good things when you are raising two young babes! 

This is going to seem totally silly, but I’m having an especially hard time letting go of one thing in particular….my car.  Was it an awesome car, you ask?  No.  Well, awesome to me, a person who really could care less about what kind of car I drive as long as it gets me from A to B.  I’ve never been a car person and never will…….it’s just not something that I VALUE in the least.  Awesome because of all the memories and moments it represents to me.  As I was driving the car to work on Thursday, I got all choked up thinking about trading it in.

I remembered back to when Travis bought the car.  The day stands out in my mind…he picked me up and took me out to lunch that day to “show it off” and I was smitten (with him and the car)!  And I remember a few years later, when Travis told me that it was best for me to drive it (as his construction business required a much bigger vehicle) and so we transferred the title into my name……I thought it was the coolest thing!  And then just a few short years later, Travis staged our Engagement Weekend Scavenger Hunt in which he had me driving all the way up to Ely, MN in that car, clues hidden along the way.  He proposed that weekend and it’s been almost 4 years since!  What comes after is the part that really gets to me…we brought our BABIES home from the hospital in that car.  And our Sasha pup, too.  So to me, it is so much more than “just a car”……..it is part of all of those wonderful memories and for that reason, I am sad to see it go.  Travis said I’m crazy and that we will make new memories in the new car……and I know we will.  Our family has grown and we’re TOO BIG for that little car, though it hasn’t stopped us from packing into it like sardines, two car seats, Sasha, Mom, Dad, weekend gear, and heading to the cabin on several occasions.  It was a great car and when I look back to think of our family years from now, I will remember that car as a very special part of WHO WE WERE….

And so I say good-bye to our trusty Oldsmobile Aurora!  We’ll miss you! 

And a big HELLO to my new ride……oh yeah baby, I’m a minivan mom now (Chrysler Town & Country).  Don’t be a hater, this van is SAAAAAAWEEEEEEETTTTT!!  Reminds me of the Toyota Sienna commercials and the mom singing....."Straight owning bake sales with my cupcake skills!  I'm better with the money, so I handle the bills.  I always buy in bulk, ain't afraid of no spills and every Mother's Day proves.......I'm kind of a big deal!!"  

Oh, this is the GOOD LIFE!!