Ladies, Start Your Engines!

Ah yes, the month of May here in Indianapolis. Race Fever abounds. Palms sweat at the though of fast cars. And, in the case of my hubby and the hubby of my best friend/therapist/sounding board, hearts race at the thought of increased estrogen in this year's 500...especially this dose of speeding womanhood:

And especially when said friend and I gloated about spotting Ms. Patrick last Friday outside Nordtrom. You didn't get her autograph? they gasped. Uh, no...we were too busy noting her fabulous sunglasses and shoes...and too busy discussing whether or not our husbands were surviving a whole day with the kids while we got to shop, shop, shop. This type of day, by the way, the ladies-only-shopping-men-home-with-kids day is known in motherhood circles as a Little Slice of Heaven.

But anyway, back to racing, cars, and fast driving.

In keeping with the spirit of the month of May, and because it was just way overdue, we bid farewell to our 1995 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The ol' Jeep has served us well and has transported us far and wide. I think it still might have some sand in it, leftover from trips to beaches in Michigan, North Carolina, and Florida.

So last Saturday morning, with a bit of research under our belts, we piled the kids in for the last of those 150,000 miles and headed out to get some new wheels. When we stepped out of the Jeep and into the dealer's parking lot, we could hear the roar of the Indy cars practicing at the Speedway, just a few miles down the road. If you are a car salesman, you can't ask for better mood music. And we were in the mood.

It had been 12 years, nearly to the day, since we bought the Jeep.

Here is its replacement:

A 2007 Subaru Outback, made right up the road from us, in Lafayette.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I can hear you now: The woman who seemingly rolled her eyes at minivans in the previous post now drives a station wagon?!! Um, yes. She does. And she likes it. Quinn says that it is almost as cool as a van. What does he know? It's like, way cooler. Right? Right??!!

And so for now, I guess I'm Kanga, toting my kids around in the new 'Ru. Toting them around for another 12 years until it's time to get this dinosaur replaced. By then, Quinn will be of driving age. And by then, I'm guessing he'll have a new definition of cool.