jeep day!

so today . . . my darling daughter was able to make one of her dreams come true.

diandra has talked about having a jeep since she was 10 years old--a yellow one. i don't know why. we've never had a jeep, and i am not sure that we even knew anyone who had a jeep until a year or two ago. but every time she talked about getting a car, it was a yellow jeep.

as her mom i will admit that i hoped this was one dream that she might change her mind about. not that a jeep isn't a cool vehicle--i'm just not so sure about it's safety factor. and if my one and only baby is going to be driving around the streets of LA, i want her to be as safe as possible.

the first car she drove around was a 1985 mercury topaz that we bought when she was born. we had to have a new car before we went to pastor's retreat that year, because our ford pinto didn't have room for both the baby seat and rollie's golf clubs. and we couldn't go to pastor's retreat without either one of them!

as diandra grew up, we always kind of planned that one day the car would be hers. it would be old by the time she could drive, but we thought it was kind of cool that it was "born" in the same year as she was. and rollie took such good care of it that it was still nice. it is the car she learned to drive even though it had a manual transmission. and it had the added advantage that her friends couldn't try to borrow it, because none of them could drive a stick shift!

i felt pretty good about her driving that car around--even in the sometimes heavy traffic we have here. it was heavy and medium sized and safe. and it would get her where she needed to go. usually.

the day came when it was time to retire the topaz. we all mourned just a little bit (some more than others.) her next car was heavy-ish, medium sized and safe. and new. but it wasn't the car she really wanted. she drove it anyway and tried to be happy about it. but she spends a lot of time in her car, so when the lease was up, she decided it was time to buy the car that would make her feel happy when she was behind the wheel. and she was pretty sure that car was going to be a jeep.

she searched the paper, the internet, the car lots until she found it--her dream car. it wasn't yellow, but she instantly loved it anyway. it took some work to make it hers, but she did. she had to be patient and persistent, but it paid off. and today she drove it off the lot with the biggest smile ever on her face!and it didn't take her long to "share the love." shortly after taking possession of her new vehicle, she had posted pictures and blogged about the event on her photography blog. in record time. which just shows how excited she was!

there is something kind of cool about watching your kids grow up and become adults. sometimes it is exasperating, because they don't have to do what you tell them to do anymore! sometimes it is irritating, because they will listen to what you have to say, but then make different choices than you think they should. but you know what? sometimes it is wonderful, because they do stuff that makes you so proud you think you will never stop smiling. and watching them accomplish their dreams is one of those things (even if their dreams have 33 inch tires and get terrible gas mileage!)

have fun, diandra! (and drive carefully!!)