Tell me it's not really July already...

Well, June was a blur, due to travelling for a wedding, lots of rain, Maggie dying, more rain, a visit from my good friend Katie, lots more rain, and just plain life. But I think we're starting to slow down again. Kind of.

Anyway, other than all this excitement, I think I can blame some of the lack-of-blogging on the fact that we're a 2-vehicle family again! Yep, I've got wheels, and I'm no longer afraid to use them.

You may recall that last November we lost our poor car. So rather than incur more debt, we decided to wait on another vehicle and just "rough it" with one for awhile. And our situation is such that I couldn't just drop Garfield off at work when I needed a vehicle. His truck is his office, and he spends all day hauling materials, transporting laborers, and meeting with prospective clients.

Several people have confessed that they can't believe I've spent seven months trapped at home with one young child and two babies, and no way to get around. But I'll tell you what, other than the first week or so of shock and intense cabin-fever, we fortunately were able to get used to it pretty quickly.

Here were a few of the blessings of having no transportation during the day:

*Life is simple. We didn't have to decide what to participate in or where to go, because there were no options.

*You save lots of money. Other than the obvious, like a car payment, we also saved on insurance, gas, items that would've been bought while out shopping, costs of activities, and incidentals that inevitably creep up on you while you're out. This easily would've totaled several hundred dollars a month.

*I didn't have to figure out how to juggle an outing by myself with 3 kids (2 of which weren't able to walk) until Elizabeth was almost 5 months old!

*We were able to find new ways to be content at home, which included getting into a good cleaning schedule (that involves the kids), incorporating Bible story time, and reading way more books.

*It forced me to be better about inviting people over so we could socialize.

*It allowed us to be blessed by people willing to come help out and keep us company.

Ummm...ok, so it's a fairly short list, but honestly, it wasn't as hard as it sounds. Especially since it was a sacrifice towards the cause of getting out of debt, and I knew it wouldn't last forever.

That said, it's taken me a few weeks to actually realize that I can go places during the day again, and it's exciting! Not that I plan to go hog-wild on outings (for all the reasons mentioned above), but getting out of the house every now and then is great for regaining some perspective. Seeing something other than our four walls helps keep me from getting into funks, and I know the kids really enjoy seeing faces other than their mother's day after day!

The "new" truck came not a moment too soon, as our other one (the one I'm driving) had been having some problems. And with the summer heat, well, let's just say this wimpy Texan could potentially go days without stepping outside.

I won't go into the details here, but let me just say how thankful I am that the Lord provided a wonderful, reliable truck for Garfield to run his business from. So if you see a grinning woman driving three wee ones around town in a 1991 Chevy 2-door pick-up, looking pleased as punch, honk and wave. If our horn's working, I'll honk back.