As I mentioned 2 posts ago, I bought a new car and yesterday, sold my old one. Both of these things have been taking up all my time…

I have finally finished all the tutorials on my new car. I am now ready to program it and organize all my stuff…everyday necessities, travel items and apocalyptic scenario paraphernalia from fire-starters to tourniquets to water purification tablets.

Preparing my old car to be sold has been a lot of work too. The person I’m selling it to is going to fix it up and re-sell it. It is such a mess, I wanted to do as much as I could to lesson the difficult job this guy has ahead of him. The 2 main projects were getting all the bumper stickers off and cleaning out the horror behind and below the back seat. I had noticed a while ago that papers had fallen behind the seat (presumably when SOMEONE put it down to haul stuff). The project was so annoying and difficult, I procrastinated until…this week. It was far worse than I thought. Not only was stuff crammed behind the whole back seat, it was under the seat as well, almost impossible to access. I had to feel with my hand and almost got my arm stuck. My hand came out gummy and black…candy wrappers, a lollipop stick, “Goldfish” crackers, other food-related products, a ticket to “Babes in Toyland” (I completely forgot about that, which was probably a good thing), a “Lush” giftcard (yay!), a decimated Linda Ronstadt CD, religious-themed car air fresheners, several cheap miraculous medals and a host of other less exciting things. I felt bad about removing the miraculous medals, so I put a few back under the seat (is that weird?).

Though I am thrilled with my new car, it has been surprisingly emotional saying “Goodbye” to my old one. Things from my son’s childhood, fur from my old dog…so many memories…driving my son around, trying to give him enriching experiences, teaching him to drive, going to Wisconsin looking at colleges along the way (none of which he went to)…all our family trips. As I tied a bow around the gift for the buyer, the final touch, like a ritual, I cried. I watched the car sail down my road for the last time and tried to sort out my emotions. The feeling I ended with was one of happiness that it will go on to a new life with a new owner. I have a sense of providence about it…that it is all playing out the way it was meant to.

PS I settled on a 12-pack of hard seltzer as a gift;)

Let us remember all the victims of 9/11 this day, and their families.