All of the stressy things yesterday morphed into great things.  The storm fizzled out after just 6-8 inches or so, which was nice, and everyone got where they needed to get safely.  Dave had to work the UM hockey playoff game, and my dad had heard there were tickets available, but the ticket line was closed because it was Saturday.  I asked Dave if he would check out the scene at the Alfond, and after my folks and I got back from lunch, etc, there was a message that he had purchased 3 tickets that were waiting at the will-call.   WHen we got to the game, the seats were the best I’ve ever had, J1:1-3, front row, on the glass, looking at the goal from the side.  It was great, the puck would bounce off the glass, we got to see some hockey players pressed against the boards, and we got to see 3 goals scored as UMaine wone 5-1.  Yay!

I also got confirmation from my folks that I am buying the Outback, and they’ll ‘finance’ it, meaning I don’t need to get a loan, etc, just pay them monthly.  They told me to start getting rid of my Escort, so I placed an ad in Uncle Henry’s (New England’s old-fashioned eBay) and on FirstClass at the university and my school.  $500 OBO, so, we’ll see.  Imean, it runs. It’s inspected. If I were five years younger and poorer and not worried about the safety of my future pregnant belly, I might not be so anti-Escort.  But damn, the Outback is nice.  It’s just so heavy and safe feeling.  It’s an automatic, so meh, but has AWD, working seat belts, leather interior, keyless entry, power locks & windows, etc etc — all those things that are total luxury for someone that’s been driving a base model Escort for 9 years.  Plus, nirvana of stationwagon owning achieved! MWAHAHHAHAHAA!

Seriously, I’ve wanted a wagon forEVER.  When I bought the Escort, I was sort of kicking myself for not waiting til I got an Escort Wagon, because I love them.  That the Escort had split-folding rear seats was the clincher; if it hadn’t had those, I would’nt have bought it.  (And, by the way? ALWAYS spring for the split-folding rear seats.  The Impreza doesn’t have them and it drives me NUTS.

I had to get up 3:45 am this morning to take my folks to the airport, and they’re off to Utah & Colorado to visit my sister and do some skiing.  My religious Aunt Laura and Uncle Glenn are going, too,and were looking fora place to stay inSteamboat, but everything was very expensive, so they asked my folks if they could stay with Kate & Pete,too.  The whole scenario led to one of my sister’s most witty comments in an email: "It’s wrong to live in sin, but vacationing in sin is A-OK!"  (For new readers, my aunt pissed me/us off 2 years ago when we were in TX for her daughter’s wedding, and she didn’t want Grandma to know that my cousin and her fiance/husband had lived together before marriage.  You know, like Dave and I were doing at the time. Big, big, "Are you fucking KIDDING me?" from my family — Aunt L has this list of things "Grandma can’t know" about her kids, and our lives are open books, which pisses Kate and I off, because our cousins are not as perfect as Aunt L tries to portray them… blah blah blah… anyway, now I’m married and legit, so Kate has to deal with the scarlet letter of premarital cohabitation – GASP!)

ANYWAY. Very excited about my new (old) car.  Who knew a ’98 Subaru could make me so excited?