Neglect with a purpose

Oh, dear blog... I'm sorry I've been so neglectful. If I were raised Catholic like my husband I might be inclined to confess my sins of neglect, but we Methodists choose not to release our guilt like that. Surely you understand. What a wonderful blog you are, you love me and treat me well even when the favor isn't returned.
**Editor's note: The hubs is not a practicing Catholic now, in case anyone cares. No confessions from this house!!**

Anyway, enough of my dramatics... let's get up to speed here. Our family has been quite busy, now that we've settled in we're doing a little rearranging. We're getting rid of our current vehicle, and joining the rest of Young Children Suburbia with a minivan purchase. Oh, how I adore car shopping. Since N and I both sold cars, we have a bit of an upperhand. Having our own financing also helps, but still... this process sucks. My mom is the best car shopper I know, she's tiny and normally a polite, refined woman, but put her in a car dealership and she can make a grown man cry. Literally. She used to buy a new Ford Explorer every 2 years, always from the Ford dealership in the town where they work. She only dealt with the manager (and I know how hard it is to get a sales manager to deal directly) and she terrified this poor man. My dad would often stop in in uniform, only to have Malcolm say "Oh, God! Is Tina here? Is it time ALREADY?" One time, while working her deal, my dad and I got so embarrassed we walked out, wandered the showroom over to a popcorn machine where we buried our faces in some stale popcorn. We still tease her about that. They've since stopped buying Fords, and moved onto Hondas. I pray for that Honda dealer, and hope his nightmares are few. Anyway, I'd KILL to have my mom come help me, but she's a busy woman and lives halfway across America, so I'm on my own. Let's hope I've inherited her buying genes.
For anyone who has been through divorce, or bankruptcy, or anything else that destroys your credit rating, you can understand how frustrating that little score can be. N and I are both divorced, each of us with our own credit scars, and working towards repair. There is nothing more satisfying to me than paying off old debts, making just a little progress towards financial security, towards a goal of comfort and pride in not being treated like deadbeats. We're not deadbeats, but shit happens, and sometimes people forget to look at the big picture. I think our credit rating system is entirely fucked up, but that's a rant for another day, or maybe never. My point is we all know how desperately important credit scores are, and it gives one a sense of peace when you start making progress on that front.
Well that's about it for today, I've got some shopping to do, as the kids' birthday is Friday, and Nate's is next week, and we all know Father's Day is coming. I'd tell you what we're getting Nate, but he reads this, so you'll have to wait. How was your holiday weekend? I hope you thanked a soldier, past or present.