For the last three years, we've been driving around town in an '06 Escape.  I love my girl -- yes, she's a girl.  The three of us have travelled across this vast country of ours and she's been my companion up and down the crazy GTA highways.  We've seen crazy (and I do mean c-r-a-z-y) traffic and horrible weather: rain, sleet, and snow.  We've survived and kept going through it all.  I kind of wish we could keep her.

Alas, we leased her and therefore we have to give her back at the start of June.  We could buy her, but the incentives out there to buy a new, shiny vehicle are much too tempting to pass over.  So, it was with a somewhat heavy heart that we began the search for something new.

We searched and searched.  We compared all similar models.  Discovered we could pay more and get less (in features) -- I'm not really interested in paying more for brand name when I have experienced no problems with this brand name.  We even contemplated switching back to a little car (4-door sedan) because, let's face it, the environment is important and gas is expensive... but in the end decided that we would stay with an Escape for a few reasons.  The first being, I really love my Escape.  Aside from the gas mileage, I have zero complaints about her.  We are a one vehicle family -- we live 3 minutes from a subway stop and N can easily get to work via transit so even though we are staying with a bit of a gas guzzler we quasi justify it by saying that we have already "trimmed some of the fat" so to speak by not each driving a vehicle. I love having lots of cargo space and I fill it full of crap regularly.  I also think having an SUV provides for a much more comfortable ride when we have visitors (though I did enjoy picturing Tim and Joey in the back of some tiny compact sedan when we head to Montreal / Quebec City this summer).  I also have had no trouble with icy conditions since moving to a vehicle with AWD and contrary to what some prairie-folk may believe, we DO get our fair share of crappy road conditions out here throughout the winter.

The new 2009 models are much more "manly".  This one is definitely a boy... but a boy that will keep my tush warm in winter and probably in the summer too (-- not sure I will enjoy having leather seats the first time I burn my ass!)  Being the nerd I am, I'm most excited about the Sync feature that will allow me to use my cell phone hands free and to "voice activate" song choices from my ipod or even a USB flash drive.

Here's what he will look like:

Picking him up later in the month!

I'll end with this... while negotiating our deal we sat and sat for hours -- literally HOURS!  While we were slowly drifting into a stupifed state, N noticed this in the brochure:

We laughed and laughed and laughed....

Today I am still itchy.  Yesterday I was at a school that had a lice epidemic.  Nothing like watching kids get called up single file to have their heads checked to make you suddenly get the urge to scratch. 

I am spending this evening, sipping diet Dr. Pepper and writing Christmas cards.  I was on the ball early and had my cards made before the end of November.  I'm also done all of my Christmas shopping which is good because I had to wait in line for like 3 minutes the other day at a Shoppers Drug Mart and it made me so angry. Bah-humbug!!  You know how there is that saying, there are no stupid questions??  Well, I disagree -- there ARE stupid questions and I am always in line behind the person asking them.  I will admit to having very little holiday cheer and was more than happy to do 80% of my shopping online from the comfort of my couch. I sound pretty grinchy, don't I!

Did all of you catch, Colbert's Christmas Special?? Neil and I were talking to someone the other day who had no idea who Stephen Colbert was.  I was like, man, are you living under a rock??  So if you are living under a rock -- please check out The Colbert Report on The Comedy Network.  Here's a teaser from his Christmas special:

You can call me a Christian but that's not wholly true,

'cause have I got a present for you!

As for what is happening in Ottawa.  Why do people get their panties all in a twist?? We will be voting again soon (I'm sure) whether we have a conservative minority or a lefty coalition.   And please, before you call this coalition move undemocratic -- read up on how our system of government works.  It is perfectly legitimate.  I'm not saying the timing is right or even that I support it -- I'm just saying that I cannot stand people that whine and say something completely uninformed like that it is undemocratic.  Or that whine that the left is siding with Separatists.  Harper had to kiss Separatist ass to keep his last minority going as long as it did and if he wants to survive post pro-rogue he will be kissing Duceppe's ass again.  Like it or not, unless someone wins a majority, parties will have to find a way to work with the Bloc.  That's just my 2 cents.  

Last night as a nasty storm rolled in, N and I pulled back the curtains to watch the intense lightening show. Suddenly, our patio table and chairs lifted off the ground and flew from one end of our deck to the other. Plants went flying. It freaked us out. So I grabbed a rain coat and scrambled outside to see if I could try and weigh things down so that they wouldn't fly around. Now, furniture flying around when you have a big backyard is one thing... but when you live on the 15th floor of a building it is quite another.

I was only outside for 3 minutes max... managed to get the furniture secure... and when I got back in I was thoroughly soaked. The rain didn't last long but man -- it was intense while it lasted.

I'll post more after we've found the shovel and dug out....

As teachers, we are constantly pointing out and correcting bad behaviour. As early as kindergarten, we are teaching kids that budding in line -- that running to the door and pushing everyone in the way is an inappropriate behaviour.

Driving home, stuck in a figurative parking lot (also known as the 404), I looked to my right and there is a jackass driving in a nonexistent lane trying desperately to nudge his way in by essentially giving me no choice but to brake or be hit. To the left, one lane over, another lovely soul is doing the same thing to another seriously peeved driver like myself.

N always mutters, "Guess he/she's more important than me."

I just wonder when it became the norm to tolerate bad behaviour and if every lesson I teach will fall on deaf ears.