Baby you can drive my car.

So yeah, I got a  new car. A Ford Explorer. A couple of interesting things about this.

I really liked my minivan, for a long time. I had driven small SUVs for years, mostly Chevy Blazers, until one day I pulled my back out lifting the baby carrier into the back seat when my youngest was an infant.

So we got a minivan. And for eight years of kids and dogs and driving cross country a few times, it was the perfect car. 

But after it hit 100,000 miles and things started to slowly go wrong, I knew it was time to do something else. My kids are bigger and more capable, everyone gets into the car of their own accord and buckles up. Occasionally, however, I still need to carry 6-7 people, and so I needed something with a third row.

I had never in my life looked at Fords. Everyone in my family drove GM cars, mostly Oldsmobiles and Chevys. My husband's family used to own GM dealerships in the south. Ford was never on the radar. Until we found out that my husband's company has a discount deal with Ford. Money talks, my friends.

I like this car. It drives like a truck, not a car, but that's okay, I did that for years and didn't mind it. My favorite car I ever owned was a Jeep Wrangler, for crying out loud, I don't mind being bounced around. I loved that Jeep - but people frown and cluck at you when you put carseats and babies in a convertible. Anyway,  despite the truck feel, the Explorer is very comfy. And the timing was perfect - literally two days after we drove it off the lot, Kansas City got hit with 13 inches of snow. I'd forgotten how much I missed having a four wheel drive vehicle.

So that's really all that's news around here. I got a new ride. Today the high will be 51 degrees, the ice is melted off the driveway, and the kids are playing outside. I'm starting to see the light at the end of the winter tunnel, and I'm so glad.  I'm moving away from my Food Network obsession, the baking and cooking and warming, and back into HGTV. I'm ready for projects. That's a sure sign of Spring in my world.