Golf Carts, Lawn Mowers, and Hondas

I think the title of this post accurately describes the last couple of weeks up here in Maine. It has been great spending time with my parents - I think we have spent more time together in the past 4 weeks than in the previous 4 years. I've gone golfing with my dad a couple of times and he actually let me drive the golf cart! It's pretty impressive since the last time I drove a golf cart was probably 20 years ago and I ran it into the post that was holding up a deck. Not good! But this time I safely transported Dad around the golf course and he happily told me all about the ins and outs of playing golf. I don't think I'll ever actually be a golfer, but it was nice time spent with my dad and I know he liked being able to share his favorite hobby with me.

Since I've been living with my parents for free since I got home, eating their food, driving their car, and all of that, I decided that it was time for me to get off my butt and do something. It came in the form of mowing the lawn. I've never been a big lawn mower - I tried mowing the fields one summer at Wanakee and Dave Johnston yelled at me because I hit too many rocks with the tractor. Luckily our yard doesn't have too many rocks, though it is pretty big and mowing it takes a lot of time. However, we have a riding lawn mower, which makes it much easier. I was pretty happy to tool around on the lawn mower, listening to my iPod and enjoying the sun. It wasn't a bad way to spend an afternoon and I know my parents were happy to have all of us working out in the yard together. I think Dad is a little sad that I am moving to the cottage and won't be around to mow the lawn for him this summer. Maybe I have a future in landscaping if the whole teaching thing doesn't work out...

One of the big things that has consumed the last few weeks is having to buy a car. One of the things I loved best about living overseas was not having to worry about owning a car, but having a car is unavoidable here. I wish I lived in a city where I could use public transportation, but instead I live in rural Maine and I have to have a car. Luckily my parents again came to my rescue (have I mentioned how amazing they are and how great they have been about my sudden life change, which has affected all of our lives?). When I thought I would be returning from Lima at the end of next year, my parents and I had talked about me buying my mom's Honda CRV from them and she would get a new car. When I came home earlier than expected, we went back and forth about whether that was still the best thing to do financially. Dad and I went and looked at used Honda Civics for me and found nothing. We also looked at new CRVs for Mom and decided that they were too expensive. Now, my mom has always wanted a minivan (I know, it makes no sense - she has no one to schlepp around anymore, but she still loves them) and luckily the people who live next to my grandparents own a car dealership with a lot of minivans. They were able to give my parents a good deal on a year old minivan that my mom absolutely loves, which means I get the CRV. The CRV is a great car and it was really the solution I wanted anyway, but I needed to let my parents work through the different options. None of the solutions were perfect, since we weren't planning on 2 car payments right now, but this seems like it will work out. And now I have a car!!

So, that is my last few weeks in a nutshell. Being in Maine has been good - my counseling sessions went well and just being home has made me feel better. I leave tomorrow to move to our cottage at Hedding for the summer. After having been in Maine for 4 weeks and basically spending all my time with my parents, I am ready for a change of scenery and a chance to catch up with friends.