Et tu?

Uncle Drew stopped by a couple times here recently. It was cool that he just stopped in, the kids were excited to see him. When he got here the other night, he had called on the way over, so we knew to expect him. When he turned in the driveway, Four, who had been brushing his teeth, could see him from the bathroom. "My man uncle Drew is here," he announced. Then went running out to see him. Today, he kept refering to him as "that tough guy." LuLu couldn't stop saying his name either. "Doo?" "Doo?" "Eh doo?" (translated: "Drew? Drew? Where Drew?") I couldn't help but think that it sounded a bit like "et tu?" -- which translates in French (or freedom? ;^]) to "and you?"

We went out for dinner to tonight and then stopped in at Carsense to check out *gasp* mini-vans. The Explorer recently 'needed' $1800 worth of emissions work. Needs new tires. And, apparently the transmission is starting to slip. Go it's probably time for something. And it's probably the mini-van. We keep trying to talk ourselves out of the mini-van but it just seems so darned practical. Anyway, both the kids were really good at both stops. On the way home, Mon and I both thanked the kids, especially Four, for their good behavior and told them how proud we were of them. Four says, "Where did we go, again?" Brief pause. "Oh, that's right, we went out for lunch. And the car store. That's not that much." It was enough for us. Thanks kids!

At some other point on that drive, M and I were trying to figure out if a mini-van (henceforth van) is really what we want. M basically said that it would end up being what I drove most of the time and she just couldn't see me in a van. To me, this is no small compliment, because while I cannot argue the practicality of the vehicle, the whole market segment just seems so generic. What is really more my speed would be an old Vanagon Syncro or a double cab Vanagon (TriStar). Failing those a 23-window would be sweet. But I am not sure if I am ready to deal with the requisite tinkering. I have too many (unfinished) projects as it is.