The Van

***Our van broke down New Year's Eve. We had it towed to our house.(I love USAA) It sat in our driveway till February when we figured we had enough money saved up to fix it. We had it towed to our favorite car repair shop.(Again, love USAA) They replaced the fuel pump. We drove it home. Two days later when I was getting ready to go somewhere, I got the kids in the van and got my seat belt on. Put the key in the ignition.......nothing. Try again....nothing. Try again....nothing. Oh yay! Our van sat in the driveway till last week when we decide, "Hey, why don't we get the battery checked!" (We hadn't checked it already because it was still pretty new...how could it be the battery?) Chris took the battery out, took it to Kragen....4 AMPs. Wow. Next day we took it to Sears where we bought it in the first place. Guess what. Still under warranty for about 23 more days....we got another for free. Shew! For the last almost 4 months we've been driving Chris's Ford Focus and Emily's Mazda Protege. Both small cars. If the whole family had to go somewhere, we would go in two cars. Today, I drove the van for the first time since before New Year's Eve. I felt like I was in a truck; high off the ground...loved it. Only problem was, I kept reaching for the gear shift between the two front seats. Um, in the van, it's on the steering column. Same with the parking break, except in the van, that's on the floor.***

***Since the van's been closed up pretty tight for the last four months, the windshield leaks where there is a rust spot at the top on the passenger side, and it rained a few times....the carpet in front of the passenger seat is black, stinks like mildew and is NASTY***

***Wondering how terrible it would be to just let Chris MacGyver the rust spot with silicone sealant***

***Also wondering how terrible it would be if we just pulled the stinky carpet out and drove the van around without it***