Don't ask Kara on my behalf, ok? If the intuitive little thing calls me a "Porny Pony" she's just going to be scarred for life.

Hee! I won't, Trudy. I'd hate for her to ask me what it means.

We considered just getting a sedan, but with three kids, if we'd gotten a five seater, then we could never take an extra person with us, like for instance, my mother.

It's hard to get around the minivan once you want to carry more than four people and want decent gas mileage.

In my little world it's all about me, but {{{juliana}} for her pain and hurting. Also for those who are suffering from snot monsters. Also {Daniel} for catching a bad break. Hopefully you'll find something better.

I was supposed to have a whole lot of work today, and everyone but the very first and very last bailed on me. Since I'm not exactly Miss Happy Camper today, I bailed on the last one. Would have been 5.5 hours of sitting around waiting for him, and, no. Instead I've got a kitty on my chest and am trying to distract myself here. Of course I should be cleaning, but fie on that, at least for the moment.

I think what you're going through qualifies you for guilt-free kitty time. Screw the cleaning. It's only going to get dirty again. You can catch the dirt the next time around.

Wait til you have to deal with the service center. They are really good about explaining things. Honestly, they are the reason we own a third Saturn. We really like thier cars, but the garages are just really good. ( we had some major stupidity with the finace people - but we gave it to the customer service people and never spoke to the finace people again)

Our salesman took us to the service center, and the parts department, today. I have never seen a cleaner dealership service center in my life. I would cook and eat in the service department.

We didn't have to deal with finance people, thank goodness. We used the (sad) settlement from the ins. company; Scott's bonus; a small cash gift from my mother (in lieu of Christmas presents); what savings we had, and put the rest on our home equity line of credit. The amount financed isn't actually that big. It changes a lot of plans, like how we're going to get the drain fixed on our bathtub (we have a shower in the other bathroom, so we're not being all dirty or anything, but still) and painting the kids' rooms and our room is now out. I'm not sure how we're going to meet the extra payment on the equity loan, but Scott said it's not a problem, so I'm playing 1950s wife willingly, and not bothering my pretty head about it. Fa la la la la la la la la.

We were going to have to buy a new car in a year or two, anyhow. We were hoping for the year or two more, and hoping that it would be the other car ('91 Corolla that has developed a weird leak) we'd get rid of, but we'll survive.

My f-i-l owns a Saturn and loves it, and the service. My cousin did own a Saturn (from the dealer we went through), and would buy another (but she fell in love with a Toyota Rav-4, I think before Saturn came out with its Vue). My aunt owned a Saturn and loved it.

Kara is insightful! For I have many pairs of stripey socks, and am presently sporting pink'n'red'n'orange'n'claret'n'cream striped knee socks. I smell like Egyptian oranges and vanilla more than mint, though.

Which reminds me - my sister's Spanish boyfriend has just encountered mince pies for the first time. He was pleasantly surprised to discover that they are not, in fact, MINTS pies (a mixup with the German word for mint, we suspect).

Mmmm. Home-made mince pies with viennese pastry tops. Yummier than naked Hyena!Xander topped with Spike brandy butter.

(sigh. Christmas isn't very much helping me with the weightloss.)

Kitties are awfully good for hurty hearts.

I agree. Both Harvey and Sammi have been very close to me in the quiet moments the last few days.

I want a pony name.

It's been one year since my first date with Dave. He prefers to celebrate the day we met (Nov 21st), while I prefer to celebrate today, so I cooked on November 21st and he is taking me out to dinner tonight.

Oh, Daniel. Ugh. I am so mad on your behalf. I think I understand how and why the woman took offense. I think you were right when you speculated that she thought you said, "You remind me of" rather than "you've (as in your conversation has) reminded me of," and after that, I can see how that misunderstanding put a weird filter on everything else you did or said, even if/when you were responding to her inquiries.

I do also think you need to contact the other man who actually told her the nasty name (I'd never heard it) for Brazil nuts. At least he can set the record straight on how she asked you, and maybe show how such a horrible misunderstanding was possible. I hope you get fight this right away. The longer you wait, the more it's going to look like you're pulling your explanation out of your ass.

Yummier than naked Hyena!Xander topped with Spike brandy butter.

C'mon now, Fay. C'mon.

(sigh. Christmas isn't very much helping me with the weightloss.)

Oh, let me fanwank this for you, Fay. Indulging over the holidays is good for your metabolism. You don't want your body to go into famine mode. You want to keep it guessing. In the long run, eating some yummies over Christmas is going to help with the weight-loss and maintenance. Plus? I've seen the pictures, you're already gorgeous.

My parents' minivan has a DVD player in the back, but it doesn't get much use since my dad likes books on tape for long car rides.