objects in the mirror

Eighty thousand, six hundred two.

That's how many miles are on my van. Enough to drive across the United States almost 30 times. An average of 44 miles per day for 5 years. 4,000 tanks of gas. Countless memories of a life spent raising my kids on 4 wheels.

When I was a stay-at-home mom, I was never "at home". We were always on the go. Theme parks, museums, libraries, zoos. If there was somewhere to go, we were there. I'd load up the boys and snacks and videos and we'd be off. Once the kids started school, the time in the van changed (as did the van) but some things haven't. The wheels on the van keep turning.

My van is always a mess. A collection of life debris. Mine. The boys. Work. Scouts. Papers collected commingled with trash, fast food containers, videos, schoolwork, stuff. It drives Eric (and everyone else who has to ride in it) nuts, but for me it's comfortable. It's a reminder of where I've been. Where I stopped along the road. Receipts of my life (figuratively and literally). Last week I took the van to the carwash and although the outside is clean, the inside is still filled with all those little reminders. The scraps of paper, the recycling, Aaron's shoes, the cup of pens and pencils. I'm OK with it, it's who I am as a mom - the keeper. Ask me where something is and chances are the answer will be "in the van".

So where have we been in 80,000+ miles? We've made countless trips to Rancho Cucamonga and Upland. I've taken the kids (by myself) on vacations. We've traveled as a family. It's our "family" car. Our together vehicle. We've lived and the stuff in the van can attest to that.

So as I make the final payment on the POS van (that I hated from day 1), I'm looking back at where it has taken me and where I'm going. Like many things in my life, it's not hip and trendy, it doesn't have all the features I want, it's stained and battered, it's "lived in". But it's also safe and dependable. We all fit. We all have our places and like my scrapbooks and this blog it tells a story. Our story. Where the van will take us next, I'm not quite sure. I guess you'll have to come along on the journey to find out.