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The Spouse was on vacation all through last week and Monday.

We spent a significant time car shopping on Friday and Sunday. It quickly became apparently how I loathe the task. R. said, at one point, that I have a phobia. Maybe. But as the old saying goes, what doesn't kill me makes me stronger. We hit several dealerships where I told a couple of salesfolks "no": there's nothing they could do to persuade me to buy a car that minute. I told one guy (who was actually quite nice) that I wouldn't buy the car even if offered it for free for the simple fact is that I don't fit in the driver's seat. This turned out to be the major restraining factor in my efforts. Basically, I sit so straight (pardon the inside joke there) in the car seat that my head brushes any sunroof. And I want a sunroof. Thus, I eliminated the Camry, the Accord, the Mazda6, the Altima, the Maxima, and the G35. I fit the S40 but found the cabin too cramped. (Space capsule, anyone?)

SUVs were obviously no prob and I was leaning towards them. We were about to visit a Saturn dealership (by the way, great salesfolks!) to look at their SUV when R. suggested considering American cars. Made sense: my current car is a Dodge Neon and American car manufacturers would build for, well, tall and big Americans no matter how they sat. I tried the G6 and the LaCrosse and absolutely had no prob. That put cars back in running. I then tried the Galant and found, too, I could fit in it.

So I found myself on Monday contemplating five different vehicles. For the cars, they were the G6, the Galant, and the LaCrosse. The Vue and the Santa Fe were the contenders if I chose an SUV. What a pickle.

Last Saturday we attended two events. We met R.'s relatives up in the valley to celebrate the holidays. Then, that evening, we joined our peer group for the first time in a good year at a housewarming. Wow. We were not only impressed with the house's layout and the furnishings, but it was great to see so many familar faces after such a long period of time. We were greeted heartily and enthusiastically and were one of the last guests to leave that night.

What amazed us were the number of long term couples we knew. R. and I just celebrated our eleventh year yesterday, putting us in the middle among the long-term couples. Several of us marveled how many were "nesting": remodeling their homes, making them comfortable, etc. I noted that the biggest difference our peer group had from the mainstream was that none of us had children (though we knew plenty who did.)

It's ironic. I'm the oldest child followed by two sisters, Joc and Jan. When we were younger, we imagined Joc would settle down first, followed by Jan, with me the last child. Now we're settling in the order of our birth. (Apparently our parents weren't surprised though they expected Joc to be the first to settle.)

I joined my friends GC and CS this Tuesday in the evening. Both are in periods of transition, especially CS who is looking for a career change. GC continues to settle in his new home and solo lifestyle. I debating about arranging an Internet pool to see how long he stays that way. (Just kidding, GC!)

Work's been going well. There's a lot to do but much of it on my own pace.

OH! Yesterday we celebrate our eleventh anniversary. Yeah!

I give the past few days several gold stars.