It wasn't on my 'to do' list for today, but it's done...

As previously posted, today was the day we took KFC to my dad's to celebrate his 80th b-day.

This a.m., a thought crossed my mind, but I didn't say it outloud. Later in the morning, my husband said to me, "you wanna give Stas the red car?" Stas is my step-brother. He's had some obstacles to face in his 32 years, many of them self-inflicted. I think he's finally starting to smarten up, now that he and his girlfriend are living with my dad and stepmom, due to no jobs, lack of funds, and medical issues.

The "red car" was my baby! We bought it in 1991 with 30k miles on it. I replaced the clutch 2yrs ago, and today it has 274,569 miles on it. My husband has been driving it (the a/c went out about 3yrs ago) for the past two summers. With a brand-new truck in the garage, with a/c, the appeal of driving the red car was kind of gone. Even at 30mpg (vs 18), he was making plans to not drive it much if it passed smog. A condition of getting the tags renewed in June. We were NOT going to put any more money into it (it needs the timing belt replaced), so the plan was to drive it til the wheels fell off or until it failed a smog check!

But today, those plans changed. Since I don't drive it much (standard transmission, and I have a neuroma in my left foot, making it uncomfortable to drive with a clutch in traffic), in my mind it was mostly gone anyhow. We agreed that getting rid of it would be fine, and that we'd reveal all of it's warts (which aren't many, but a new timing belt ain't cheap), leaving my stepbrother to decide if he wanted to risk taking it. I offered it, and he was VERY much interested in it since medical appointments cost about $35 in gas, per trip.

The deed is done. We'll call tomorrow and take it off our insurance, and notify the officer in the guard shack to our gated community. It was a GREAT car for us...very reliable, lots of memories, many road trips, one being our move cross-country with a dog and cat in the back of it. The there was the ride home after Bruce and Kelly's wedding; the time I did a 180 on my way to work in the snow; and the time we brought our brand-new baby home from the hospital. Good times. Good times.

I told my step-brother to take good care of it, cuz I love that car.

Oh. And visiting with my dad today? Pretty much non-existent! Company was already there when we arrived, not enough room for all of us to sit at the table, so some of us ate out on the deck, then we went to the other side of the property where he's building a house, got back and people were leaving and much discussion of the transfer of ownership of the red car.

SB and his GF rode home with us and drove off in their new ride.

Happy Birthday.