Tikkabik

And I'm not really that happy about it.

I started working from home more than seven years ago, after I got laid off from my IT job. It gave me an excuse to pull our second car off the road, and I eventually got rid of it (thought it actually took a long time). I don't miss the insurance liability and the cost of maintenance, and for a long time, it worked out quite well. Our kids were little and Bonnie and I could coordinate schedules easily so one of us could use the car when we needed to.

Times have changed, and so have our needs. Bonnie is working now, and spending more time out of the house. The kids are older, and they have interests that keep them out of the house as well -- Emmeline's after school program, doctor's appointments, Robert's video workshop, book club. It all adds up. Rather quickly.

Today I grimly realized that we're going to have to get a second car. The van is a terrific way to transport the family, but at the end of the day, it's just one vehicle. We need something else for those times (that are hitting us with increasing frequency) that we need to be in two places at once.