Silver Sparkle Spaceship & The First Day of Spring

Dear Em,
Thursday was the first day of Spring. It's been a long winter, & you & I have been patiently waiting wanting to punch winter in the face crying looking forward to the day Spring was finally here. And although we may get a major winter snow storm later this week, we took Thursday to celebrate that it was Spring, even if only by name.

I started the celebration by picking up my new car. I drive a lot for work. As someone who drives over 70,000 miles in two years, I tend to go through cars pretty quickly. Since you were born, I've now had three cars. The first car you ever traveled in was my Mazda 3. I teared up as I turned that car in. Sure, Daddy said it looked like a pregnant roller skate, but that was the car we brought you home in. It was the car you had all of your first car/first trip moments. It was the car you first learned to sing Top 40 Hits in.

A Subaru Forester was my next car, & Daddy called me a hippie. It is true that Subaru owners seem to be a little bit crunchier. I almost felt like I had a lifestyle to live up to as a Subaru owner. A lifestyle of more mindful sustainability & camping & hiking & biking & kayaking. Is it just a coincidence we took on more of that while I drove my Subaru?

I was missing my Subaru & it's bright sun roof the first time I got into my new car, a Ford Escape. I felt a little bit like I had gotten into a spaceship. There are more buttons than I can tell you & multiple screens. This is the first time I needed a 30 minute tutorial on how to use my car. It was a shame on the first sunny day in a while, on the first day of Spring, I no longer had a sun roof to open up over my head, but I really enjoyed the rear camera (I'm slightly less worried about crashing into/running things over when I back up now), bluetooth phone sync, & digital displays (I think there are no less than 100 different displays to choose from).

Daddy asked if we could take the new car for a joyride after dinner, & I thought what better way to celebrate Spring (& create a mess in my new car right off the bat) than a ride to the beach? The sun was just starting to set & the sky was showing hints of gold & purple & dark blue hues. It was cold by then, but we decided to get out & run around a little bit anyways.

After our quick trip to the beach, we headed to McDonald's for Shamrock Shakes, having missed out on our St. Patrick's Day tradition the week before.

We talked about naming this car, & you said you wanted to call it "gold sparkle." It sounded a bit like a My Little Pony to me, but I would have gone with it. "Except that my car is silver, not gold Em. What if we call it Silver Sparkle?" You were pretty happy with that, & even gave in to my request to end the name with spaceship.

I held Daddy's hand as he drove us home in Silver Sparkle Spaceship. The Rhode Island sky was what you like to call cotton candy, pastel pinks & purples & blues. I looked at you & looked at Daddy & smiled. I can't believe how incredibly lucky we are...for so many reasons, but most of all for the love we share.

I love you so,
Mommy