My Dear 2001 Toyota Echo,

As our relationship comes to a close and I pass you on to someone else I can only wish for the best for you. After all, I've always wanted the best for you. Don't let the 4 month old Taco Bell quesadilla under the passenger seat fool you.

We have had some amazing times despite the name calling...mostly on my end. You've been called "Clown car," "little plastic toy," "piece of crap," and "Why won't you go faster dammit?!?" But amidst the name calling, there were also the fond names- "Bubble car" (not meant to indicate you're chubby although you are slightly more hip-pey than your big sister the Corolla), "girl," "little bug," and of course, "Little car."

I pretended not to notice when hubcaps were repelled from you. I've encouraged you along the way when you would creep over the 76 mile-per-hour speed and I could feel you huffing and puffing just a teeny bit but I didn't want to hurt your pride by drawing attention to it.

You were there for me in college when I would nap with the seat back when I got to class too early. You had drunk sorority sisters falling all over each other in your back seat when I was the sober sister at socials (Sorry for the vomiting- but you should be thanking me for that detailing two years ago). You went out with me to meet up with friends in Towson, Bel Air, Glen Burnie, Baltimore, Charleston, and Ocean City. You may have even been accused of hitting some people once or twice...I'm pretty sure you just nudged them when they walked in front of you though.

You are a true beach girl like me. You're from Florida, you were here for me that year I turned 21 and lived in Ocean City for the summer (sorry for all the drunk, sandy people who inhabited your back seat on occasion), and all the South Carolina beaches- Myrtle Beach, Folly Beach, and Isle of Palms.

You traveled back and forth with me from Charleston, SC to Baltimore, MD. (Sorry for the dog's multiple bouts of car sickness.) You were even in an episode of Army Wives (with me of course) which was filmed in Charleston.

You were there during my worst roadtrip ever (although with the best results)- driving from Baltimore, MD to St Louis, MO for some boy at 11:30pm the day before New Years Eve just over two years ago. Turns out that didn't work out too well for you since now I'm going to be moving 5500 miles away with that boy to a tropical island....hence the reason you're not coming with me. Sorry to rub that in. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings.

In all seriousness, I feel like you were my first. My previous, the Neon left me high and dry with her flickering ghost dome light that would randomly come on while driving too fast, having the bass too loud, or even if someone leaned their leg too hard against the passenger side door. But I digress.

You're the first car that was mine. I had you the longest and I even paid you off all by myself. I'm sorry you won't be there for me when I go to the ultimate beach.

So I hope that the new girl can appreciate you and have as much fun with you as I have. I hope to be able to find another "little car" who will come close to what you've been to me. And maybe your cute older sister might just do...(I just saw an O'ahu Craigslist ad for a silver Corolla!)

Love,
Your favorite owner

This past weekend was such a blast!

Nick ended up having to work on his day off on Saturday morning but he got off by 9:30am. So we were on the road a decent time. We were able to meet up with his roommate from the Naval Academy, Seamus and his girlfriend Alex. We had lunch and dinner with them, walked around Broadway at the Beach, shopped a little, and went out drinking.

We ended up being pretty lame and going back by 11:30pm (it's sad when you keep checking the clock and realizing you just can't party like you used to- especially when I had to keep ordering Irish Coffees to stay awake).
Seamus and Alex turned in early but Nick and I stayed up drinking champagne and Yuengling in the hotel room and watching really lame movies for a few hours. We had some pretty good talks. :)

Sunday we had an awesome huge breakfast with Seamus and Alex at this random little place called the Golden Egg, then Nick and I went back to Broadway at the Beach and did lots of cheesy coupley stuff.

We went to the Aquarium there (and got like a 75% off active military discount!), shopped, made a Naval Officer Build a Bear (he finally got the hint), and Coldstone Creamery before heading back to Charleston. It was an awesome weekend. It was so nice to get to spend some time with him after the previous week with only seeing him a half hour at a time most nights. It was also really nice to see some friends before we move super far away. Seamus is stationed in Wilmington, NC (Marine) with his girlfriend Alex for the next few years, so Myrtle Beach made a nice halfway point.

This weekend is supposed to be Nick's scheduled 4 day weekend off. Since it's basically the last regular week of work though (he has his graduation next week from this program) he only gets a 3 day weekend and has to be back in on Monday next week. It times out really well though because Blink182 (Nick's fave band) is playing the Verizon theater in Virginia on Friday. One of Nick's other really good friends Mark is stationed in VA so we're going to stay with him and go to the concert on Friday and hang out on Wednesday. Mark is hilarious. The guy seriously cracks me up every time we hang out with him. His girlfriend Kim is going to be there this weekend too. Basically, our little Naval Academy gang back in MD was me and Nick, Melissa and Jared (who now live in Pearl Harbor who we hope to be living nearby), Seamus and Alex (who we got to see this past weekend and who are in NC), Mark and Kim (who we get to see this upcoming weekend!) and Lou and Meghan (Lou is stationed in Hawaii also). So it's nice to get together with the rest of the gang who isn't already in HI before we move. :)

This weekend will be a lot of fun. So now Nick just needs to do well on his big oral test tomorrow and we might even be able to leave earlier on Thursday. He's a little stressed about it- apparently it's like 2-3 hours of a few of the instructors quizzing you on various stuff pertaining to running a sub. I definitely don't envy him but I think he'll be fine.

I'm looking forward to the weekend. It'll be a nice break...again. :)

I'm a little bummed at the moment. Just another example on how you can't plan anything with the military...

Nick and I are going to Myrtle Beach for the weekend tomorrow since he is supposed to be off on Saturday and Sunday. I'd hoped to leave by 9 in the morning or so since it's at least a 2 hours drive.

He just got home from work a little bit ago and told me has to go to work in the morning. Said it's only a half day. He hopes to be out by noon. This after going in almost every day this week at 5 in the morning and not coming home until 9pm or later.

I guess at least it's not a whole day he has to go in for but it's still enough to bum me out and mess up our plans. Who knows, knowing the Navy he probably won't even be home until after 4pm tomorrow. Sigh.

Nothing to be done about it tonight. Nick just handed me a sheet of bubble wrap to cheer me up...the BIG bubbles. There's something to keep me distracted for a while.