It's Project Time, Automotive Style!

For those of you who know us well, you know that we've been in the market for a new car.  We've been looking for something we can pick up for a very inexpensive price, knowing full well that we'd have to put some work into it.  If you've planned to spend $1,000 or less on a car, you're going to have to plan on doing some serious work to it if you want it to last out the test of time.  Otherwise it ends up being just a beater car that you plan on running into the ground.

We ended up with this car, something others might consider a hunk of junk, given how torn up it is.  She needs a paint job.  She needs some serious loving.  We're going to need to replace a lot of parts in it over time, but it's something we can do a little at a time.  Chances are we're going to put some serious money into it in March and April, possibly even May in order to make it really what we need it to be right now, but it's definitely worth it.  Chesh gets to have a project car and though it's not the greatest thing in the world, we managed a car that fits within both our timeline and our budget requirements.

This poor car has been abused.  It's been sitting in a back yard collecting dirt and dog scratches.  She needs some serious love.  She went from being well loved, babied even, to being cast off and neglected.  Now she's getting a new chance at life.  She's going to be loved and put back together.

Now, I know a lot of people would consider buying a car like this to be a waste of money.  Cars are bad for the environment and aren't all that sustainable.  However, in Texas, even if you never take the kids anywhere in the car, a car is necessary.  You need a car to do the simplest of things, from grocery shopping to working.  True, we probably don't need to put the kind of work into it that Chesh wants to put into it, but what's the point in having a car if it's not going to be something you love, right?

All in all, Chesh is looking to put at least $15,000 into this car, including the purchase price.  I know you could buy a new or nicer used car for that price, but that's not even thinking about all the other benefits you can get from an older car.  This isn't just going to be a car, but also a learning experience for the kids.  With all the money he's looking to put into the car, we're looking at effectively gutting the whole thing over the next ten years or so and replacing it all.  He's been looking at body kits, performance parts, and even what it will take to rebuild the engine entirely.  He's even planning out the perfect paint job for the car when it's complete.  By the time he's through, this won't just be a nice car, this is going to be a performance car.

You might be wondering what this has to do with homeschooling, or anything else on this blog.  At first we didn't put much thought into this car as a project car for anyone but Chesh.  With the amount of time Chesh plans to spend on this car alone, just in simple care and maintenance, this is a cheap source of entertainment that's also very practical.  However, it's evolved into something so much greater.  He and I have talked about what we're going to do with the car when it's finished.  It's going to have a lot of hard work and love in it.  Now, a lot of people will turn their project car into their son's first car, but when all is said and done, "first car" is definitely what this will be for anyone.  Performance cars are a dangerous first car to put on the road, especially if the driver doesn't know how to respect the power behind it.  Performance cars are fast and handle well, but they can also be deadly for an inexperienced driver that wants to push the car to it's furthest limits.  Driving a street-legal performance vehicle requires a sense of discipline, self control, and a great respect for the vehicle you're driving.

After a long discussion, Chesh and I have toyed with the idea of offering the car to Bunny Boo as a graduation gift from college.  If she doesn't go to college, then perhaps for landing her first job in a career field she's interested in.  We've also talked about other great accomplishments where the car might make an excellent gift, however we haven't set anything in stone.  Bunny Boo is still much too young to think about having a car any time soon.  She's not even nine yet!  However, this offer comes with a very big catch!  If she wants to have the car when she's older, she needs to earn it!  As for the cost, since Oz is going to be driving it as his car as his daily driver until it's time to hand it over, we're not going to ask her to earn a cent for parts and everything else.  We may have to reassess that when it comes down to time to get project cars for each of the boys.

Part of the whole discussion of a project car in general included the kids.  We've been talking about a project car for Chesh since he and I got together three years ago.  One of the benefits he's always listed with a project car was the potential to teach the kids about vehicle maintenance by working on the car.  Knowing how to work on cars is a valuable life skill, even if you're not going to be a mechanic.  It's nice to know how to do minor repairs when something goes wrong, and when it's something bigger, it's nice to have some idea of what the mechanic is talking about, especially as a woman.  Most mechanics will try and get as much over on a woman as they can, just because most women don't know what their mechanic is talking about.  Instead of telling them exactly where the problem is, they go through the laundry list of repairs that can be made, not all of them even necessary at that point, and try and convince the woman to do them all, not just the ones she really needs at the time.  Knowing about cars and car care is a vital life skill for anyone.

When we picked up this car, we knew that's exactly what we were getting, Chesh's project car.  One of the first things he suggested was to have Bunny Boo help him out because she's old enough.  Car care is a vital life skill, like I've already stated, and she's been begging to spend more time with Chesh.  Since she's decided official or not, he's her step-dad, she's wanted to do more stuff with him.  They have their Pokemon league, but that's not enough for her.  He thought this would be the perfect thing to give them something else to do together, even if it's just washing the car every weekend to keep it in as pristine condition as they can.  The boys will likely get involved and help where they can too, but they're a bit on the younger side and won't be able to do near as much as she will.

Bunny Boo is already hitting the point where she's really loving her time working on the car.  She's decided she likes Mazdas, so she's happy to know that it's a Mazda Mx6.  She's even named the car.  Her name is Tasha.  She's more excited about this car than she has been about many of the other projects we've started, games we've played, and things we've done.  It's a chance to learn.  It's a chance to get dirty and fix things.  It's also a chance for her to do things that boys usually do and girls are usually left out of, though she may not know that.  We haven't talked much about gender roles in our family.  Most of all, it's a chance to share something with someone she cares about a lot, but isn't quite sure how to connect with.  She's been looking for things they can have in common, things they can share, and she's very excited having just found one more.  This car could mean so much more for her than something she can drive when she's older.  This car could mean standing up in the face of gender stereotypes, learning vital life skills, and special time to share with someone very important in her life.

There are so many other lessons this car could create that it's more than just a car.  It's more than just a project that they can work on together.  This car is a life lesson, on friendship, teamwork, planning ahead, financial planning, design, mechanics, and so much more.  While we picked it up as just a cheap car to get us to the things we absolutely need to do, she's proving to be so much more!

Off to a Horrible Start

They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions.  At least these good intentions didn't end up hurting anyone but myself, not that they're really hurting me.  It's frustrating that less than a full day in I ended up failing, but tomorrow is a new day and I can make an effort again starting then.  That's what it's all about, keep on trying until you succeed.

The caffeine thing, that didn't even last more than twelve hours.  The orange soda was sitting there, calling my name.  However, it's not a lot of caffeine, and once it's gone, I'm not buying anymore.  I did do well with drinking green tea, which is a start.  At least it's something healthier than soda.  Now if only I could stick to that!

Exercise went well, but today I just didn't have the time!  Well, I did, but I had other things to do, so I decided to be a slacker instead.  There was just so much running around to get done!  I've also been achy.  I know, excuses, excuses.  However, it's not me making excuses this time!  I've been doing so much dance over the past two weeks that I think it's starting to wear on me.  The muscles in my back and sides are sore from constantly using them in ways my slacker body isn't used to.  It's wondering what all this proper posture stuff is!  I know it's good for me, but until my body adjusts, it's going to be rough.  Then there's having to put the baby in the carrier during class that isn't helping.  The extra weight on my body is hard to adjust to when it's so suddenly on me.  I think a day off isn't too much of a big deal, as long as I make no more excuses and get back to it.  Because of this, I've come to realize that exercising every day is kind of essential for me.  If I don't exercise every day then I'll just slack off on the day I'm supposed to.  I really do need to get off my butt and do it already!

In other news, we've started talking about getting another car today.  This topic leaves me a bit torn.  On one hand, it leaves me free to do what I want to do since I won't be house-bound when my significant other is at work.  On the other hand, I'm left worrying about the impact this is going to leave on the environment.  Doesn't this just give us a larger carbon footprint?  Won't this just increase the total emissions put out by my family?  Is that something I really want to do?  I suppose I don't have much choice.  The only option is to only drive when necessary.  I already have to leave the house anyway to do laundry, buy groceries, and run other essential errands.  I suppose it doesn't make that big of a difference if I'm using a secondary car or not.  I'll just have to keep track of how far I'm going.  With the economy being so bad and gas prices being what they are, I don't think that will be much of a challenge.

Tomorrow is also my birthday.  I get to celebrate it with doing something I don't really want to do, treat the household for lice.  It seems there's a breed of lice going around that is resistant to the store-bought chemicals as well as almost all holistic treatments I've found on the web.  Apparently it's gotten so bad that they've had to change the prescription they used to use to kill the nasty bugs for something they weren't resisting.  This prescription medication is the hardest thing to find!  It seems everyone has this nasty variant of the bugs because most of the pharmacies were out.  I hate the idea of putting chemicals on my head or my daugher's, but the only other option at this point is to shave our heads.  As much as I don't want to do that, I want these things gone.  If the prescription doesn't work, it may just come down to that.  It's sad when we live in a world where bugs have become so chemical resistant that it's not just the holistic remedies that don't work.  My poor kids have been made miserable with all kinds of things put in their hair that were supposed to kill the bugs or help remove the eggs.  We were joking that these things have become super lice!  Apparently we weren't far off at all!

Tomorrow, after every male in the house has their head shaved but the baby, and my daughter and I get our hair treated, and the laundry is done, I'm going to try and think of something sustainable living related to do.  Maybe I'll pull out one of my projects and knit.  I may look up a local recycling center for reference.  Maybe I'll just focus on my own health and go for a nice, long walk.  It will be nice to stretch my legs and work out the stress of everything going on.  Maybe it will help clear my mind.

Tomorrow is another day.  A birthday is always a good day to start new and more positive habits.  It's certainly one way I can do something to treat myself.