black hole of dispair

that's my vehicle. a dark, dingy, not-sure-what-type-of-crevis-goop-is-lurking type of vehicle. it's really quite disgusting. it's inhabitants (me) learn to push the random juice cups, bags of to-be-returned-items, strollers, dump trucks and misc food particles aside. i barely have time/energy/physical/mental capacity to get myself, my kids, and my main quadrant of hobo bags into the house, let alone use my 4th arm to grasp the stray items that may or may not ever see the light of day again.

last sunday night, we traded cars with my mom so she could take the boys home and give clint and i a few moments to grab some coffee, and dare i say, talk and sip in the peace and quiet of starbucks.
my husband brought to my attention his embarrassment at the state of our vehicle and the fact that my most wonderful mom would be subjected to it's horrificness. as i opened the side door to help get the kids in the car, an empty cookie bag, an old pair of wet creek shorts and what can only be described as an array of tree branches greeted me. and then it hit me.  my van looks the way i feel sometimes. overworked. messy. unkept. discouraged.

so, this afternoon, i made it my personal intent to take my overworked. messy. unkept. discouraged. vehicle and give her the makeover she so humbly deserves. i even sacrificed my only 45 min of child nap time to complete such a dubious task.

it was quite shocking just how much stuff can fit in one mini-van. the phrasing is quite deceiving. "mini" i think not. perhaps "giant trash compactor fork lift" would be more appropriate.

take note of the large quantities of any-and-all items that were discovered lurking amidst the goldfish crumbs.
it was like a scavenger hunt for things that were actually worth salvaging...

yesterday's lunch

 chunks of pavement in a bucket. apparently foster is now a collector of such highly prized items.

 

a bag of baby clothes my friend had borrowed...in which i found my most favorite winter slippers my rowie wore oh-so-long ago

 a bucket of trucks and dinosaurs...we never leave home without it

the end result? 

tranquil cleanliness.

ahh. my vehicle can breathe....and so can i now that it no longer smells like a sweaty locker room :)