The big van purchase

Today we did something I have often dreamed about, even though it was under unfortunate circumstances: walked into a car dealership and bought a car with a check - no financing, no hassles. Of course, it was with Mia's money, and the only reason she has it is her accident, but still - it's a pretty neat feeling. We bought a 2005 Toyota Sienna van because our Nissan Altima cannot hold Mia's wheelchair. It was very easy - we had arranged the whole thing beforehand, and have been waiting for about a week for the van to actually get to Arizona so we could take it home. It's pretty no-frills, I guess - it has a CD player but no DVD player, because we want Mia and the new kid to actually deal with the real world while they're in the van. But it does have all the safety stuff, and the extra seat in the middle of the second row that we can take out if we want to, and the sliding door opens by itself (handy!), and we're going to get running boards installed this week, so we're happy. We got a decent deal on it, too, since we got through the dealership's fleet manager and paid in full. We can only use it for Mia-related stuff, obviously, but that's fine - we still have the other car. We've already taken her out in it - she's unimpressed. We're glad to have it, though, because we think she'll enjoy being out in her wheelchair as opposed to her stroller - it's higher up and she'll be able to see more. It's not modified in any way, so we're hoping it's easy to lift the chair into the van. We haven't tried it yet, but if it's tough, we'll probably build a makeshift ramp for now. Modifications can come later if they are necessary. Obviously, we hope they won't be.

In other news, Mia is still having pretty severe seizures. Her neurologist told us that we can double her dosage of Depakene if we think it's necessary without his say-so, and we may have to soon. Blech.

Krys got a job, which is groovy news, since she's getting to the point where she can't pick Mia up and it will actually help her relax a little more, since it won't be as physical as dealing with the child. It's also nice because she makes twice as much money as I have ever made as a teacher, so I can go back to being a full-time house husband (I've been subbing part-time for a while). I like not working. It is a state everyone should aspire to.

Speaking of Krys, I should pimp her new blog, Angry Liberal Mommy. She decided she was getting too mad reading the newspapers to simply bitch to me, so she wants to share her tirades with all of you! Check it out.

We learned tonight that Mia knows the word "dessert." Krys said it to her and she forgot all about her main dinner. It's nice that she knows it, but now we have to be careful about saying it around her. We already have to be careful saying "hair," because she puts her hand in it and either pulls out her ponytail or gets food in it. Kids R Phun!