Congratulations Mom!

Congratulations are due to my Mom, who is in Chicago this weekend to receive a big award from Veterans Affairs! I haven't been able to find anything online to describe the award, but I'll have her give me a write-up when she gets back. At any rate, it's a HUGE deal, so give her a big pat on the back the next time you see her (which will probably be before I do).

On a significantly less happy note, it looks like I'll be getting a new car sooner than expected, probably as soon as Nick gets back from his September deployment. Oh yeah, Nick's going to be back in Qatar for the month of September - I think I've neglected to mention that. Long story short, I took my car in for some routine maintenance today, and the guy showed me about $2000 worth of work that Big Red needs to make it though the next year. These are big things like replacing the ball bearings on my front wheel/brake/tire part (you know, the part that lets you turn - I'm not a mechanic!)

So the plan is to trade before she quits for good, which, if you believe my mechanic, should be really soon. I was a bit skeptical about the place, to be honest, until I ran into my former boss's(JB for you USC folks) son there, who told me that his family doesn't take their cars anywhere else. Seems like the place is legit so I guess I'll believe my mechanic.

I'm thinking about one of the new Honda CRV's. Does anyone have any experiences with/thoughts about them? Do you have anything else in that price range that you'd highly recommend? Considering all of the road trips we take, and the plans we have in the next few years to add to the Hall family, it has to be a small SUV. No sedans! Let me know your thoughts.