marathons, minivans, and Jelly Bellys.

  My husband is frugal. My husband is THE BOSS when it comes to money in our household.  My husband seems to know when to wait to purchase and when to buy.  I, on the other hand will justify any purchase into a need and not a want.  Hence the reason that ultimately he is the boss when it comes to money.
Don't get me wrong I get a say but not the FINAL say or we would be broke.

  I have a big family.  There are six of us and we are not small people.  The youngest of the four male spawn are still small only because of their age.  We have been driving ford Festivas for ages now.  They are THE BEST cars ever.  My blue girl gets 42 mpg.  Why is it that I can drive a 42 mpg car with four children in it* and yet it seems to be so hard for car manufacturers to get the mpg to a reasonable number....I digress.
                          
My hubby was the one that chose this brand of car as our preferred mode of transport and I have been in love with them ever since.  I even warmed up to the mismatched panel colors from having to replace with parts cars**.  Or even the deer guard that saved my life I am sure at least half a dozen times when we were driving bundle hauling paper routes in rural Kansas when my older two spawn were littles.  I hit a total of 11 deer in the "Crasher"***. The man can pick a good car. Unconventional, much like my barefoot running suites us.

Hubby, my love, my partner in crime, my better half, calls me today and says "I bought a minivan and am waiting to get insurance on it so I won't be home until tomorrow".  SSSAAAHHHWWEEEEETTTT!  We have been wanting one for a while but the moment had just not presented itself.  You see I am the impulsive one. I can jump into and try just about anything. He actually thinks before jumping. We want to travel and camp and actually all ride together when we go places but needed to be patient. I am not good at that whole patience thing.

                                    (Don't get me wrong, he is a fun guy even if he is the boss!)
 On a side note, one of my biggest accomplishments with running has been that I have stuck with it and keep improving. I jumped in and just kept on going even when it gets hard. Did I mention it was his idea to go barefoot?  He actually thinks before jumping.

He is in Salina Kansas, where we have a house and family and was to be back sometime this morning.  I was antsy to have him back so I could go run. He had other ideas like buying us a frakkin minivan!! Kovas you are not alone!! We should have a virtual race to celebrate! ****
As the epiphany has passed and I can look back on this morning and take the sting out of the universe slapping me and yelling, "CHILL THE EFF OUT GIRLIE, SEE, THINGS ALL WORK OUT".  I am no longer antsy and restless and thinking only of myself , just thankful that I am with the person in this world who makes me want to be a better person and in turn take care of him and our babies.

 You might be thinking that I deserve to run and that its hard to be a single parent and am justified in being frustrated that he is not here to help ease the burden...... I have a treadmill.  I also now have a killer book on CD that a lovely friend loaned me so I really have no excuse. Besides the man just bought me a new minivan and had to take care of some things out of town so I need to turn down the emotional volume a few notches.

  So to add to the spending spree, I officially spent the $81 big fat bones and signed up for the Des Moines Marathon in October!  I only waited until the day before the fee hike to sign up!  See more maturity on my part.

To add to the sweetness of my day, I had contacted Jelly Belly to get some samples and had not heard back so just assumed the answer was no.  Today however I received a box with two samples of each of the following.

Sport Beans, Honey Beans, Mixed Flavors, and Cocktail Classics.  I must say that I think Jelly Beans would make great running fuel. I drink nuun for my electrolytes and I could eat Jelly Beans for my carbs.  I was so surprised that I loved the Cocktail flavors. I usually hate the candy that is supposed to mimic the flavor of mixed drinks but these on the other hand rocked my socks! Makes me want to pick up drinking just for the Mojitos!

           See, this is what happens when I argue with my hunky highlander husband about money!

Have a sweet day my friends!

*reminds me of Harry Dresden's blue beetle in The Dresden Files books :)
**The hubby has to drive his festiva since they are not like the TARDIS and that much bigger inside than they appear.
*** Was once told that our car looked like we hit a fence and took it with us.
**** Kovas just celebrated the birth of his 4th child and took the minivan plunge!  You are going to rock that minivan Kovas.....just use protection!!