Four years ago when we were doing the Old Testament in Sunday School, I remember reading the story of Rebekah and how all she had to do was get water for some camels and she found her man.

And I thought – jeez, if only it was really that easy.

I just need to walk around with a water bucket and find a guy with some camels. None of this stupid dating stuff with the dumb games and all of that.

Just a bucket of water and some camels.

Then I realized that when it does happen, I’ll look back and it will have been that easy.

I mean, we don’t know how many other camels Rebekah got water for before it finally happened.

How many dorks and jerks and guys who didn’t know where they wanted to go with their camels or guys who weren’t sure what to do with a woman with a water bucket for their camels and guys who knew what they wanted to do with their camels, but it wasn’t journey across the desert.

So really, it all comes down to guys with camels and women with water buckets.

I should write a book about that.

This is a long process.

Tuesday I went and drove a bunch of cars, but it really started just over a month ago. A friend of mine works at a dealership and I told him what I wanted and he started looking. So Tuesday I drove them. Yesterday I spent the entire day online looking up any and all information I could find about the cars and talking to everyone about what they knew about them. It was a frustrating day. But I finally decided.

And today I went up and signed my name about 20 times or so, and they took a picture of my friend giving me the key, and I drove off.

I like the car. There are still a couple of little things I have to do for it. Tomorrow I’m going to switch my insurance company, that could take a while. I’m glad I’ve had Spring Break to do this so I didn’t have to rush it too much and could spend a couple of days getting it done.

I think I grew up some today.

I’ve had Squirt for almost three years now. He is my very first car. I went so long without one that I was so glad to get him when I did. I named him Squirt after the little turtle in the movie Finding Nemo. I thought about naming him “The Black Pearl” after the boat in Pirates of the Carribean, because of what he represents, freedom. But he’s a white car, not a black car, so Squirt was also a “nautical” name. It fits him too. He’s a little car with lots of gumption. I drove him out to Indiana and back in 2004. Last summer I took him out to California with me and I finally got to cross Nevada off my list of states to visit. And at Thanksgiving I drove him out to Texas and back.

I had a lot of fun on those road trips. I’d much rather drive than fly any way. But it was me, Squirt, and the road. What more does a person need? That was freedom. That was adventure. Unfortunately after my last adventure got a little too adventuresome when my tire almost broke off on my way back from Texas (I blame the cell phone. If I hadn’t had a cell phone and been able to call for help I wouldn’t have needed to. I didn’t have a cell phone for my other two trips and I didn’t have any problems on them. It’s the cell phone I tell you) nobody will let me drive him on a road trip any more. The CD player also started eating CDs on that last trip. I had to sing real loud to myself the first tank of gas till I could un-stick the CD and get the radio working again.

He’s a 4 cylinder car. Which means I had to turn the air conditioning off when I was getting on the freeway so I’d have enough juice to get going fast enough. But once he was going, he did real well. I would pass faster looking cars just to make him feel good.
And he turns like a dream. I can turn a U-turn on any road.

He’s all the car a person could ask for and we have some great memories together. The things I’ve done with that car – it’s been great.

But since nobody will trust me to drive him on a road trip any more, even though I’d have no problem with it, I started looking for a new one. Today I went and test drove a bunch to see if I could find one I like. I’ve narrowed it down to three. And now I’m feeling all kinds of guilt about betraying Squirt. It feels like I’m trading in a child. I hope he knows how much I’ve enjoyed the last almost three years, all the places we’ve been, all the memories we’ve had. I hope he doesn’t feel rejected when I eventually give someone else the key and leave him at the lot. I hope he finds a new home and they treat him well and take care of him. He really is a good car. I don’t know what I would’ve done the last three years without him.