With the population boom, I don't think I need to help

I would like to start off by saying that this is in no way a personal judgment on anyone with children or planning to have children. This is a topic that has come up for me quite regularly and I thought I would write out my thoughts on it.

I've been married for almost a year now, and since the day I became engaged the question that almost immediately would follow was: "when do you plan to have children?". Our initial response was usually "about two years" or "when we're ready". Much like the rhyme from childhood (First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the baby...), that's the natural progression of things. But what the rhyme leaves out is what comes after the baby, and that's often what I think about. For the past few years I have worked in retail, and I have seen some very unhappy mothers with children in tow. Each time I would see someone in that situation I would shrink back and think to myself that I don't want it to be me. I don't want to be the soccer mom grudgingly dragging her children from one activity to the next and living only for the children. To be fair, I have seen some very happy mothers, and seeing them gave me the warm fuzzy feeling that my friend calls "the baby oggle". In that moment I see the happier side: playing with the child, and bonding on hiking trips etc. The happy ideas have yet to overcome the unhappy ones. I'm told that one day my biologics will over ride my brain and I will want a child no matter what; I don't know if that is true or not, but what I do know is my brain keeps screaming no every time a small child starts to cry. There's more to it than that.

At this point in my life, I have to ask myself if I really want someone that dependent on me and my time. I still want to travel the world, I want to learn, I want to be able to take off to the beach at a moments notice because I can and not have to worry about the responsibility yet. On top of that, children are expensive. Financing someone else's future is really something that I won't take lightly and I know that if I want to bring another life in to this world our financial status will have to change.

It all comes down to two things: maturity and financial readiness. Neither are present in my life at the moment, so then having a child isn't really an option either.

Little Orange Beetle, That's how I roll

I got my first car not too long ago. I was fortunate enough to inherit an operational vehicle that wasn't in anyway embarrassing for me to get to and fro in. This vehicle was a 1995 Nissan Altima in the color of "Champagne Beige". Really, no one can complain about receiving a vehicle for practically nothing that requires little to no upkeep. One thing I would have cause to comment on: this vehicle had the outward personality of a rock. Meaning: Yeah, it was a car and it got me where I needed to go but it was not really distinguishable from any other car similar to it on the road.

I was in a position as of late to replace the '95 Altima. Mind you, I was in no real hurry to do so as it was completely paid off and the insurance premium on it was low, but because the car was near to twelve years old the repairs were getting such that they would be equal to payments on a newer vehicle and the stress factor was immeasurable. So at the end of June my husband and I began a vigilant search for a newer affordable vehicle for me. To be honest, I had no specific car in mind though I did have certain criteria it should meet: price, gas millage, year, and condition.

All in all I came out with a car that I've been dreaming of since I realized it's existence: a VW Beetle. The lot where I found her had three used Beetles, one silver, one light blue convertible, and an orange one with "all the fixin's". Now, in my personal opinion if you are going to drive a vehicle like the Beetle (or any other vehicle that's highly identifiable) one should really get it in a fun color. So that automatically nixed the silver one as an option. Secondly, I live in Portland, Oregon where if you're really lucky you get a good three months without rain, thusly making the convertible an impractical option. This put me squarely in the driver's seat of what I now consider to be my dream car. Not only is my 2003 VW New Beetle in Sundown Orange fun to drive, and highly maneuverable, but it's got personality. And I'm proud to say that I have only seen three others in the Portland area with the same make model and color option. As silly as this may sound, that means a lot to me.