10 bucks

I just plopped down at my (new!) desk and said, "Time to blog. I don't have anything to say."

To which Darren replied, "There are lots of fancy electronic toys in the world, but for 10 bucks, you can get a groovy wooden train."

So, okay. I'll run with that. :)

Tonight, we did something we haven't done in months. We went to our Monday night antique auction! It was sorta crazy, because number one, we don't have money to spend. And number two, we don't have time to waste. But, we really, really needed the night out. It was time to de-stress and reconnect and do something that's not written on a list somewhere.

The first thing we saw when we walked through the door was a crude little handmade wooden train engine...about a foot tall, and two feet long. It was painted in bright, glossy blocks of red, yellow and blue. For the boys, it was love at first sight. We've seen stuff like this go for big bucks (that's relative, I suppose. But "big bucks" for something like this, to me, is $60 or so. Money I'd NEVER spend on a plaything of this caliber). So we didn't promise anything to the boys. But the train was scheduled to go up late in the auction, so we thought our chances of getting a good deal were pretty high.

They were! The bidding started at $5, and after a total of 3 bids, we snagged the train for $10. YAY! The boys were ecstatic. I buckled the boys into their carseats while Darren went to pay and pick up the train. While we waited, I said, "Boys, can you believe Daddy bought you that train?"

Aidan said, "Yah. 'Cause he loves us. That's why he bought it."

As we watched Darren walk toward the car, Aidan exclaimed, "He looks so HAPPY!"

All the way home, the boys talked about their new train.

"It has a TRUNK!" enthused Ian. "We can put our LITTLE trains in there!"

This afternoon, I hosted a pity-party-for-one about the new digital Canon that I want but can't afford in a million years. But tonight, I realized... I don't need it. I don't need ANY of the fancy electronic toys that I covet. All it took was a 10 dollar train to make me see the light. :)