BABY NEEDS NEW WHEELS

The time has come. No use putting it off any longer. Not sure how it's going to happen, but it will happen. So here's the poop: we need a new van. Not a “new” van, a different van. Something bigger with less mileage than the minivan we currently have. Our van has served us well, but Colby has outgrown it. Plus it's starting to rack up some miles - 112,000 miles currently. Time to kick in the fundraising again! Hey, if we can raise the money to help us get a house, we can raise the money to help us get a van. That's my thought anyways.

So you may be asking, how much money is needed? I don't know. I have no idea actually. The ideal situation would be we get a bigger and better van for Colby and a little, cheap car for me to drive to work, run errands, etc when I don't have Colby with me. Even if I don't get a car and we get another van only, I can't imagine we'll find something decent for under $30,000. Ouch, I know. Trust me, I know. Nice wheelchair accessible vans ain't cheap!

The next question you might have is, when are we getting this van? I don't know. Again, I have no idea. I'm predicting it will take a long time to find the kind of van we need. I also don't know exactly what I'm looking for in a van just yet. Better storage, room for more passengers, less mileage – that's as far as I've gotten. There are advantage and disadvantages to rear vs side entry, lowered floor vs raised roof, etc. Gives me a headache just thinking about researching to find what we need, then actually finding it.

All I know is our current van is aging and is too small to meet our needs. I also know there is no room in my budget for a car payment, so the money will have to be upfront to purchase. And how do we come about getting this money? Work our booties off for it, that's how. Fundraiser after fundraiser after fundraiser. Been there, done that, happy to do it again to get what Colby needs. I think after this venture is over, I should hire myself out as a professional fundraiser. I'll also Google/research any grants or not-for-profits that might be out there to assist in financing. Or win the lottery, which would require actually playing the lottery. Or, if anyone out there is looking for a good place to drop $30-$40,000 – I know a kid. Stay tuned, more fundraiser fun and details coming soon!