The saga of Bertha

Most of you know that when we paid the last payment on my van she became Bertha, a member of our family. Just like the rest of the members of our family some days she behaves perfectly and some days she makes me want to pull my hair out!! I used to joke that i would drive her until the wheels fell off.....after double blow out in one day I stopped saying that! Then i said i would drive her till the doors fell off....well, anyone who saw us @ car riders THAT day knows the rest of the story, but long story short, the door came off track and just hung off the van @ the top. Brent TRIED to blame this whole situation on me but I STILL don't buy that! Just because i speed up and slam on the breaks to shut the sliding doors does not mean it's MY fault it slid off track!!! sooooo now I only say she's a member of the family and she ain't leaving anytime soon. The next ailment she had was the crack in the gas tank which was entertaining when i had to fill her up. Nice people were always concerned that gas runs out the bottom of the tank while i am pumping it in. But like Scarlett, "i won't think about that today..." Last week Bertha died right in the MIDDLE of switching lanes @ car rider pick up. Everyone who knows me knows I suffer from severe car rider line road rage. It was not fun to have the same folks who usually irritate me to no end honking @ me and muttering things that I am quite sure weren't nice. To help ease the pain I just stood there and waved like the pretty princess I am. A HUGE shout out to The car rider ladies for helping me out!! They rock! While i was sitting there, several 5th graders joined my crew in shouting "GO BERTHA GO" over and over which made Bertha feel so much love that after ALL the traffic was gone she mustered up the energy to make it home. Yesterday I decided it was time to clean Bertha up since she spits shoes, corndogs, soccer balls, and various other items at every person who opens her doors. 16 half-eaten corn dogs, enough chicken nuggets to feed a daycare, 9 pairs of jeans(and they wonder why they never have clean jeans), 23 shoes(some pairs, some singles), 2 soccer balls, homecoming shakers and mums, too many socks to count, and various papers i am sure were supposed to have been returned to school LATER, i could see the floor board!!! WHOOOO HOOOO!!! I also found where the gnat population had been breeding...a little science experiment the kids had going in the door pocket you DO NOT want me to describe. The carpet is still rainbow colored but Bertha is lookin' good!!! YAY ME!!!! Let's hope she stays well and clean for a long time to come!!!