Plan to Enjoy (ha ha)

Last Tuesday I snagged the new Death Cab album. I was a bit nervous, mostly because here in Denver, they're fairly popular among people who don't care very much about music. I figured that would probably make their music worse. Incidentally, I was wrong. Perhaps this is premature, but I'm enjoying the album so much that I daresay I enjoy it more than any other. This is hard to say, because We Have the Facts has been a tried and true favorite for many a year.

This is why I probably shouldn't be saying such things, but I can't help myself. I'm like a 43-year old H&R Block employee with a nice wife, three great kids (one of whom is going to start at Harvard this year as a lit major), a golden retriever, a two-story house, and a 2003 Toyota Camry. But for some reason, it's not enough. I feel like my life doesn't have any meaning even though I go to church every week and help lead the men's ministry. Every day I drive by the BMW dealer and look at the new Z4s on the lot. If I get off work early I even test drive them once in a while. I can't really afford it, but my oldest is at Harvard on scholarship and I don't have to feed him anymore. Maybe if we refinanced and traded in the Toyota, I could swing it. I know my wife would never approve, but it handles so well. And Clive Owen looks so sweet in the BMW films. Maybe I could look that sweet. Then one day, I drive by, and there's a big sale. The forest green car I've been coveting for the last six months is 5,000 off. I go in and realize that if I trade in the Toyota, the payments will only be $200 more per month. I'm sure we spent that much on Riley when he lived at home. "I'll take it." What a day. The wind is blowing in my hair with the top down with some Journey cranking on the Monsoon sound system. Sweeeeet. But then I get home, and my wife is on the couch crying. "What's wrong?" "Riley lost his scholarship." "What? He's brilliant. What happened?" "He's been dating this environmentalist (no offense to environmentalists, I'm quite fond of taking care of the earth) girl, and I guess he's been neglecting his studies to save some trees and make hummus." "Crap." "Jeff, how are we going to pay for his college. Harvard is really expensive." The conversation goes on. The result is, I signed a weird new contract where I can't take the car back, so we sell the house and live in the car (which is really small for a family of four (since Riley's in college) and a dog). Then, after a year, the car isn't even exciting anymore and having the top down all the time makes me go bald.