At some point, right? I decided to give them a try for a year.

Interestingly, AARP was started by a woman who was looking for fair, affordable health insurance for retired teachers.

I always thought that once you reached age 65, you were eligible for AARP membership, but I’ve been receiving offers to join for several years now. Maybe it’s because people are retiring earlier? Or maybe AARP, like the Christmas retailers, just wants to get a huge early jump into the money-grab game? It could happen.

I haven’t read the accompanying brochure completely yet, but I plan to compare AARP’s goodies to that of AAA, to which the Thriller and I also belong. We shall see if I send them another $16 next November.  Truth be told, what really sealed the deal for my joining this time was the offer of the cute little lunch bag.

Anyone else an AARP member? What can you tell me? What have they done for you lately?

Well, gulp…yesterday, I put a deposit down on this lovely thing. Behold the new Finkmobile.

It’s been close to 30 years since I’ve bought a brand-new, just-off-the-assembly-line car. There is trepidation, fiends. It’s a big commitment. All this is to say, of course, that if I get there Friday evening and test-drive it, and I don’t love it, I will stick out my little rat paw and ask for my deposit back, and continue the hunt.

I’ve read and read and read about the car and the brand (thanks for the heads-up on it, Heffe!), and I’m relatively sure it’s the one I want. And I adore the color — Metallic Sky Blue. Never owned a blue car.

I was originally skeptical about the beige interior, but the more I think about it, the more I kind of like it. Seat covers are probably in the future — especially for the back, where little feet will be dangling from kid seats. Still, it’s a very pretty car, and if I’m going to jump off this bridge, I will do so and look cute at the same time.

Then again, I might get into it and say, “Nope. Not for me.” (That ain’t the plan, though.)

So how do you think the Fink will look in this buggy? Is it cute enough? Because, as you know, that’s a crucial puzzle piece.

…in Greenwich town…

Wow, have I gotten a lot done this 2-hour delayed morning, or what? Grades, breakfast, lunch, KSU emails, some graphics work, website updates. I’m killin’ it. Fink on a mission.

I hope it’s a good Monkday for you as well, fiends. The headlong charge to Christmas is on!

And let me know when you’re done so you can come do it at my house.

Kidding. It’s early Sunday morning at the Fink house, and while Justin and Grandpa Thriller are still asleep, Jake and Grammie are makin’ the coffee and starting the day. That is to say, while the coffee is brewing, I’m writing to you, and Jake is on the couch with my phone, playing Angry Birds.

It all serves to remind me that there’s another chapter of my life waiting to be lived. And here I thought I was all crinkly and decrepit and done. No way! As much as I love my choirs and doing musical theater at school, it’s a means to a beginning right now.

Isn’t that fun? A new beginning, at my tender, young age? Now, about that new Finkmobile…

That’s aging me by the hour, and I’ve only been at it for one weekend. Why is it that car salesman automatically and immediately confuse me with jargon and leading questions and horse hockey? I mean, I know why…but why do they feel they have to do it? I told a friend on Facebook last night that I think there should be car stores just like grocery stores; just go in and buy what you want, and the stores can compete by offering sales.

Some dealerships claim to be that way (“auto malls,” “superstores”), but it’s all the same in the end. You need the “guy” to finish the deal. That’s the part I don’t like. I know there are exceptions to the rule (and by “exceptions to the rule,” I mean “car salespeople who are not smarmy droids”), but for us, the search continues…

Now go start on #1.

A smattering of details…

1. Grade KSU assignments
2. Take Mavis grocery shopping
3. Grade KSU assignments
4. Go to school
5. Grade KSU assignments
6. Wrap gifts
7. SHOP FOR NEW FINKMOBILE

Man, I hope I can get to #7 again tonight…

How’s your weekend shaping up?