Finer Things Friday: It’s All in the Detail

 

Some time (maybe two years) ago, my Dad took one look at my car:  packed with toys and suitcases, covered with mud and crumbs, strewn with cups and wrappers and joked, “If you ever bring that car up empty, I’ll have it detailed for you.”  

Now, there are two things you have to know about my Dad to fully appreciate the weight of his comment:  one, his car is not spotless; in fact, my Mom won’t even let him drive her car because he makes such a mess of it; and two, along the lines of one, my Dad is not one to pay a whole lot of attention to the cleanliness, or lack thereof, of a car.  And so, the fact that he even noticed the state of my car should tell you two things as well:  one, my car was in a really bad state, and two, he never expected me to visit with a cleared out car.

But guess what, I did!  This week, when I arrived at my parents’ house to pick up the boys after their three week visit with Grandma and Grandpa, I arrived with a cleared out car.  Not clean mind you, as clean would defeat the need for detailing, but cleared out enough that it could be cleaned.

I did NOT take a before photo of my car.  I probably should have, but I was too embarrassed at it’s disarray, SO, let me help you to paint your own picture of the state of my car.  Here’s some of what Patrick and I removed from the car:  4 bowling balls (collected from a local alley for a craft project); 7 shoes (only one matching pair); 5 socks; 4 blankets; 3 Webkinz; 2 hats; 1 shin guard (which I looked all over for during soccer season); an assortment of CDs, LEGOS, Pokemon cards, Matchbox cars, Gameboy games, pencils, pens, and leftover snacks; pounds and pounds of rocks; three very well constructed mud balls (still solid after rolling around in the car for well over a year)… all that… AND a full bag of trash!

Upon seeing my cleared out car, my Dad shook his head, asked when he had actually made that promise, sighed, and made an appointment for my car to be detailed the next day.  

Mom and I drove the car to the detail shop.  The owner took one look inside and said, “This is bad.  This is really bad.  This is bad.”  He just kept repeating himself over and over and over… until I finally said, “OK, I know.  I have two boys… and a dog.  We spend a LOT of time in our car.  I know it’s bad; that’s why it’s here.”  He raised the quoted price $20.00 and took all day to finish, but guess what… MY CAR LOOKS GREAT!  (Thank you, DAD!)

So great, in fact, that I’ve threatened to leave the boys… and the dog… with Grandma and Grandpa a bit longer.  I’m not ready to let them back into my beautiful, clean, sweet smelling car….

A clean car, for someone who has not had one since before the boys were born,

well… it’s certainly a FINER THING!

Any suggestions for how to keep it clean 
would most certainly also be a FINER THING!

This post is linked to Finer Things Friday at The Finer Things in Life!