It’s been a long time – too long – since the last It’s Real Life meme – you may not know that this was the meme that started it all for me. The first meme I really participated in, the first time I saw how amazing a meme could be. So despite being all kinds of happy for Jessica @ Farm Fresh when she had her new baby, I was also a bit sad that there was a break in ‘Real Life’ memeing as she focused on her ‘real life’ as mother of a new newborn.

Well the wait is over for us all, as she’s finally back to blogging in full speed (for the most part) and this week’s theme is a good one – ‘How I Roll’.

I had my current car, a cute little 2002 Toyota Corolla, several years before having children. We did college together, several trips between school and home. We did blizzards together. We did amazing parking maneuvers together – its turning radius is a dream by the way. It was a very cute very tidy little car. Even in my sloppiest moments, it was never terribly messy – never more than an old soda can here, an old list of directions there. My friends were not so tidy, particularly my one friend who had already embarked on motherhood. I never understood how a car could get as messy as others’ did. How did they let it get that bad without simply cleaning the car?

Those days are gone. I understand now. And to be honest, I don’t even mind. It’s more than worth the price of motherhood. This is how I roll.

Sure there are sportier cars. Newer cars. But this is my baby.

Speaking of baby, this is where my baby sits. Ignore the strange stains.

The car seat next to MM’s, behind the driver’s seat?

That’s were Super Bestie sits when he’s with us.

Maybe you can’t see the mess, but I assure you it’s there…

Exhibit A: under his feet – this pile is like a foot deep btw

Exhibit B : next to his seat… Okay I’m thinking the car is cleaner than usual…

But get a load of the trunk:

Yeah, you should know – this is the trunk on a good day.

This is organized and orderly. The essentials.

Beach Essentials, etc. (that bucket toy btw – TWO dollars at Babies’r'Us)

And the “grassy field” essential – we’ve used this ball once.

But I refuse to take it out, in case we ever go to a big grassy field again.

It could happen. We do stuff.

This is the passenger seat – recently cleaned, but not for the sake of this post.

This is where mommy sits when the whole family goes out.

That is the infamous potty seat, as mentioned in this post:

Things My Son Likes To Wear On His Head.

Here’s a view of the cockpit – where daddy normally sits.

You can see the rear view mirror and the “kid view” mirror.

You might notice a weird “empty” spot above the heating / cooling controls.

When we’re driving this is where we get our tunage – usually Gwen Stefani, Jack Johnson, John Mayer, KT Tunstall, Colbie Callait, or a kids CD like Veggie Tales or recently Snacktime by BNL.

But when we’re not driving, I take it out, to avoid theft.

Ignore the weird reflection of my hands. I tried to photo shop it out.

But left it in, because this is real life.

And because my photo shopping efforts failed miserably.

This, my friends, is my favorite parking spot.

It is in spitting distance of our building, shown on the right.

It is the middle spot of these three “prime parking” spot.

Making it the easiest spot to back out of.

And being a SAHM, I’m home frequently during the day.

Which means I’m frequently home to grab this spot.

Because it Rocks. Because that’s how I roll.