Zoom x3 x9

My boy Jake is nine years old today. We've traveled 42, 524 miles together over those nine years. This means that each year, we've traveled 4,724.9 miles ... or each day, we've gone 13 miles.

In those nine years, I've visited 13 "never been there before" states and 1 other country (Jake didn't come with me for any of those trips but still). I've worked for 3 companies and held I-have-no-idea HOW many different job titles. I've been healthy and not healthy, unemployed and employed, hopeful and hopeless, lost and found.

Some of the trips that Jake and I have gone on together were for absolute pleasure (Big Sur and Santa Barbara spring to mind) but the times he makes me most happy is after he's had a good bath, looks his best, and we're just doing errands. I like the sound his door makes when I close it and the top is down - it just sounds ... friendly. I like that he is just common enough that no one makes a real fuss over him but that he's nice looking enough that it's obvious he is treated well. The one that pampers him so ridiculously is, of course, me.

It's ridiculous that I have a nine year old car with just 42,524 miles. (The average mileage driven in my state per year is 11,400 - according to a quick glance around the Internet - so Jake is 60,076 miles under being "average".) It's ridiculous that I have a car with a name. It's ridiculous that I have friends, ex-bosses, valets and family that ask about that car - BY NAME. It's ridiculous that my parents painted that name on his car cover and not his license plate. One typically paints the license plate on the cover so that the cover wouldn't get stolen - but no - Jake's "blanket" says "JAKE" in big black letters. If it ever gets stolen ... would that be identify theft???) It's ridiculous that I refer to him as I do - "he", "him", "his".

And isn't that what birthdays are all about? A time to be ridiculous?

Happy 9th to my boy Jake. Here's to seeing what the next 4,724.9 miles looks like. Betcha they'll be pretty great.