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I knew I was doomed form the moment the Mighty Green Yak entered my life. It was a cold windswept Saturday morning in March as I stood contemplately the real value of a beige minivan with beige interior…shiny, new, dvd player, captain chairs…in other words fully loaded. The car salesman was waxing poetically wile I stood in stone cold silence (to match the weather) staring at my husband being sucked into the abyss of new car bells and whistles.

“I want bench seats, roll down windows, and absolutely no dvd player,” I said.

“All our new van come fully equipped with dvd players, “ he replied.

“Then you will have to take it out.”, I adamantly stated.

The sales man looked appealingly at my husband who replied, “she’s not kidding.”

As we sat in the warmish cubicle of the sales man’s office and played the annoying game of buying a car, I wandered to the window and looked out—and there she was—the Might Green Yak… minivan the color of gang green complimented by its puke brown interior and tricked out with absolutely nothing.

I turned to the salesman and asked “Is that for sale?”

He hesitated, feeling his commission evaporating, replied in the affirmative.

“I’ll take it,” I said. “It’s perfect.”

The Mighty Green Yak and I have come to a right understanding and now have a very productive love-hate relationship. I hate the yak for reminding me that my shiny European car we traded in for her could never hold three cars seats, and that I will never, ever, live down my declaration of: “I will never own a mini-van!” But somehow, I really love the van. It reminds me of the blessed event that required the purchase of car seat number three. And no matter how much I hate to admit it, the Yak is infinitely more realiable than the shiny European car.

So now if you ever want to find me just look for the green van driving around with stickers in the window, a half-hanging-off bumper (not my fault), and a huge dent in the passenger side door (my fault—hence the moniker “yak”). I am the one happily toteing children here and there…as a semi-complacent…semi-suburban housewife.