101 Uses for a Vintage LIMO #2: TO TREAT YOUR FRIENDS & YOURSELF

On the way home from the purchase - along with getting used to driving a big car down the road - my imagination was spinning with ideas. I was going to have so much fun with this car. It WAS a new toy, I realized. And, do you know what? I deserve it! I have not purchased myself something JUST FOR ME since...well..let's see...since...gosh I can't remember.

Everytime I get a cent I spend it one something the kids want and I love doing that. Or I put it into my business. Even the house is not "mine" - In all this square footage I can only claim a small corner of the kitchen that I converted into my home office...and we all know how busy a kitchen can get!!!

Sometimes a woman just needs to do something like this for herself. Some women reach that moment and they buy an expensive necklace, or perhaps a nice coat or designer dress or perhaps treat themselves to three days at the spa. Or get their nails done. I just decided to buy a limo without even realizing what an uplifting experience it would be for me. I had not realized before how much I was in need of something that was "mine" in this world.

But ironically enough, this "mine" is not a selfish mine. The importance of it being "mine" was because I have been yearning for a long time to have something physical that I can offer other people. Something physical. As a single mom a lot of people have helped me out over the past few years and it always seems I am borrowing someone's lawnmower, or computer or camera with nothing to give in return but a smile and perhaps some nice home-cooked pumpkin muffins.

Nobody has ever asked for a return on their help and I know that everyone has enjoyed helping - but for me, somoeone who also enjoys giving, I have been wishing I had something I could offer in return. There is something in me that feels happy now that I have something. I can offer free limo rides to the neighbor who has lent us his mower for about 2 years. I can offer my friend (who's computer I am using) limo rides whenever he needs them, and I can offer my other friends rides too.

And that is where the repair fund comes in. Before I owned a LIMO I only used one once - for my eldest daughter's birthday party. Now this may seem an extravant way to take her friends to the movie and back but she was due to go live with her father overseas in four months and I wanted her to have some unforgettable "going away" experiences. When your 12-year-old is leaving the nest a bit early one tends to do crazy things like that.

What was crazier was the price. It cost me $180.00 to have the limo pick the kids up, take them to the theater 15 minutes away and then pick them up again and take them to my house 10 minutes away! And that was the cheapest service I could find in town AND I negotiated a discount because it was a weekday. WOW.

So my idea is to offer limo service to my friends - something that would have been a DREAM for me a year ago when I was looking for one - and in return I can start a little savings fund for any repairs that might need to be done on the car and I can afford to keep it up and continue my volunteer service as well. I would like to be able to offer free rides to the women's shelter 3-5 times a week but I can't afford that on my own right now. So if friends wanted to donate it would be a win-win situation. They get cheap limo service and in return they support the continuation of this project.

Even if I had to wait for round trip services I would not mind because I have A LOT of knitting to do for my business so the time would never be wasted for me. Plus I LOVE driving the LIMO! I could drive for their child's party, they could surprise their wife, husband, sister, mother or friend with a limo ride. They oculd even use it for clients or business.

And all these ideas just keep coming...how about a birthday party for a few kids where I give them all dark glasses and perhaps some feather boas and they have a "celebrity" party in the limo? How about offering to pick up massage clients or other clients in a limo?

But my desire to "share the fun" goes beyond returning favors and cooperating with friends...I also want to bring some joy to people who need some more in their lives...