We’ve had a company car for most of our marriage. They have never been terribly fancy, but we don’t care because it’s one huge monthly expense we don’t need to worry about. We’ve had a Buick, a Pontiac, a Taurus, a Subaru, and a Ford Explorer. The Pontiac was a silver, base-model Grand Prix. There isn’t more I can say about a nondescript company car.
Oh, wait. Yes there is. The Mister and I were parked outside the medical office I managed at the time. We were driving the Grand Prix, so this was about 16 years ago. We noticed another Grand Prix pull up as we were walking towards the front entrance. The door opened and out from the back seat flew a boy of about 10 years of age.
“What level do you have!”
Exclamation point intentional!
He was really excited about our car. It took us a few seconds to realize he was asking about our engine. I was about to shrug my shoulders (like I know or care about engines), and I could tell the Mister was scrambling to remember lest he have his testicles removed according to the bylaws of The Manliness Association of Car Knowledge.
We never got that far because the boy’s mother reached for him as if he was leaping into a mosh-pit of children teaming with lice and whispered, “Shhh! It’s the strip-down model.”
Shhhh! It’s the strip-down model.
Don’t talk to them; they’re dirty.
Shhhh! It’s the strip-down model.
Those poor people with their $20,000 car aren’t ballers like us with our $25,000 car.
Shhhh! It’s the strip-down model.
I don’t have to tell you that for the last 16 years we have repeated that glorious line to each other whenever we can.
School shoes came apart after only a month? Must be the strip-down model!
Pizza taste bad? Must be the strip-down model!
Don’t like the President? Must be the strip-down model!
Thank you, Baller Woman, for giving us one of our favorite catchphrases.
So lovely! I'm excited for you! I look forward to seeing what grows here.
Thank you, Kathie! :)
You are awesome!
I don't know about that, though I did feel like I could climb a mountain after I figured out the contact page thingy. Hah! :)
Glad you're back to yellow! (My website's yellow too.) I still remember the site with the yellow honeycomb design as background! I LOVED that design with your family's pic in the header and the about on the side saying something about dinosaurs……… Phenomenally indecisive you certainly are. :-) Congrats on figuring it out on your own. That's amazing!
That was my first design!! And I said "My knowledge of dinosaurs knows no bounds." :)
Well, I must admit, I was a little sad to hear Pancakes & French Fries would be phased out. But then I came here, and it was like coming home–it made me smile. A good reminder that new can be quite fabulous, too!
Whew! I knew you and a couple of other people weren't excited about the change I've been talking about for a while. Glad to hear it passed muster!
Love it!
Thank you, Sarah. :)
It's so pretty! I love the yellow!
I can really relate to your struggle with blogging lately. I've been at it for 10 years now (how in the world?) and I keep finding myself stuck in the "Why am I posting this? What is the point?" thought cycle. I love your writing and your insight, and I'm glad you're sticking with it! I'll definitely keep following along on your new blog.
How in the world is right! I realized that Nico grew up on my blog. Craziness. The thought cycle you talked about is exactly what I was going through. I needed to control-alt-delete.
"Stripped down model"? Lol. :) totally stealing. Excited for you and the next adventure here. Plus, I love yellow. Good things.
What's so awesome about that phrase is that it makes absolutely no sense. Strip down model! Not stripped, strip. I always imagined that we pulled a stolen car off the side of the road and were driving around in just the frame.
Ha ha. You're right. Makes no sense, but now I'm going to have a picture in mind of you riding dirty in the strip down mOdel. Lol.
Congrats–love it!
Thank you, Jennifer!
yay! Good for you for figuring out what works best for you. And I absolutely LOVE that strip-down model phrase – simply perfection. ha!
It's a good phrase. You can use it for everything–like like salt or white socks! Just today I used it to describe to my husband a really medical office.
You're awesome. That is all.
:)
Thank goodness. Such a relief. And very pretty.
Haha! Thank you. :)
I can't even figure out how this can get any more you-er. Does that make sense? It's beautiful and I love it!
Hey Jules,
You're rocking this strip-down model too!
So glad you're still sharing your adventures with us ;)
The new site looks great. I love that the yellow is back!
Kudos to you for figuring it out how to do it all yourself – so so cool!
Big hugs from the UK.
Thank you, Joy!
Love the strip down model!
The new blog is lovely! I've always enjoyed your book posts, so now I can look forward to more! :)
You just William-Morrissed your blog. (HIGH FIVE!)
I blog at two different spots – one through blogger and one through wordpress/hostmonster. Blogger is free (fietsofstyle.blogspot domain) and I pay $15/year for hosting for the wordpress one (seven2seven8). One is public. One is private. Both are nonmonetized and exist soley at and for my pleasure. It takes a LOT of the pressure off. I kept my day job. ;)
Wishing you the best. A couple of friends posted this today and it fits here:
"For a star to be born,
there is one thing that
must happen: a gaseous
nebula must collapse.
So collapse.
Crumble.
This is not your
destruction.
This is your birth."
-Noor Tagouri
I did WMP the blog! It's like an empty closet now. I need to fill it up! ;)
I love that Noor Tagouri quote. I might have to post that on FB myself!
happy for you and your fresh new space. I love it, suits you. XO
Thank you, friend. :)
Totally agree with Rebecca. What a major William Morris project! If it's not useful, out it goes. Hope you find joy in writing here.
I didn't think about it that way, but you both are so right! It was a huge undertaking, but now I feel so relieved.
Hi Jules! Following you on over.
I love it!!! The story AND the new blog! :)
Reading things you've written and things about books? I'm in!
These are ALWAYS my favorite posts anyway – the book ones and the daily life ones. I'm here, even if I don't comment much!
Excited to join you – I already like what you've done with the place!
Love the new look and William Morrissing of the blog. I've been meaning to do this forever with my own blog but just cannot come up with a better name. (Shouldn't be a high bar, as not much could be worse, but yeah, just can't seem to do it.) Your new space is lovely!
Thanks for letting us tag along. Glad you feel better in the new digs, that's what actually matters.
Can I just tell you how happy I am that you'll still be writing? I hope you will be very happy at your new address!
Hi Jules, I was worried that you'd decided to stop blogging and just instagram or just quit altogether. Truth is I love reading your writing. I'm glad you've made some changes to make it more 'you', because that's who this blog is for. I'm just along for the ride. Thanks for still letting me ride on your coat tails. Lu x
Shhh – I like the strip-down model. ;-)
Tanja
So glad you're still here! The new design is clean and beautiful.
I like it! And I'm glad you've continued blogging. The interwebs would be missing out if your voice faded away from this platform.
Argg! I hate being late to the party . . . but I'm here! And . . . (you might remember I've mentioned disliking change) I LOVE LOVE LOVE your new blog and design! The yellow! The flowers! Your name font!!! Can I confess that I never liked your old blog redesign? The pink and black. Sorry. But I just loved your yellow original design, and thought the feet picture of you four was adorable. But this is perfect. Your story was perfect, and yes, your old enthusiasm shows through again. Thank you so much for letting us tag along some more! – LauraC
Hey, I'll follow you wherever you want to write on the Internet! Um, in a not-stalker way, I mean. ;-)
So glad for the post reminding me you moved!! Happy to follow you over here, the blog looks great and I love the new focus. Enjoy it!
Beautifully simplistic. When one blog closes, another opens. Way to follow your heart and instincts. I truly enjoy your writing and am glad you have found a way to still write and do it in a way that feels right for you!
SOOOOOOOOOOOO so so so glad you are still blogging Jules, I mean Mrs. Kendall :-) I love your style and sense of humor and that you are so real and transparent. Oh and; I have two boys who are now 23 and 20, the things you share about Mickey and Nico bring me back, love that. Thank you!
Karen
Yay, I'm so glad you are still blogging here. I was bracing for the end of Pancakes and French Fries because you weren't happy with it. I would have really missed your voice. Congrats on the new blog. I hope it's everything you wanted, and if not, I know you can change it the way you want to!
I'm here, I'm here! I'm late, but I'm here! And I just don't have the stomach any more for blogs that aren't telling a personal story. Seriously. I stopped blogging completely after my daughter was born a few months ago – not for lack of wanting, but because the entire blogosphere just felt like it was turning into one big neverending commercial. I felt like… what is the point of even blogging? No one cares about what my kids did on Tuesday. Except, I care about what your kids did on Tuesday, and what book you happen to be reading, or how you defeated permanent marker on a microfiber couch. I care. You make me want to blog again, Jules! Thank you!
Love the new space and cannot wait for regular family life updates and more and more chat about books! So much blogging has become all about the adverts, sponsored stuff etc. which is great if people enjoy doing it and reading it, but I do prefer the more pared down, more personal stuff. Cheers from London, Helena
Dear Mrs. Kendall,
This story should be in a book. Part of some anthology with other great writers of today. It's fantastic.
Your new blog is refreshing. Charming. To be truthful, I just visited Pancakes and French Fries as I was cleaning up bookmarks. You were so right to start over. The header is perfection. Congratulations and I'll be visiting often like I used to.