What a morning it's been.

With the decision by our son to move out of the house (a decision he had been contemplating for some time, but only informed us of yesterday, and put into action this morning) we are now empty-nesters. Our son has been craving his independence for quite some time. Unlike his sister, however, he humoured us by behaving in an acceptable fashion while living at home. I guess it got to the point where he just didn't want to pretend anymore. Now that he's working at a well-paying, full-time job, he has the confidence to move to his own place and live life on his own terms.

He's our "baby", so of course, his mom was crying uncontrollably last night. I think her concern was that Jon may have thought he was being forced out of the house. Well, Jon knows better. He realizes that his situation is far different than that of his older sister, and that he will be welcomed back with open arms if his experiment with independence hits a major snag. I wish him well, and hope that he'll keep in touch as he said he would.

The other strange thing that happened this morning is that I got a call from the VW dealership. Today's call was to inform me that the model I had ordered is no longer in production, and that the replacement vehicle (one with a bigger engine) will cost more. Did you know that most standard vehicle purchase agreements have a clause buried within that states (paraphrasing): "if the list price of this vehicle goes up between the time you make this deal and the time we deliver the vehicle, we reserve the right to ask for the difference"? Well, I read agreements carefully before signing, and with my tight limit on price, I couldn't afford any surprises. So, I had that clause removed from the standard contract. I have the removal in writing, signed by all parties.

I gave my top line price up front (the most I was willing to pay for the car). And the clause giving them the right to withdraw from this contract if I don't agree to pay extra has been removed from the agreement. We'll have to see where this leads..