I had a deal with someone local to buy his pristine '04 VR MSM when he sold it. Well, the time came recently, but I had to pass given many other things going on in life.

One Friday morning shortly afterward I was awakened and asked to come out front to pick up some tools my sister was dropping off. Instead, I found my entire family standing in the street singing "happy birthday"... and the MSM in the driveway with a bow on it. My sister, her kids and other members of the family had bought the MSM for me. They didn't even tell my wife!

I can't begin to describe how overwhelmed and stunned I was and how blessed I am to have such wonderful people in my life! My family rocks! I don't know how I could be more blessed! There are many ways in which this will be paid forward and back.

Oh, and I'm loving the car of course. For the gearheads in the audience, it's an '04 VR MSM, leather & ABS with only 10K miles. Oh yeah, I got the window sticker, dealer brochure, dealer poster and all maintenance receipts in the deal.

I have to tell you, receiving a gift like this from family changes you, your thinking and your outlook. All for the positive, of course. It does all kinds of things for your self-esteem... not the car, but the thought that people care that much for you. It's quite amazing really.

Oh, one last thing... the personal plate I chose came today: "SUPRISE". That way, I'll never look at it without a reminder of where it came from. Ya, I know it's missing an "R", but I was limited to seven letters.

I had lots of things going on in my life for a while. (took a test that scores your stress level from 1-min to 20-max... I scored 24!)

I can't say enough though about the great people I have in my life. I'd like to think that I've paid it forward and back many times, and you can bet that I'll continue to do so! But I'll never feel that I've "paid enough" for it though. It's very humbling to be given something like this and it makes you want to give back as much as you can.

Meanwhile, I've been enjoying the heck out of it!