On February 4th, I got a notice in the mail—it was time to renew my truck’s registration. My truck, Bubba, is 26 years old and, hands down, one of the best vehicles I’ve ever owned. I’ll just leave that there—no need to tempt the mechanic gods.

That said, Bubba has been rocking an oil leak for over a year now. Some sort of gasket issue, they told me. The fix? A cool $1,500. But this past year has been a rollercoaster—if something could go wrong, it did. Every time I got close to saving up for the repair, life threw another curveball. Like a new medication costing $500, knocking me right back to square one.

Which brings me to today. I’d been dreading (read: absolutely terrified of) the emissions test, convinced that the oil leak would be the kiss of death for my registration. So, naturally, I put it off until the very last possible moment. The deadline was February 28th, and if Bubba didn’t pass, I’d be stuck.

But today, I put on my big girl panties and took the leap. And guess what? Bubba passed! Not only that, but they were able to handle the registration on the spot. So, just like that, it’s done—Bubba is road-legal for another year.

Now, here’s hoping I can finally set aside that $1,500 so I don’t have to sweat this next time around.