My New Ride

Have I told y'all about my car?

My sweet little 2000 Taurus that's on her last leg?

Honestly, she's not so little.  But that's beside the point.  She's dying people.  And it breaks my heart.  We've been through a lot together.  I've had her since 2005. During that time I've gone to grad school, moved to Cleveland, started and quit my first big girl job, gotten married, and had a baby.  She's made the drive from Indianapolis to Cleveland more times than I can count.  I've tried to treat her well, but let's be real here friends.  I'm never going to win any "driver of the year" awards.  But her missing passenger mirror, scratches on the fender, and dents in the passenger side door show character in my opinion.  Plus, they weren't all my fault.  Wait.  Were they?

Near the end of June I took her to get an oil change and they gave me the bad news.  The gist (because I cannot even begin to explain to you what is wrong...I don't speak car) is fixing her isn't worth it.

Since hearing those words, I've been on the hunt for a new vehicle.  So, almost three months.  Three months I've spent driving only to the gym and back because my car is unsafe.  Three months of only being able to look at cars on Saturdays because I have a husband that gets home when the dealerships are closed and a baby that goes to bed at 6:30 p.m.   It's been a struggle.  But that struggle, has finally come to an end.

Last weekend I bought a new car!!!!  Well, it's new to me.  We don't do new in this house.  Neither Matt nor I have ever had a car payment and I'm not sure we ever will.  We live by the motto of not buying things you can't afford.  So we waited and searched and finally found my sweet new ride!

(this is not my exact car...I'm too lazy to get up off the couch and take a picture)

Now I have things like a sun roof, a CD player, and a radio that shows the name and song of the artist the station is playing.  I've hit the big time people.  Step aside.

In all seriousness, I could not be more excited about my car.  I've been wanting an SUV for so long and it's the perfect time for one.  My little girl sure does require an astonishing amount of gear.  Her stroller alone barely fits in Matt's trunk.  So this beauty, it's just perfect.

I did give the Taurus a long hug goodbye in the dealership parking lot before I drove away.  No.  I'm not kidding.  And I actually feel bad for trading her.  I feel like she knows.  I have issues.  But she's served her purpose.  She was a great car and had a really good life.

Goodbye sweet Taurus.  I'll miss you!

Now, what to name my Bravada?  I feel like it's a boy.  Any ideas?

Retro!

Yesterday, I saw a girl at the gym running on the indoor track carrying a Discman!



Very old school. I just kept thinking about how NOT fun it would be to have to run with that thing in your hands. I would totally drop it and be forced to watch in horror as my *NSYNC CD shattered into pieces. However, I will not pass judgment on this girl, seeing as she was running when I arrived...and then doing abs when I left. Rock on unknown retro girl!

I work out with my baby iPOD nano. It was one of the first ones to come out so it doesn't hold very much more than 350 songs. When I got it for Christmas several years ago I remember thinking, "There is no way I'm going to be able to fill this thing up!" I was wrong. And not only was I wrong, but I am totally bored of ALL 350 songs. Granted, I do not think I have added a song in about a year and a half, so I am in desperate need of some purging and purchasing!


I've also been listening to my iPOD in my car. Want to know why? Well...my antenna...it fell off. Yeah. That's right. It just fell off. Whose antenna just falls off of their car? Oh, that'd be me. So, I have no radio.

I ended up finding the antenna in the street, but it is unfortunately broken and cannot simply be screwed back in. I, of course, just wanted to use duct tape to reattach it. Matt refuses to let me do this. Something about ruining the paint.

As you may be able to tell, I am not really into the aesthetic qualities of my car. Sure, the Taurus is pretty, but she has a few spots on her that give her character. I may or may not have hit an orange barrel and completely knocked off the mirror on my passenger side on the same day that I scraped the whole passenger side of the car driving into our underground parking garage when we lived downtown. This happened the day I ordered my wedding dress. Um, I got married September 22, 2007. Obviously I could care less about getting these things fixed. I mean sure, I would like to, but I am in no mood to be spending thousands of dollars fixing something that does not make any impact on the way my car drives.

I think I was raised to feel this way. Like the time when I hit a parked car when I was 15 in the Marsh parking lot and my dad fixed his van with duct tape. It worked perfectly for years! And when my first car, my beloved Dodge Shadow's ceiling was falling down, a stapler worked wonders! Oh well, so is the compromise of marriage.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!! 3 p.m. = relaxation station!