My Johnny!

So, as you are aware...my lease is up, and I am in search of a new car. This search comes at an absolutely terrible time for us. But, I suppose it's better that it happens now rather than in 2 months! Let me tell you. It ain't easy trying to find a car you like, that is big enough for your family, on a limited budget.

Here is a summary of my test-drives:

Volkswagon CC = pure, unadulterated lust = too expensive. Finally a VW car that doesn't make me feel like the jolly green giant. In a different situation...this car would be mine! In three years...maybe it will be.

Nissan Altima = still really like inside and out. Insurance has drastically increased for some reason which makes it too expensive. Returning Nissan lessee advantages.

Nissan Rogue = super-de-duper cute and fun. Rear visibility issues. Price is right. Returning Nissan lessee advantages.

Hyundai Sonata = very nice interior, super smooth ride, good meaty car. Very impressed. Hyundai has changed a lot over the years. Love the Assurance program...especially now. Price could be right if the salesperson wasn't a cross between Peter Griffin and Homer Simpson. He doesn't want to work with me, so I am walking away.

Toyota Corolla = "Sport" package. Super cute. Fun to drive. Nice interior, fun sporty exterior, nice handling. Teeny back seat. Price is right.

Toyota Camry = Nice smooth ride, asthetically pleasing interior. Bored to tears. Nothing, absolutely nothing, about this car makes me want to buy it. Couldn't wait to get out of it for fear of falling asleep at the wheel or my hair turning blue.

Mazda 6 = slick, super slick, exterior. Big bold front end. Nice interior. Terrible ride. Sluggish. Bumpy. Ick. Don't even care how much it costs. Not interested.

And now the top 2:

Scion xB = decided to drive on a whim. Have always thought they were fun and funky. Enter vehicle=LOVE. Drive vehicle=LOVE. Price vehicle=love. No haggle price...don't love. Aside from the funk-factor of this vehicle, I love the cavernous interior, the layout of everything on the inside - the use of space is fantastic, the ride is nice and smooth, firm handling, meaty feeling. The price is right...the gas mileage - eh, not so much.

Prius = Love. Love the roomy interior, love the handling, the smooth shift from battery to gas, super quiet cabin. I'm a city driver...this is the perfect option for me. 48 mpg average. Price = HIGH.

Now the fun stuff:

The Prius dealership brought the vehicle to me for a test drive. Quality customer service. The price was high. I started negotiating pretty agressively by asking for $4000 off the MSRP, there is a $1000 cash back bonus, so I was really asking for 5k off. They couldn't do it, but claimed they had shaved all they could off the price. It was too much for our limited budget, so I thanked them and walked away.

I fell in love with the xB and had convinced myself that I was going to get it, the only thing holding me back was the terrible gas mileage (22/28, really?). The Prius sales manager would occassionally send me emails and I would reply with "still looking", "the Prius is too expensive", etc. They also sell the Corolla, which, other than the small back seat, it was still in my top 4.

Then all the sudden, the Prius guy sends me another offer, which happens to be nearly $40 less per month. Hmmm. The only catch - he can no longer do a dealer trade at this price, so I am stuck with one of the three he has on his lot. Red, light blue or white. Well...white is the only one I would even consider. I've had white vehicles in the past...do I care? I'm not sure. I really wanted black. The xB is black!

Insurance on the xB vs the Prius is within a few dollars. And now the payment is within a few dollars. They are lined up side by side...I love them both, they are the same cost monthly...except for one nagging factor. The gas mileage. 22 mpg vs 48 mpg. There really is no comparison.

I really think I HAVE TO be practical, for once. It would really be stupid of me to get the xB simply because I love the funky factor and blackness.

I do love the Prius. I think I have to get it. When gas prices top $4/gallon again (and you're kidding yourself if you think they won't) I will be smiling! *cheesy white car smile*

****

I wrote the above blog entry Sunday night. I was 90% sure I was going to get the Prius. I woke up Monday morning, cancelled the appointment for my husband to drive the xB and went to work. I, once again, weighed pros and cons. You may think I'm obsessing, but given our situation, there really isn't much wiggle room where I need to be with the overall monthly cost of the vehicle. I started drafting an email to the Prius dealer, telling them I liked their offer and would like to buy it from them.

Then my blackberry buzzes. The xB guy. He's sorry I cancelled & *needs* to talk to me. May be able to work out a deal. Basically, I tell him if he can meet or beat the Prius offer and get me one in black - he would win the Prius purchase. If he could make the xB more attractive, to make up for the gas mileage issue, I would re-consider the xB.

He can't even come close to the Prius deal. But, be comes back with a payment of $40 less per month than the original **NO HAGGLE** pricing on the xB, same terms. Huh? I ask for details. I get them. I told him I thought the xB pricing was "Pure Pricing" and there was no negotiating. He said he wasn't negotiating. He was breaking the rules. Hmmm. Well, rules ARE meant to be broken.

So, now, I'm back on the xB bandwagon. I mean, seriously, the $40 payment difference makes up for the gas mileage, it's black, and it's what I wanted to begin with. Done. We get it Saturday.

The pursuit of happyness....Johnny Cab style.

*cheesy black car with terrible gas mileage grin*

Ramblings

I rounded the corner after making lunch for the Boy to see his latest project. Ugly Dolls napping on the steps!
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LaRiche Toyota, of Findlay OH, delivered a car to my office on Friday for a TEST DRIVE. Yes, a test drive. It was a Black Prius. I love it. Much roomier than I anticipated, and fun to drive. A little out of my price range, but if they are willing to drive 45 minutes for a test drive, I'll bet they are willing to work for my business. Customer service wise - they WIN. Still have a few others to drive. Waiting for February lease offers to come out too...today or tomorrow.
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Got our January Gas bill...only $479.82.
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Another weekend alone with the boy. I love this boy more than I can put into words, but it is exhausting and I tend to holler at him a lot. I don't want to, and I don't mean to, but he gets so whiney and needy and it just drives me nuts. I need medication. Thankfully, my husband's nightmare schedule will be over in a month! Anyway, Saturday morning we went to Target, which was fun. He picked out a new truck (surprise, surprise). He wanted one of the big, noisy, $20 trucks, but I told him no. He had to pick a smaller truck and $6 was the limit. He already has about 2,000 trucks, and we need to cut back. After arguing and crying and threatening to leave, he choose a fire truck for $5.99. We headed to Michaels for some new Dot painting books and Scooby Doo cupcake cups/papers. On our way home...he spotted Rudy's Hot Dogs. "I need Rudy's Hot Dogs for lunch mommy!" So, I figured why not. Sunday morning we headed to Adrian to see Grandma and Grandpa. Fun times people, fun times.
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In addition to Rudy's for lunch on Saturday, I didn't pay one darn bit of attention to what I was putting in my mouth. I ate and ate and ate. And I ate junk. Not only did I bake cupcakes, I ate 3 of them. It was out of control. I am out of control. I am never going to get this weight off if I can't control myself. Thankfully I'm back to the gym tonight. I saw a "bigger" girl jogging on the treadmill last week, and you know what, she didn't look bad. So, I may try it. I shouldn't care about what I look like at the gym, but that's not me. This fat ass isn't me either. I'm not even comfortable in my skin right now.
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Found out on Friday that we will be getting year-end bonuses at work (we got a $1k Holiday bonus already). 2008 was the most profitable year in our history. It's awesome to work for a necessary evil and I'm very very thankful for this job.
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I think I'm getting a sinus infection. My head feels like it's going to explode and I have snot draining down the back of my throat which is making my throat itchy and I feel like I need to clear it 400 times a day. Mmm. Oh, and sinus infections and nose rings...not such a good combination.
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Got the results of my MRI. I have a bulging disk on the last vertibre on my spine. It's not herniated...yet. I see a Pain Specialist on the 10th. I told my Chiropractor about my husband's job and asked that we try and do everything we can to get me on the road to recovery in the month of February, since I will not likely be able to afford to visit 2-3 times a week any longer.
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I absolutely cannot stop looking at the wonderful handmade jewelry on etsy. Jewelry By Natsuko is my current obsession.
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Didn't eat any junk last night. Amazing how much better I feel.

My boy!

Daddy worked all weekend (gawd, I can't wait until he is done working at that awful place!) so it was jut me and the boy. Saturday morning we had a play date. A friend of Mommy's and her 2 boys came over for a few hours. The boys had a BLAST and it was super fun for me to A) not have to be the one playing with him all day long and B) see him have so much fun with his friends and C) visit with my friend.

They left shortly after lunch (for naptime, natch) and my son cried for 20 minutes.

"I need my friends!"
"Mommy, I want my friends to come back!"
"Ma-a-a-me-e-e-ee! I neeeeed them!"

It was sad. It was pitiful. I felt terrible, actually. I realized how much this boy NEEDS to play with other kids. Sure, he plays with other children at the sitter. But, we're down to only 3 days there per week now, which means 4 days are spent with adults only. As much as I LOVE winter, and I do love love love it, it seems that we spend all of our time holed up (and alone) in the house. It's been really cold too, too cold to play outside on most days. And that's sad too because we all really dig playing in the snow. Plus...going places for me typically means buying stuff and I've really been trying to adjust to living on a budget. It's really really hard, so I would rather just not go anywhere. Not be tempted, which turns out to actually mean...I'm punishing my child for my own lack of control. Urgh.

So, Sunday morning I decided we needed to get out. We headed to the mall. I do think the play area at the mall is disgusting. A breeding ground for germs and gross kids I wouldn't really choose for him to play with while their parents yap-yap-yap on their cell phones. While their 10+ year old children run rampant in a baby/toddler/preschool play area. The type of parents who consider this area their "free babysitter". I hate it.

Anyway, so we headed into the mall. He spotted the "Build A Bear" store immediately. He wanted to go in and see if they had any "Dinosaur Bones" (not sure why, but he was convinced he would find dinosaur bones at the mall). He spotted a Panda Bear who he thought looked like "Little Pim", from his Mandarin Chinese DVDs. I asked if he wanted to watch them put stuffing in his belly and pick out an outfit for him. He sure did. So, that was fun. 20 minutes and $26 later, we had a bear named "Pim" and a whacky shirt and hat for him.

After adopting Pim, he told me he was hungry for lunch. We headed to the food court where he decided he wanted noodles. I spotted Nori Japanese. I ordered noodles and breaded chicken (like sweet n sour chicken), we split it. It was decent, and he loved it. The people sitting next to us couldn't get over his vocabulary and his noodle slurping abilities. We had one noodle that was, no joke, at least 18 inches long. I held it out while he slurped it up. The people just giggled.

We headed over to the ride on's after lunch. The ones that are NOT near the germy play area. The ride on's are germy, but they just don't seem as disgusting. He rode the dump truck 7 times. Finally, I told him I didn't have any more money and asked if he wanted to see if we could find some dinosaur bones.

We looked for dinosaur bones but didn't find any and headed out the door.

He was getting snoozy on the car ride home, so I told him he could watch 10 minutes of Scooby and then it was nap time. I got the typical throw yourself on the floor, hide your face and whimper and say "I don't want to take a nap. It's not nap time". Sorry, little man, it IS nap time. So, we headed up read a couple books, I hugged & kissed him, plopped him in his crib, covered him up, closed the door and left.

I started my typical naptime ritual of sitting on the couch with my laptop, catching up on all the Facebook happenings. I hear him CRYING! SOBBING!

I rarely go back in his room after I close the door for naps or night time, but this time it sounded different. I opened the door to find him sitting in bed, tears streaming down his face, holding Pim. Pim's hat had fallen off. He was devistated. He couldn't put it back on.

It's one of those hats that just has little elastic loops that fit around the stuffed animals ears. I put Pim's hat back on, layed his head on the boy's pillow, covered them both up, patted the boys head only to see that he was already sound asleep. Ahhh.

After his nap, we headed to the grocery store. I never, ever, ever, take him to the grocery store with me. But, I thought I would rather go when it was light out than deal with going after daddy gets home from work. So, he refused to sit in the cart, which I figured would happen sooner or later. He wanted to push. He loves to "help", so I put him to work. I told him which things to get and how many, and he got them and put them in the cart. More like threw them into the cart, but it's hard when you're only 37 1/2 inches tall. He was a great helper...and it wasn't as miserable of a experience as I anticipated.

Fun times, people, fun times.

Pride & Eloquence

WOW! What a day!

Yesterday was really something special, and something I will remember for the rest of my life.

Barack Obama, the first black President.

Do I really care so much that he is the first black President? Well, sorta. Do I care that he is a Democrat and that we finally have control back? YES! Do I believe he, and his staff, will do everything they can to fix America and that he is the right man for the job? YES! YES! YES!

I feel a new sense of hope. A new sense of pride. A new sense of accomplishment. A new sense of desire. Desire to be better. Desire to be a better person / wife / mother / daughter / friend / employee / neighbor.

It's refreshing to have an eloquent President. To be able to comprehend his words. To be INTERESTED in his words. To smile when he speaks. To cry when he speaks. To feel proud when he speaks. To feel compassion in his words. To feel urgency in his words. To feel desire in his words.

I hope this man inspires others (and you know who you are) to be better. To do better. To have pride. To have hope. To have desire. To strive to accomplish.

I'm excited to see what each new day / month / year brings.

And, his smile. It's infectious.

snippet

Daddy worked yesterday, so it was just me and the boy. The hilarious little guy that he is...

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Boy: "Mommy, do you have feet?"

Mommy: "Yes, of course I have feet. Don't you?"

Boy: "Nope, I don't not got feet anymore"

Mommy: "You don't? Where did they go?"

Boy: "They got smashed by a MONSTER truck!"

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(mommy peeing)

Boy: "You pee'd mommy?"

Mommy: "Yep, I sure did!"

Boy: [hug] "I'm so proud of you! You are such a big girl!"

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(boy ON dining room table, eating lunch)

Mommy: "Please get off the table and eat your lunch sitting in your chair!"

Boy: "I can't! My back hurts!"

(think he's heard that a few times?)

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New words (pronounced perfectly, I might add): Constantinople and Timbuktu, thanks to Dr. Seuss' "Hop on Pop"

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Boy: [lick] "Hi Mommy, I'm your new doggy!"

Mommy: "Yuck! I thought you were my big boy, not my doggy"

Boy: [twirling around] "I'm a cook-a-roo!"

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(on potty)

Boy: "I pooped! I did a super great job!"

Mommy: "Yep! You sure did!"

Boy: "Wanna look at it mommy?"

Mommy: "No thanks sweetie, I heard it plop"

Boy: "Me too! It PLOPPED loud!"

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He never ceases to amaze me, and can always make me crack up. As exhausting as it is to solo parent, and doubly exhausting with a bad back, he still brightens my every day.

Jammin'

I just love the way he is holding his guitar now.

It's almost like he knows what he is doing.

My little rock star! Rock on, big boy!

(Yes, his father is building with foam blocks behind him...what of it?)

I was dreaming when I wrote this...

2009. The year of ME. Right?

Well, I got my hair chopped off. Needed to do something with it. It was too long and stringy. And too MOM.

Got my nose pierced. I've wanted to get my nose pierced for like...forever. What better time than when you're weeks away from your last birthday. Not my last birthday because I'm dying. My last birthday because I turn 39 & there will be no more.

I'm going to a chiropractor to fix up my back and neck. X-rays reveal that my neck curves almost the exact opposite way it is supposed to, my mid back curves to the left, my hips are crooked, and the very last disk (low back) on my spine has worn down over time and is well...almost gone. So, it's practically bone on bone down there. Mmmm.

I knew about the low back last disk problem...it stems from playing "catcher" during my 4-5 years of playing softball in the 90s. I've been dealing with the pain for many years. It is, however, the worst it has ever been. Some days, I can barely move.

Visits to the chiropractor seem to be helping my neck pain considerably, but I'm afraid the low back stuff just isn't going to be fixed by adjustments/alignments. The chiopractor wants me to have an MRI and will likely refer me to a pain specialist. Mmmm. I guess that either means...drugs or injections. Well...whichever. If it makes me whole again. I'll do whatever it takes...and whatever my insurance covers.

On to the eating healthy, exercise, weight loss part of the "year of ME". Well, I'm a major f*ck up. I can't seem to stop eating crap. I go to the gym a couple days a week, but miss a day and then fall off for several more days. It's a terrible cycle.

I have MANY dreams of running on the treadmill at the gym. I see a lot of other women doing it. Thin women. Were they thin when they started running? Did running make them thin? Will running make me thin? I suspect it can't hurt...if I can make myself eat healthy. I have reconnected with a lot of friends via Facebook, and many of them run. I want to be like them. I have one friend who lost 25 lbs in 4 months by only adding running to her day. No diet changes.

I'm going to try. I'm going to try tonight. I worry what I will look like trying to run on a treadmill. I need to get over that. We are all at the gym for the same reason, right?

Must.Get.Over.Fear.Of.Image.

I have fear that it will hurt my back too, but I must try. Must.Try.

I decided to quit WW since I am throwing money down the drain by not following the program. Plus, well, my husband is losing his job and it's a cost that can be cut. I'm going to continue to try to do it on my own though, which shouldn't be hard since I know the program inside and out.

We're potty training the boy. He's doing a great job. Pooping is taking some coaxing, and getting him to actually slow down to pee is a bit of a challenge, but he is getting there. Still wearing underpants all day, and pull ups ("sleep underpants" for naps and nighttime). He had 1 accident all weekend. Doritos for pee, kitkats for poop. Mommy has eaten as much of these treats as he has. Bad mommy.

He's the funniest kid ever. We played in the snow a lot this weekend. He plopped his butt in the snow, cracked up and said "look mommy, I made snow butts". He also enjoyed sledding, helping to shovel, pushing (or trying to push) trucks in the snow, throwing snowballs at mommy, taking snowballs for sled rides, and just plain being outside. We got several inches of snow, but it wasn't as bone chilling cold as it has been, so we spent a lot of time outside. It was fun.

While reading a book this weekend, I asked what letters he saw on the page. I don't know why I do this...he knows the alphabet. I guess it's habit. He replied "no mommy, I don't need to talk with those letters right now". I guess he told me.

Now if he would just tell me to stop eating his snacks we'd be all set.