Crazy, crazy week

The day it all started...

Holy wow, last week was crazy.  I missed two postings this month and didn't even do a Weekend Wonderment - what's up with that?! Has the statute of limitations run out on blaming Spring Break week... no? Oh good, well then, that has to be what it was then.

I know where I fell off track, it was April 4th. I also know why, we were up early and playing at Disney's Hollywood Studios with one of my best friends that day... which just so happened to be on Hobbit's Spring Break.  So we'll partially blame that, okay?

Pokey is to blame for the other. He has been needing a new car for years and I have managed to put it off because I just couldn't get the budget to hold a second car payment. Sooner or later though, cars get to the point where it was going to start costing more to keep them both than to simply bite the bullet and get new ones.  I loved my Tuscan and had no intention of trading it... until I did the math.

He's so happy he could bust!

Pokey's car was paid off and mine was almost paid off, so the future of no payments was in sight. I can't remember being an adult and not having a car payment, this was going to be exciting. Sure, Rocket (Hobbit named it that... I used to make her do the whole routine before I would 'take off' when she was little) was a bit of gasoholic but he was reliable.

Initially, I found Minnie (yep, Hobbit named her too) for Pokey because we were looking just for pricing information to build off of in the budget crunching. We searched for 'dream cars', both new and used, to see where they feel so our expectations matched our wallets.  I worked the numbers and figured that if we traded my car and were able to get two cars for close to the same amount of my current payment and they were not gasoholics, between the savings there and in insurance, we could honestly break even.  There would be no change to our financial standing at all and that was a number I could live with without breaking out in hives.

This would be Mickey (again, named by Hobbit)

So I gave Pokey his target payment price and set him off hunting.  He was totally discouraged because I admit, the number I gave him was low but it had a bit of wiggle room, not much so I gave him the desired number and prayed that fees and such wouldn't kill it because the 'top end' wasn't too far off. Certain that he would never be able to get something for the number I capped him at, he left like a teenager who was told to be home by 9 p.m. on a Saturday night. He honestly had no faith but he also hadn't honestly gotten a car in forever.  The end result - he is now a proud owner of a 2009 Chevy Aveo and he was within budget. He's so proud of his car, he cleaned out the garage!  He claims it was to keep my new 2009 Volkswagen Beetle safe, and I let him think I believe him, but the reality is - he's never owned a car this new... just as I've never owned a used car in my adult life.  Sure my first one was almost as old as I was at the time but once I started purchasing my own cars, I always bought new... but isn't this what marriage is about anyway?

Moment prior: "Okay, now I want to get their hiney's in the garage" - this is what I got.

You do things simply to see your spouse deliriously happy.  Sometimes, I think he's way better at that than I am - but I do try. My gestures usually are constant little things while he is known for the grandiose moments. It was nice to trade them this time.