Things brighten up a bit...

My goodness, what a week it's been! Hobbit has been horribly ill though she finally was able to keep all her meals down yesterday and no fever so she hopped on the bus today... granted, I have to pick her up for a dental appointment at 2 so she'll miss some things at the end of the day, namely PE so I'm not that concerned, but she's getting back to her normal routine which is always a great sign after a long illness.

Introducing, Baymax - the 2011 Toyota Corolla!!

Yesterday evening, after all the doctor appointments, I got a new (to me) car! I told Pokey on Friday when we had all the horrible stuff happen - Hobbit sick at school, I couldn't reach him, then I had to call a cab to go get her - that I was getting a car this weekend. I had been crunching our budget numbers and was able to work out exactly what we could do and still live life like normal. I figured if they could meet my numbers, great, and if not then I would simply walk away because I've been without a car for several years now and a few more months wouldn't kill me.

So we went to the local Toyota dealership where Pokey had gotten his car a few years ago and I just lay it all out there - what I had to put down and what I wanted my payments to be.  I didn't feel fabulous and I am never in the mood to haggle so I figured we could get things done faster if I simply state it at the get-go to move things along.  The VIP Manager - the name of a salesman who deals with return customers - pulled up two cars for me to test drive and decide on since I researched all of them online prior to going down.

Long story short, the guy came back wanting me to put down $500 more than what I said I wanted to and that my payments were going to be $68 more than I want I said I wanted them to be.  So I thanked him for his time and started to walk out.  Pokey knows that I don't like to be toyed around with so he smiled at the guy and said "you heard the boss, thank you for your time". I have honestly never seen someone scramble so fast in all my life!! He told me to just wait, please sit, he's got other banks he's waiting on for the financing. I stood and waited... and amazingly enough, I got better financing - with my down payment as it stood and my payments came in at $0.32 below what I told him I wanted to pay - with a better company!!

To be completely honest, my daddy was the one who told me that if they can't do what you want, just get up and walk away... wowzers, it worked.  I remember watching him make deals when I was younger and I always thought he had some kind of super power.  He was never rude, he simply stated the facts and if they could work together, that was awesome, but if they couldn't come to an agreement then he stood, smiled, shook the man's hand, and thanked him for his time and efforts.  I simply did what my daddy has always done.  I do think it's funny that Pokey always lets me negotiate things because I do our finances and know where or if there is any wiggle room so he just smiles and tells people that he married up... lol.

It seriously looks and feels like a brand new car - I'm very tickled.

So here is my new (to me) car... it's a 2011 Toyota Corolla with 38k miles on it... It's my first 'grown up' car so it feels a little weird. I usually get sporty things - compact SUVs, step-side pickups, three door coupes, and my Bug. This is my first 'adult' looking car but I guess at 42 it was about time. I do like it and I'm pretty sure that Hobbit will name it Baymax. She was super excited and to celebrate, Pokey took us out to supper at Cracker Barrel - but I got to drive.  Granted, neither Hobbit nor I ate much but having breakfast for supper at one of our favorite places is always a nice treat.

Here's the inside of Baymax... He's (yes, cars have genders in our family) super comfy, has a huge trunk, and all the neat bells and whistles are on the actual key. I thought the coolest key I ever had belonged to my Bug - it flipped out of a case when I pushed a button - but this one beats that.  No flipping, it's right there.  I have to be careful I don't pop the trunk or something when I turn it on.. yes, that has crossed my mind more than once.

I must admit, I like having the sense of freedom again.  I can go to the yarn store, grocer, my folks' house, shoot anywhere really. It's nice to be independent, in that respect, again. My husband is amazing for buying me the car... and yes, even though I crunched the numbers, worked the budget, negotiated the deal, and wrote the down payment check, he still bought it for me because he brings home most of the money. We are a true partnership and if he had said that he wanted me to wait until we had a bigger cushion so he felt better then that is what we would have done... though I know better than to bring him anything until I know we can handle it because his knee-jerk response to me has always been "if you want it, then we'll get it" - I learned early in our marriage to be careful what I randomly say I want because it will show up somehow. He is such a good man, always working to make me happy regardless of what it is and I love him for that - and it works both ways too.

So that is my happy news this week. I hope I can finally go back to work tomorrow - I've been having a horrible episode this week but I went to the doctor yesterday and they drew blood and ran tests. Hope to have some final answers by Spring Break so this nonsense will be over too. Even though I hated the tests, it's nice to know that things are going to come to a manageable end soon.

I hope y'all have been having a fabulous week.  If we keep our face to the sun, things will always brighten up!