It's Here!

I haven't posted since my renovation. I have no good excuse. We have been visiting with family and trying to get back in to our groove since the holidays wrapped up. I find myself in the middle of something ridiculous and thinking "I should blog about this" but then lacking the time to sit and actually write a single word. But yesterday, something fabulous happened and I had to find a way to document it.

A few months back, Heavenly Sarah wrote a wonderful post about her first car. Apparently, her family made her think she was getting a rusty clunker rather than the fun car she wanted as a joke. What I might have shared at the time was the same thing happened to me - only there was no joke. My first car was a rusty clunker. Much like Sarah, I kept hoping for a punchline, a "Ha ha! Just Kidding. We would never expect you to drive that!" but it never came. So, I drove an '85 Buick Skylark that looked like the before-ad for "Rusteeze Medicated Bumper Ointment". The car had a bad carburetor and the engine frequently flooded. I often found myself walking rather than driving. Unfortunately, frequent repairs made it difficult to save money for a newer, better automobile so that was my car until I left for college.

Since that first car, I have been the owner of a few other, better automobiles. Each have had their issues and each have been at least five years old. My last automobile was a '97 Cavalier Coupe that my husband traded in for a 2003 Jeep Grand Cherokee. He drove the Jeep and I drove his old Honda Accord right up until the birth of our son, when we then switched to accommodate the bulky car seat.

Finally, this past week, we were ready to trade the Accord for another family car (read: SUV). Yesterday, we picked up our brand new 2011 Honda Pilot. This time, I would be driving the new car. I was able to pick the style, the color, and the accessories. It is the first time I have EVER owned a new car. A car that no one else has sat in. A car that I know has never been in an accident, has never missed an oil change, has never had a drink spilled in it or a snack ground in to the carpet.

I am the mother of an almost two year old, so I know full well that it's only a matter of time before I see goldfish remnants on my seats and juice cups on my floor mats. But right now, I am basking in the joy of the new car smell. The feel of clean leather seats. The view of my son in the back seat in the "conversation mirror". Last night, I kept peeking in the garage to make sure it was still there.

It's highly likely that we will not buy another car for a long, long time and when we do, it will likely not be brand new. My wise father-in-law says "A new car is a used car as soon as you drive it off the lot". He's right. My beautiful car is already "used" by any dealer's definition. But, in this case - it's used by me. And it's mine.