Beauty and the Beast

I shouldn't be so mean to Ladybird. Really, I shouldn't. She's been a good girl.

So today, I bought her a friend. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Pearl!

She's a beauty, isn't she? I only went to look. Just look. I wasn't even sure that the car was going to be what was claimed. But it was.

And I wasn't sure I was going to get a loan at a rate I found acceptable. But I did.

And then, I didn't think that the car would be ready to come home today. But it was.

I was both excited and terrified, so it made for an interesting ride home with the mother piloting Ladybird behind me. It was horrifying to try to quickly adjust to another vehicle in an unfamiliar neighborhood, navigate traffic, AND not lose the mother.

But I did it.

This was not the day I had planned. We did make some of our planned trips --but we took the car. The new car. And enjoyed it. (You have to remember, we've been driving an 18-year-old car so we're pretty easily amused.) I had to coach the mother on using the key fob and how to unlock the door once you're in the car -- after I figured it out myself. I know this isn't a big deal for a lot of people but it doesn't happen much around here so it was quite the event.

So here they are. The Beauty and The Beast.

It's not a new car. It's a few years old. But just a few. And it has d*mn near everything in it. I do have to take it back in a week or so. The dealership is going to touch up and detail a few road dings on the body. Nothing major. This thing is amazing! I waited a long time to go into debt over a car, so I wanted it to be something I wanted. It also happened to be one car the mother and I agreed on because I absolutely refused to buy an "old people" car.

The mother and I are both enthralled. We both keep peering out the window at it. It can't be a mirage because it still hasn't disappeared from the driveway.

Now, all I can hear is the raspy voice of the gal in the car ad who asks: "When you turn your car on, does it return the favor?"

Yeah. Oh yeah.