Hot Wheels!

Three weeks after graduating from college in 1998, DH and I got married. He was already employed, but it took me 4 months to find a job. Less than a month after I started working, my car died. We had no choice but to run out that weekend and get a car. We couldn't afford to buy at the time, so we leased a gold 1999 Toyota Camry (in November of 1998; weren't we special! LOL). Seven months later, in June of 1999, DH's car died. Once again, we had to go out that very weekend and get something. We wanted to buy this time instead of leasing a second vehicle, but we needed something cheap. There was this new car brand on the market, so we decided to try it. No frills, not even power windows or locks (though it did have a CD player vs my Camry's tape deck), but for the price, we really couldn't do better. We drove off the lot with a white 1999 Kia Sephia. Out of college and married less than a year, and we were already driving two brand new cars! Our friends were stunned. (BTW, those same friends were again stunned when they visited our new house in June 2010 and saw those SAME two "brand new cars" sitting in the carport 12 years later. They simply could not believe we still had them! LOL) By the end of 1999, we were totally in love with my Camry, and we were already threatening to get rid of the Kia and replace it with another Camry!



It may have taken 11 years, but we finally did it. The Kia is so old and poorly made, they don't even produce them any more. It has been driven to and from downtown Atlanta most every work day for over 11 years and was getting crankier and crankier by the day. It's had a hard life, including having a window broken out by a thief and being side swiped in the parking deck. We can't really complain, though. The dealer said that 12 years was about 7 years longer than the average for a 1999 Kia Sephia, and it did get us to and from where we needed to be most of the time, even if it was a loud rough ride. But it was time for a change. Check out our new hot wheels:



Introducing our brand new silver 2011 Toyota Camry! Okay, so maybe not "hot." In fact, it is pretty much the world's most boring car in the world's most popular color. (Hey, what do you expect from two engineers with a 5-year-old?) But it's brand new and we like it! It barely fits in the carport, but that's okay. It is smooth and quiet, and it has tons more leg room (than the Kia or my 1999 Camry) in the back for Luke. No more feet in my back on long trips! (Well, at least for a while, until he grows some more.) Since my Camry is still running quite well for her age with a fresh oil change, tire rotation, and new battery, we kept it and sent the Kia packing. We didn't want to be in the position again to have to run out and buy a car because one died (and with two 1999 cars, the odds of catastrophic failure were rising daily). We wanted time to shop and decide what we wanted, but there was no great hurry either. Then we saw that the same Toyota dealer where we bought my 1999 Camry was running a great deal, several thousand less than anyone else around. We simply could not pass it up. (The finance guy also went on and on that in the 10 years he had been financing cars, he has never seen a married couple with identical credit scores.)

Important Aside: I have to brag on Luke for a minute. He got up at 6:15 AM Saturday morning (by choice! oy). We left around 9:30 and headed to the Mall of Georgia (30-40 minutes away), where we test drove some different cars before and after lunch. Once we decided on another Camry for sure, we came home, since no one up there could/would match the deal we'd already found. We got home around 3:30, where Luke rested while watching one episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, had a snack, and played a bit while DH and I crunched numbers and decided to proceed with purchase. By 4:30, we were heading back out, this time to Stone Mountain (20 miles away, different direction than the morning) to make the deal before the special pricing expired on September 1. We did not leave the dealership until 8:30 PM!! No, not even for dinner! I have absolutely no idea what took so long, and it didn't really seem to take that long at the time. (I honestly can't tell you the last time we were out after dark in the summer when we weren't traveling.) And we still had to eat. We didn't tuck Luke in bed until about 10 PM. In all that time, over 12 hours after starting this wild journey, he behaved near perfectly! The only time he even bordered on a meltdown was when we told him we had to leave the house again at 4:30. We dragged him all over this city, and he was a complete angel the entire time. I'm sure the car dealership employees have seen some incredibly badly behaved children in their time, and they all commented on how incredibly well behaved he was. He does have his moments! Here he is nearly asleep in the back seat of the new car, finally on the way home after a *very* long day.



The new Camry is to be DH's car. I've had "the good car" for a long time, and it's his turn. After all, he *does* commute every day, whereas I go days without driving anywhere since all I have to do anymore is walk Luke to the bus stop. We will also use the new Camry on trips due to the extra leg room, the smoother and quieter ride, and to try to make my older Camry last a bit longer. She's put in 160,000 miles already; she's earned a bit of retirement. But don't worry about me, we're already eyeing our next car purchase. Just give us a little time.

BTW, we decided to keep the new car a secret to surprise our families over Labor Day weekend, which meant that I couldn't mention it on my blog, the board, Twitter, or Facebook. I didn't even tell my brother! (Now that is saying something! LOL) I wrote this post the night we bought the car, Sunday, August 29, and I didn't publish it until Sunday, September 5. Sitting on this news for over a week has been torture!

Currently feeling: cruisin'

Phone Fashion (and free case)

The blue case for my Droid broke earlier this month. It wasn't even 60 days old. Admittedly, I didn't love my blue case, it was just the one I hated the least when we bought the phones. I kept meaning to go looking for one I liked better, but it wasn't a high priority, and I never made the time.

Fate decided to save me from my boring transparent blue case. Just one teeny-tiny sliver of blue plastic, about the size of a clipped fingernail, and the front frame would no longer stay put. I thought I could live with it, but no. It was driving me absolutely batty!! In less than two days, I was shopping for a new case. There were quite a few options, but I had absolutely no idea what I might want. I basically had a hard case, but I thought the silicone cases might be nice. And they weren't that expensive. In fact, most were nicer-looking and cheaper than the boring blue one had been, including my husband's discount! I narrowed the choices to three, one silicone and two hard, but I truly could not decide between them, so I got them all. I am so happy to finally feel like it looks like *my* phone, not just a phone. So what did I get?

First up, the silicone case. These mainly came in this diamond pattern or in solid colors. I finally settled on white (the front is solid clear, no white).


I think it looked okay (the white is a bit more pronounced in real life than in the photo), but I didn't like the way it fit. It wasn't snug enough for my tastes, and I didn't like the feel of it as much as I thought I might. It doesn't feel bad, just not preferred by my personal tactile senses. It is quite easy to get on and off, though, if you like switching them around, something I thought I might like to do, but I'll get to that in a minute. There is nothing wrong with it. It works fine and looks fine, it just isn't for me. I will, however, offer it for free to anyone reading this who might want it. If you want to research it for yourself, it is a White Amzer Jelly Silicone Skin Case for the Motorola Droid A855. Just drop me a comment or send me an email (erinmarie AT rocketmail DOT com). First come, first served; will ship to USA only, sorry. No affiliation with any of those companies, just offering a case that I no longer need to anyone who might like to have it.

Next up is the case that is probably the most obvious choice for me, the Mickey Mouse case.


There are several Disney cases available, and some of you may have expected me to pick the Pooh one, but I just didn't like most of them. They were a little to, well, bright and cartoonish. Yes, I realize they are Disney, and I realize they are cartoons, but I just didn't care for them. (Show me a Maleficent case, especially the dragon, and I'll be all over it!) But this one, I liked the look of. After getting it on my phone, I also very much like the feel of it. It has a very silky matte finish and a little bit of texture with the various layers of paint (or whatever it is). Very nice! The various patterns continue on the front face frame. It has a funky little bulge near the USB connection (you can see it sticking out there on the top right), which isn't a huge detractor, but is a small one. Definitely keeping this one.

However, the one I decided to go with for now is this one, the shooting stars:


Anyone who knows me well at all likely would have picked out this case for me (this or the Mickey). It is actually the least expensive of the three, but I really like it. Even Luke said "wow Mommy, cool phone!" LOL I like the color, I like the design, I like the stars (of course), and I particularlyl like that the design sort of wraps around to the front face:


I will say that it is incredibly difficult to get this case off! That is largely the reason that I didn't photograph the front of the other cases (couldn't get this one off to put them on). At least I know it won't come off accidentally. It also means that I won't be swapping them around like I thought I might do. I like the feel of the Mickey case better, but this one makes me cheery just looking at it. I can tell already that the finish isn't going to last. It is just painted right on top of the white plastic. (Not a criticism, just an observation. As I said, it was cheap.) I'm sure it will start to show the wear and tear of daily use rather quickly. I'll put on the Mickey case once this one gets so ratty I can't stand it, likely in less than a year. But for now, I'm really enjoying my bright and fun phone fashion.

Currently feeling: fashionable

Lost: Cayman the Turtle

Uncle Jacob brought Luke an adorable little turtle from Cayman Islands. Naturally, we named him Cayman, and he has accompanied Luke most everywhere for the past 2 weeks. I personally didn't like it. Cayman was too small, about the size of a baseball, but L loved him. Had I considered the difficulty with replacing him, I would have put my foot down, but it's too late now.

I mentioned that we went to the mall yesterday despite the snow and ice. Cayman went with us, but he seems to have gotten lost as we were leaving. We know we had him when Luke zipped his coat so that we could leave (DH had to hold him), but we didn't have him when we got home. Apparently, Luke put him down in the seat next to his booster seat on the outside (the door side). We were all freezing cold and hurrying, and we think he got knocked out of the car as Luke got in. We realized it as soon as we got home. Of course, looked all over the inside and outside of the car, but found nothing. DH even went back to the mall. With the weather so bad, few people going in and out. Our space still empty, and the cars on either side of our empty space were still the same. He looked under 3-4 cars to the left and right of where we had been, as well as 6-8 cars on connecting row, plus several cars on the rows front and back. He backtracked our route and checked with lost and found. Nothing.

Luke and DH went back Saturday late morning, in case Cayman got turned in after hours, but it wasn't there. DH said that the lady at Lost and Found was about as upset as Luke. I'm just upset that we lost him in only 2 weeks, and there is just no way to get another one (no one I know is going there any time soon; I've asked). I know Luke has plenty of toys, but this is the first one he's really lost (as opposed to the one that got eaten), and he is terribly upset. We just hope someone saw him in the parking lot, picked him up, and took him home to a little boy or little girl who will love him and take good care of him.

Currently feeling: like a lousy mom