It’s been awhile and there is good reason. Well, kind of. I will first say this, the last few weeks have not been good (except for a long weekend in Sioux Falls, which was absolutely amazing! I will share about that someday soon!).
It has been stressful, I have ate like crap, I have barely exercised and sleep eludes me. For me, stress = binge eating and it’s not fruits and veggies. It’s sugar. ALL THE DAMN SUGAR!
Why? Well, one is our treadmill, which I will also fill you all in on next week. And two, I have been car shopping. UGH!
This is not a task I enjoy by any means but it was something that needed to be done as my husband’s car is on the last of its nine lives.
But, as of today (Oct. 28), at 5 p.m., my husband’s POS (yes, that stands for piece of shit) will no longer be needed. We will no longer be having to put brake fluid and coolant in any of our vehicles on a regular basis like we did with his car. And, we are going to be donating his vehicle for parts to the Douglas County Car Care Program.
And, because he is THE MOST generous man on the planet, he is is taking my 2009 Chevy Impala, which I don’t really like anyway, and I am getting the new vehicle. Or new to us, anyway.
But let me just share a moment how the last few weeks have gone.
I have been to five dealerships – three in Alexandria, one in Fergus Falls and one in Glenwood.
I have scoured cars.com for hours.
I have enlisted the help of – or more accurately, bugged the crap out of – my son and his dad (my ex) as they KNOW cars, and my brother as he KNOWS cars as he has been a mechanic much of his life.
I have prattled on to my hubby about this car and that car and hemmed and hawed to him about SO MANY vehicles.
Seriously, I am sure I was SUPER annoying to all of them, but they are all awesome and they never let on how annoying I am sure I was. (THANK YOU to Brandon, Rod, Mike and Al!)
I have searched and researched numerous other dealerships in St. Cloud, Fargo, Moorhead, Detroit Lakes and Morris.
I have researched Kelly Blue Book. I have read numerous reviews on numerous websites. And, I have read the CarFax reports. ALL the CarFax reports.
I even enlisted the opinions of my friends and family on Facebook. Thanks to all those who shared about their vehicles.
And lastly, I have test drove about a dozen vehicles because honestly, I had no idea really what I wanted. Kind of. Maybe. Let’s just say I knew what I didn’t want and there were some things that I knew I did want.
Side note to smokers. Just quit. PLEASE, for the love of God, just quit. Or DO NOT SMOKE in your vehicle. OMG, there were some stinky ones. OK, rant done.
And lastly, lastly…THANK YOU to all the VERY patient salesmen. You guys were so awesome and I was lucky to have worked with all you. A huge thank you to Chad, Patrick, Jed, Bryce, Bill and of course, Luke, who ended up finding the one that checked all the boxes. He was polite, patient, not high pressured and just overall seemed very genuine. He was great guy to work with.
So, what did I end up getting?
Here’s a pic from the dealership:
It is a 2014 Honda CR-V EX-L. It was in my price range. It is AWD. And it has some great features like auto start, sun/moon roof, heated seats, pretty good gas mileage and much more.
I am excited. But at the same time, I ain’t gonna lie. I am still a bit stressed and still have some anxiety as I wonder, did I make the right choice? Car buying is a big deal. A HUGE deal for me. And Al and I have not had the best luck with vehicles. So of course, I am going to question my decision. But…..I know it felt right when I got in it. It felt right when I drove it. It felt right buying local. It just felt RIGHT.
I guess time will tell.
The one thing I know for sure is that I am glad the process is over. And I am sure Brandon, Rod, Mike and Al are happy, too! Lol!
Now, if only our treadmill situation was completely resolved.
Maybe then I could sleep, not be so stressed and actually start eating right and exercising on a regular basis again. (And yes, I know I could have been doing that this whole time but I am me and it just didn’t happen.)
But damn it, it will.
Right?
The Road to 50 