That New Car Smell

I have a new car-ar! Woo hoo! (Do you hear the sing-song quality to that taunt?)

Paid off the Mazda 6 last week, but rather than reveling in the No Car Payment feeling for a while, I decided to upgrade to an SUV. I know ... crazy of me with these $4 gas prices, but I really wanted more room and I was just so tired of my car.

So I used my free time during Kiddle's nap yesterday to crunch, crunch, crunch the numbers using a Consumer Reports bottom line report and got lots of coaching from my dad. Mr. P was able to come home around 3:00 (he's the money guy) and we headed out to the dealer.

By 7:00 I had a spankin' new Mazda CX-9. Platinum silver. Totally loaded: rear-seat entertainment system, rear-view camera, GPS and intelligent key system (which means I don't have to actually put a key in the ignition to start it or use my remote to unlock it). Mr. P was pretty impressed with my negotiating skills. When the finance guy showed me the invoice, said he just wanted to make $300-400 above the dealer price, and I said, "Well, I'd like to give you less than the dealer invoice" with a straight face, Mr. P almost fell out of his chair.

So thanks dear Dad for all your advice! I love my new car! (Of course, I'm headed off to Oklahoma for two weeks in a few days, so not much time to enjoy the newness. Oh well.)

I have a new car-ar!

Trains, Boats and Helicoptors

My parents were just here for another visit (they had free tickets on American as a result of being caught up in the MD-80 fiasco in April) and Kiddle continued his love affair with Ahdah. It's not that he doesn't like his dad or my mom, but for whatever reason my dad is the only person Kiddle will hang out with and not even notice I'm not around. I can't explain it, but I'm not going to fight it.

We had a great visit with them. They're so laid back and don't expect to be entertained. But I was feeling a bit guilty that we haven't done anything really fun the last few times they were here, so we went into the city on Tuesday to see the new Waterfalls public art exhibit. And it was beautiful, interesting and a bit of a let-down all at the same time. We did a half hour Circle Line tour which took you right by each waterfall, but really the best view was from the end of the South Street Seaport where you could see all four structures at one time.

Transportation was the theme of the day. Kiddle was fascinated and a little scared with each new encounter. First was the train ride into the city. I should add here that he doesn't like things that move (shocking, I know, since he's typically a daredevil baby). Last time he rode the little train at the zoo he cried the whole time, and has refused to get on it since then. He even freaks out if you put money in the little truck/car/horse ride-ons at the mall. He'd been on the subway as a baby but this was his first ride as a conscious-of-his-surroundings toddler. And, just as I expected, he wasn't thrilled. Fairly upset, wouldn't get out of my lap. But by the time we got into the city he'd calmed down and realized that trains are ok.

At the seaport, he stood at the railing of the dock saying, "Boat. Boat. Boat." At least until the line started moving to board ... then he was not interested in being a passenger. Of course, once we got underway he decided boats were the coolest thing ever and spent most of the trip running around madly. He had better sea legs than the rest of us (definitely inherited from his dad's side of the family). The river was filled with barges and police boats and speedboats and helicopters and sailboats and trucks and buses crossing the bridges. It was transportation overload and he was in heaven.

Then the return trip on the train was a totally different story: he ran onto the train like he was a seasoned commuter and sat himself down in his own seat with a smug little smile on his face. Such a big boy!