New Used Car

At 9 o' clock last night I bought a car in my pajamas. It sounds terribly irresponsible, so let me explain. As you know, Clark and I have been shopping around for a second vehicle. We're in no hurry (we need a second car by mid-July) so its been nice walking in (and then out) of dealerships after a lot of wheeling and dealing without any skin off our noses.
We test drove a TON of vehicles and decided that the Hyundai Santa Fe would be the best fit for our family (thanks for voting, btw). Once that was decided, I spent a lot of time searching through internet classifieds and craigslist for the perfect car.
Last night I found a promising listing that was super close at a Superstition Springs dealership. Without our usual Thursday line-up of shows to watch, we loaded Booker into the car and headed out thinking we'd be gone for 45 minutes tops.
Long story short, if it hadn't been for the receptionist with whom Booker became enamored we might not be the proud owners of a 2004 Santa Fe. She gave him balloons, goldfish, crayons and she even let him sit in her lap while they watched Dora on her computer. It made the whole experience a MILLION times easier.
But it wasn't just the receptionist. I feel like we got a pretty good deal. I won't say exactly how much we paid, but after tax, title, registration, blah, blah, blah we ended up paying just a little bit more than we had originally planned AND the car only has 36 k miles on it. My Aunt Diane always says that things are cheap for a reason, so while we wanted the best deal we could find, I also didn't want to end up with a lemon of a car.
I had a lot of fun driving it home in the rain... its seems so big and clean and eager to be filled with two little boys, strollers, and groceries. I'm excited. In all honesty, I don't think I've ever driven a car with so few miles on it, much less owned one. Its a strange feeling. I wanted to inform all the salesmen that they shouldn't be selling us a car... only real-life adults buy cars, and they usually do it in normal clothes and during business hours.
I know it seems terribly reckless to buy a car all of a sudden, but I promise that this was a well-considered decision. Plus, I feel like I'm so overwhelmed with major life changes lately that I'm glad to have one out of the way. In May, I'll buy a car. In June, I'll find a house to live in. In July, I'll move into that house and cheer Clark on as he passes the bar. In August, I'll have a baby. I can't wait for September when things are normal again, and hopefully we'll have good, reliable car to get us there.