Well, my trip back home was loads of fun! I got to see my best friend Kristin and I took her and Chris to the Aquarium. I got to see Marty and bring the huge suckage to drumming for Rock Band with him, Nick and Mike. I got to see Angie and Rob, if only briefly. ( :p ) I got hang out with my Dad, stepmom Kathy and little sister Sarah (whom I bought a Hannah Montana shirt and a Mario game for while I was in town). I had my Aunt's famous crab soup and egg salad sandwiches. I got see my Grandma and eat her delicious home-cooked meals. I think one of my favorite parts of the whole thing was being able to drive in Baltimore. It's SO much more cramped than Minnesota roads, I hadn't realized that before. But man it was nice knowing where I was no matter what. My Mother was a pain in the ass, but that's par for the course, and I was luckily able to avoid her most of the time I was in town, which was quite pleasant. I also got to see Steve briefly, which was really nice. We talked about who's doing what and with whom and gave our opinions on these matters, which Chris found quite entertaining. I did end up missing Donner, because he wasn't available when I was and then I simply ran out of time. Sorry Donner! :( I also missed Adam, but maybe that's for the best. He called me about an hour after I got back into my apartment and we laughed at his timing. It was good to hear from him, I have to say. Maybe next time I'm in town I can see him for a while. Anyway, I have good news, so on to that!



I am officially 4 weeks away from owning a brand new car! This has been my first real car buying experience, since last time I didn't get to pick the car, test drive the car, or select any features or even the color of the car I ended up with. Not to say that my Hyundai (her name is Megumi by the way, or Meg for short) hasn't been good to me, because she has. But she's 5 years old now, nearing ye olde 60,000 mile mark, and let's face it: she IS a Hyundai Accent. So about 6 months ago I started my car research process. I had initially decided on the Toyota Prius, and I'm still bummed that I won't end up with one. However, I literally drive only 5 miles a day, so paying that much for a car that will save me money on gas that I don't buy often anyway didn't seem financially responsible or necessary. So I crossed that off my list and decided that I would test drive the new Toyota Corolla. Cheaper, pretty nice standard features, and a reliable car. Just what I wanted. So I went back to my Toyota dealer and saw my salesmen (Bill) and told him of my decision change and he gave my a Corolla to test drive. It was ok...but nothing special. It handled fine, but the interior just wasn't me, and the features were pretty bland. So while he was putting the Corolla back, I came across a Scion xD in the showroom, and decided to sit in it. I fell in love right then. It has all the standard features I want, it's 4door with plenty of cargo room, it comes in blue, and it's not too big. So gave me one of those to drive, and I was sold immediately. Handles better than my Accent, smoother ride than my Accent, and it's very comfy.



So I told him I was gonna sit on it for a bit and try to decide what I wanted to do. I was on the Scion website all that weekend building and rebuilding my car, and I finally got it exactly the way I wanted it. The only features I added on were the rear bumper sticker and the sport steering wheel. So I called Bill and told him and he said to bring my car in when I wanted and he would have it appraised so I could figure out what kind of down payment I wanted to save and then I could order one when I was about 4-6 weeks from my target amount. Well, last night I took it to be appraised, and I was not hopeful of my Megumi's value. Well, as Chris and I are waiting for the verdict, who walks in? His parents! Now Chris's dad has been selling cars at the local Dodge dealership for years and he knows people. So he spoke to the boss (also a guy named Bill) and said he could cut me a break on my trade-in value. So while I was expecting $1500-$2000 for my car at best, he offered me $3000!! Twice what I was budgeting for! On top of that, my salesman Bill said that if I wanted to order my xD, he wouldn't charge me the $500 deposit, he would only charge $100. So yeah, I totally ordered that shit and I should have it in about 4-6 weeks. My biggest dilemma now is deciding whether it's a boy or girl and what to name it! Help me decide, people! 

