Go ahead and judge me, but I love my old car (8/30/2018)

I’ve been driving the same car since college. A 2004 Hyundai Elantra. Why, you ask? Because it’s a great car. And it’s been paid off for years. Lots of years. And since moving to Chicago I can play bumper cars with the trash cans that the garbage men insist on leaving behind my garage door in the alley. Not going to lie, I do cringe when I go somewhere nice and have to valet my car. Or when a coworker sees me in the parking lot. But honestly, at this point I just drive it because it drives people around me crazy. Most notably, my Audi-driving husband. (He’s mortified by my car and forbid me from putting Arabella in it initially). Unfortunately, it seems to be nearing the point where driving the old clunker may no longer make sense. Earlier this summer I (and by I, I mean DD) put $1500 into a new muffler (and some other associates parts that were rusting away). And today, what we thought was a dead battery is apparently something else. I know this because my car wouldn’t start outside the bank after opening Arabella’s savings account. Thus, Arabella had the milestone of her first AAA call. The very nice man who responded to my call jumped the car and said I was good to go— but it wouldn’t start again a few hours later. So, we will have to deal with this over the holiday weekend.

Other than the 45 mins spent waiting for AAA (no small miracle in Chicago), the day was pretty uneventful. Arabella woke up at 6:30a– likely the result of me bragging about her amazing sleep skills. I ran to target in Jarmon’s car to buy some formula with more coupons that were expiring. Tomorrow, I’ll go back to Target to exchange some diapers that Arabella is outgrowing faster than she can use (which is insane considering how fast she uses them).

On Saturday, I’m making Jarmon deal with my car. I should probably handle it myself given how badly he wants the car to disappear. But car repairs just seem like a blue job. Say a little prayer for the old Hyundai tonight… I was hoping to get her to 200,000 miles. Right now she’s hovering below the 175,000 mark. Sigh.