Ode to the Automobile

We picked up our new car yesterday!

YAY!

As I said before, getting a car is a BIG deal at our house. I'll provide you a short history of our automobile experiences for the last three years so you can know exactly how celebratory this day really is:

We moved from Houston to Boston in the fall of 2004, and like any good Texans, we could not imagine giving up our freedom--oops, I mean our car. But when we found out that the Harvard garage across from our Harvard apartment was about $170/mo and had a three-year waiting list, we figured we could buck up and do without our car for the first semester, just to see how it went. Well, we ended up selling our car because we found out we could get along without it, but it was definitely an adjustment.

For one thing, I could not figure out how people did their grocery shopping or went to Target without a car. I ended up trying the bus, but it is no fun to wait 20 minutes with your arms full at a bus stop when it is windy and drizzling. Then we discovered Zipcar, which is the best thing ever (renting cars by the hour). I also discovered Peapod, where you order your groceries online and they're delivered to you. So we figured out how to get along, bolstered by the knowledge that we were saving tons of money by not owning a car.

On top of that, I discovered that I felt like a load had been lifted off my shoulders. I literally felt stress melting away. And do you know why? Because I did not have to sit in traffic anymore. You Houstonians will know what I'm talking about. For the last three years or so we lived in H-town, I spent an average of two hours every day in the car. Is that ridiculous or what?? It really took a toll on me, and I could feel my blood pressure rising every time I got stuck in traffic. So to be relieved of that was huge. In that sense, I felt free.

But we also felt very much like a good chunk of our freedom was taken away, because we couldn't go on a road trip without renting a car, we couldn't just run to Target to pick something up, we had to depend on friends to pick us up to go to others' houses, etc.

And then, when we found out Baby B was on his way, I knew it was time. It was time to get ourselves back in the realm of the automobile owners of the world.

So Nathan and I bought a handy dandy 2002 Honda Accord. Yes, I know, it's lacking a bit on the cool factor, but we really just wanted a reliable car that would be easy to park. And this one was exactly that. It's in great shape, and we bought it well below its blue book value, which makes Lauren happy. It was previously owned by a dealer, so it was very well maintained and is actually loaded. Now, I would have been happy with a lot less, but let me just say that I am not complaining about the sunroof, leather seats, or 6 CD changer.

So YAY for the new car!