Out with the old - in with the new!

I got my new car on Thursday!

Here is my old car - an Opel Astra. I really loved this car and it was always only a pleasure to drive.

I was a just a teeny weeny bit emotional about saying goodbye to it, but the new car (Mazda 3 - 2.3) quickly cheered me up!

This car drives like a dream! I know I will have lots of fun driving around in this beauty!

I have to say that I'm so glad that this car buying thing is over now! I've had my share of test drives and comparing specs and thinking and considering and and and! I feel comfortable that I made the right choice and now I can carry on with my life ... and hopefully get some scrapping done!

His and Hers ...

It seems like there might be a bit of a misunderstanding about the V8 (look at the comments on my previous post)

HIS:
The V8 belongs to Leon! He drives it and pays for the petrol and only let me play with it every now and then. I DON'T put petrol in that animal! Can't afford to!

Here's pictures of what HIS car looks like: (only Leon's car is pure silver)

HERS:

That's the reason why, even though my heart desires a big old 4 x 4, I decided to settle for a more economical car. A girl has to think about her stash money off course - nothing must come between a girl and her stash!

Since my decision is final now and I can't wait to share the news, I'll reveal the big secret!

The car that I bought is the Mazda 3 - 2.3 Individual! It looks like this (same colour and all):

On the inside it looks like this:

It drives like a dream! And it has a sunroof! I've never really cared for a sunroof but now I can't wait to get my car, open the sunroof and let my hair blow in the wind! :)

Hope they'll have it ready for my by the end of the week.

I know, I know - for a girl who don't care much for cars, I talk a lot about cars these days! This too shall pass. By next month everything will be back to normal and I will be the same old Michelle with nothing but scrapbooking on her mind! :) :) :)

Wow!!!!

What a weekend and what a day! I hardly know where to start telling you about it all!

I guess the beginning is always a good place to start.

The weekend was so much fun! We relaxed and chatted and ate and relaxed some more - and all of that surrounded by all the beauty that Mother Nature has to offer - right in the middle of the bushveld! The kids had a ball - swimming for the first time this summer. When the water in the swimming pool got too cold - they jumped into the jacuzzi! We really didn't want to leave on Sunday afternoon - only one thing made it worth our while to come back. Here's just a couple of the hundreds of photos I took.

Leon bought a new car last week - a Chevrolet Lumina - and we had to pick it up in Pretoria this morning. Although he's a little under the weather at the moment, Leon was as excited a boy about a brand new (and rather expensive!) toy! The kids didn't go to school and we took the day off from work today cause we all just had to go along to fetch our new car! Needless to say - I had to drive home from Pretoria to Sasolburg all by myself in my car cause they all wanted to get into the new car with Leon!

I have to admit that I am totally exhausted as I sit here typing this! All the excitement of the day really got to me and I can't wait to "hit the sack". I'm sure this insomniac is going to sleep like a baby tonight! :)

But before I sign off I want to say thank you to my Father in Heaven for blessing me with a life filled with blessings from all directions! Leon, my kids, my health, my home, and all the other little and not so little blessings! Thank you so much dear Lord! :)

Needs and wants

This past weekend was filled with ups and downs for me - emotionally speaking that is.

I'm considering buying a new car. I'm not really "into" the car thing and usually it's rather low on my priority list. BUT my car is getting old and I needed to start looking out for a new / newer one. The only cars that I really like are 4x4 SUV's. Needless to say, they are all expensive and heavy on fuel so I never really considered actually buying one. So, on Saturday, Leon and I started our hunt for a new car for me. We specifically looked at the smaller SUV's but couldn't find something I really liked.

Then, as I was there wondering about all the cars in this rather up-market second hand car dealer, I saw it! The car of my dreams! I never really cared much either way for Nissan and would somebody have told me that I would fall head over heels in love with a Nissan I would have laughed. But - there I was - heart racing, eyes gaping and mouth drooling over this beautiful, beautiful car. It was a Nissan Pathfinder (don't you think it's a great name for a car!)
I can honestly say that I have NEVER in my life felt anything like this over a car! I loved every bit of detail on the car and could already imagine myself driving it. It had an automatic transmission and I've never really like that either, but for some bizarre reason it didn't bother me in the slightest on this car - I even said I think it "suits" this car! Then I took it for a test drive! It felt like heaven! Everything was just so smooth and perfect!

Leon also liked the car and were pointing out all the features. We also discussed the irritating but I suppose important" matter of FUEL CONSUMPTION. He mentioned that it was a rather thirsty vehicle but the entire time I tried to convince myself that "it couldn't be THAT bad!" I loved this car and wanted it with all my heart - and I didn't want to listen to that little voice in my head trying to tell me that it didn't make sense.

Leon is an excellent negotiator and I asked him to handle the negotiation for me. He told the salesman that we are seriously interested in the car but that we will contact him on Monday to confirm if we'll take it or not. When we left I was still a bundle of excitement but with almost every minute that passed reason started returning to my over-emotional self and I started realising that it would probably be the most foolish thing I have ever done if I buy that car. With the fuel price at a record high and interest rates sky high as well as the fact that I have to travel more and longer distances - it just didn't make any sense at all! My heart still tried to argue for a while but I had to accept all the arguments against it. (We confirmed that this was unfortunately one of the vehicles with the highest fuel consumption on the market.)

And so my day ended on a bit of a disappointing note. I promised myself that I will never again allow myself to get emotionally involved with a car. Can you imagine that! Me - little old Michelle who's only interested in pretty scrapbooking stuff and never really cared for more earthly possessions than a safe and comfortable home!. I then started - like I usually do when I'm down in the dumps - to count my blessings. I still have a reliable car that's not so "thirsty". I love my car and I really enjoy driving it. I can still get a couple more miles out of my car and in the meantime I can still afford to buy little luxuries for myself, my home and my kids - which would not have been the case if I bought my Pathfinder.

I guess one have to always distinguish between wants and needs - take care of your needs first, then if there is something left over - spoil yourself a little bit and be satisfied to do without the rest.

However - nobody ever said a girl can't dream - right?! ;o)