BitterSweet

Last weekend I seemed to be fighting a little bit of a cold. I was doing pretty well keeping it at bay until Thursday when it rained here and the cold seemed to kick into full gear. Even though I wasn't feeling too great Friday morning, I went on in to work since I don't like to call in sick. I did, however, leave early when all my work was done and work had slowed down in the afternoon. Needless to say I spent the whole weekend feeling sick. Late Saturday morning when I got up I decided that I wanted to try to do some things around the house because laying in bed feeling miserable just wasn't cutting it. Jullian and I cleaned out the garage, raked leaves, did laundry and a few other little things that were part of our normal Saturday routine. I went to bed early, but didn't fall asleep until late because I just lay there in bed feeling miserable - what fun! Sunday morning I woke up feeling even worse still, so I didn't go to church and didn't get out of bed until about 10:30 or 11:00. I took a shower, ate, got on the computer and was back in bed by 2:30. I slept until around 5:30 or 6:00 and got up. I began feeling much better, though not over this cold, so I fixed dinner for Jullian and I. I didn't do much else during the evening except iron clothes and watch the new Terminator - The Sarah Conner Chronicles TV show - which, by the way, was pretty good. Jullian and I went to bed at 10:00 to try to get a good nights rest, but I lay there until about 3:30 in the morning before finally falling asleep. Ugh! Two hours later I was getting up to get ready for work.

On another, not so gloomy, note I decided after much contemplation to get a new car - not a brand new car, but a used car that would be new to me. I have been thinking about it for some time because I seem to have the Explorer in the shop for repairs on a monthly basis and the del sol is beginning to experience the same woes. Just in the past couple months both cars have been making noises and not running well and the check engine light has come on for the one-hundredth-million time on the truck. Both cars are in need of several hundred dollars worth of work each and I can't keep trying to keep them running. So, even though I don't like the idea of going back into debt again for a new car, I decided it would be less expensive to have a car payment each month than to keep putting money into the old cars.

I started looking a couple weeks ago at cars and decided on a few things I wanted to have in a car. I wanted one with four doors - I don't often have passengers in my car, but I would like for them to be comfortable getting in and out of the car when I do and it is convenient having those extra doors when getting myself in and out of the back when I need to. I wanted a car with good to decent gas mileage because of how much gas is these days and it is going to continue to go up. I wanted one with decent insurance rates and not too new because Jullian will be driving in the not too distant future and with him on my policy the rates will only go up. And I wanted a Honda. That left me with the Honda Accord and CR-V. Fortunately I like both, but since a used Accord isn't quite as expensive as a used CR-V, I decided to look for an Accord. I've looked at several and test drove a few and am surprised how much I liked how they drove. Maybe I had just gotten used to my old cars, but it felt like I was driving a new car. After looking at the color combinations and models I decided I wanted an EX model with dark interior. The dark interior looked much nicer than the lighter colored interiors and the EX model included the wheels that I liked - plus other nice features like a sunroof, controls on the steering wheel, nicer seats and stereo system. I like all the exterior colors of the models with dark interior, so the color wasn't too big a deal - however, I did like the silver exterior and black interior combination. Last week I found one to my liking, at a price within my range, so Friday night I traded in the del sol and Explorer and came home with an '03 Accord. Trading in the del sol was a bittersweet experience because I've had the del sol for 13.5 years and have loved that car since I got it. I've owned it for more than half of my adult life, but like a new chapter in a book it was time to turn the page and begin anew. I haven't driven the Accord much since I spent the whole weekend sick, but so far I really like it a lot. I like how it looks and I like how it drives - a good combination. I got my four-doors, the gas mileage on the Accord is rated at 24/33 city/highway, but I'll have to wait and see how accurate that is, and although I no longer get my multi-car discount on my car insurance the rates went down almost $50 each 6-month renewal period.

So here she is - my new used 2003 Honda Accord. I like the silver color - maybe because it goes with my silver hair that's growing in so quickly.

These first two images were taken at Reedy Creek Park on the way home from the grocery store.




The interior on the driver's side.


A view from the back seat.


The front


The back


Just another view with Jullian in it this time.