New Car

After months of telling Brad we wouldn't need to buy a new car to get a 3rd car seat in the second row, we tried out the set-up. Just as I suspected, we got all 3 seats across. Haha. Vindication. We even got the 2 big kids in their seats comfortably. Now, buckling Abby was another matter since she uses the regular seat belt with her booster. We tried it for about 2 weeks until all of us got fed up with the hand scraping, seat climbing, and otherwise general madness that ensued every time we got in the car.

So, we bought a new car. On Ebay. Now, that's a trip! Well, it actually turned out to be a dealer in Houston, so we finalized everything over the phone, but we bought it sight unseen. Except for the 40+ pics on the Ebay listing! That's probably a more thorough look than we would have taken anyway! 

It turned out to be several thousand cheaper this way, so we were happy for that after the year we've had. We've now bought 2 cars and 2 front teeth, replaced 2 roofs and 2 partial fences, painted a house, and replaced a water main line this year. All before Christmas! But, I digress.

So, we had to figure out how to go get the car. Not as easy as it might sound. We had to pick it up within one week of purchase. It made the most sense for me to try to go during the week, but I couldn't just drive because then I'd have 2 cars to manage. A one-way plane ticket would cost $50 if I could wait 21 days, but on my timetable? $150. How about a car rental? Only $30 a day unless you want to drop it off in a different location. Then it's $140. Really? It costs them $110 to have a vehicle dropped 180 miles away?? Okay, we could just ship the car, right? $400. Again, 180 miles away, really? In stepped serendipity. Brad was asked to go meet with some guys at Rice for work. He had a co-worker that was going too, so he could just drop Brad off at the car dealer in time to pick up the car before his meeting (insert heavenly bell chorus and "Hallelujah" here). Done.