New Car!

Even though the "check engine" light shut off this afternoon, I finally went ahead and bought a new car. Yay! I've only been threatening to do so since the total system failure back in September, during which the head gasket blew, causing the radiator and thermostat to implode as well. It was 300 miles below the warranty, meaning I was THISCLOSE from having to pay the $1500 bill at Hyundai myself.

Much as I've maligned the ol' 2003 Elantra, it served me well these last four years. I beat the snot out of it and did virtually nothing but change the oil, and even that I didn't do as regularly as I ought to have. She owed me nothing, and I said goodbye tonight with more than a little nostalgia and gratitude.

Now, I'm driving a Toyota Corolla S, manual transmission, MOONROOF, keyless entry, CD player (my first car to have one come standard). She looks like the Elantra, silver with dark gray interior, but it definitely feels like an upgrade. It's the little things when you spend thousands of miles in a car. The fickle faulty locks on the Elantra were the bane of my existence, and I really missed the moonroof since the Jetta's own catastrophic head gasket incident in 2003 (I wonder if there's a correlation between me and blown gaskets . . . . DON'T say it) :)

So yeah, pix to come soon.

The other thing that's kind of wonderful about getting the new car --- the silver lining to the cloud of the "check engine" light last night --- is that I finally snapped out of "it." I've been in the funk to end all funks this week, trying to force changes that need to happen organically. Afraid I'd break down on a dark cold night between West Dundee and Palatine last night, I crashed at Patsy's last night, and we had a good talk and good tarot card reading session. (Yes, they help me. Don't be a hater). But then I couldn't sleep, and I lay awake for hours sorting out my shit.

In a nutshell: I'm staying put, finishing my doctoral degree. And I refuse to allow myself to second guess it every ten minutes any more. I'm not done here yet. Oddly, having to deal with the car jolted me into fixing my frame of mind. I've decided to blame the overall funk on the interminability of this effen winter. And my trying to force the hand of the universe. No more of that!

Ironically, I makeshifted an affirmation out of the sticker off of a Starbucks breakfast sandwich wrapper just yesterday, and stuck it on the dash in the Elantra:
"Epiphanies happen." Instant karma baby! It's the last gift from the Elantra, but I didn't take it with me. I'll get another one.

In the mean time, my new Corolla and I are vessels waiting to be filled by the hand of the universe.