So I had a BIG surprise today!

I woke up today to thoughts of using my day off to do boring, potentially very stressful things; calling my credit card, calling my federal student loan to find out how much I still owe and probably doing a bunch of other highly boring stuff. As I dozed in my bed I heard my mom talking to my dad who had taken our van in to our local Toyota dealer about how it would need its wheel bearings changed, so I decided to get up even though I did not have to, hoping that I might come along just for the ride. I had faint thoughts of checking out what they had for used cars but I had strong doubts of actually seeing anything within my price range. (Y’all might recall that I recently got my Novice license and that I’ve been car hunting, though not very seriously since it’s hard to find time for that.) So, I hurriedly dressed, got in the truck with my mom (donning a toque to conceal the fact that I hadn’t bothered to brush my hair yet) and we drove off. As we were pulling in, my mom mentioned that my dad had spoken of a car that was there which my dad had seen – a Yaris. Even though I had been looking for an All Wheel Drive vehicle, my ears pricked up for a moment until my mom told me that it was a manual. Instant loss of interest. INSTANT.

So, I sat in the truck without moving, waiting for my dad to come and as we saw him coming I hopped out, intending to sit in the back. Instead, he grabbed my arm and steered me across the parking lot to where an absolutely beautiful little piece of vehicular goodness was sitting, awaiting my admiration. I stared at it, absolutely stunned for it was a colour that I liked, it had a nice interior and it was NEW. (Well, the same amount of new as our truck, which is plenty new for me!) I have never seen any vehicle so perfect or so awesome. It looked like a bluebell. With a little help, I might even be able to afford it. It was too bad that it was standard – I’d been trained on automatic and knew nothing about driving standard. I got back into the truck and we drove away to drop off my parents’ shoddy desktop computer, myself bemoaning the entire way that it was manual.

An idea began to form!

I asked my parents if either of them knew how to drive stick; both did. My mom hadn’t done it in decades, but she had done it. My dad remembered how to do it, though it had been a while for him too. By the time we exited the parking lot of the computer fixit place, I was vowing to look into whether or not I could make the car work for myself financially. When we got home I glanced at it online as we kept talking about it, then suddenly my dad offered to help me buy it! HE OFFERED!!!! With my mom’s approval, my dad and I jumped back in the truck after I’d transferred the two grand that I’d had saved, then we drove back to the dealership where we were met by a smiley women who proceeded to tell us all about the car. As she informed us how it came with a tonneau cover for stuff in the back, how it came with a full set of winter tires and how easy it was to use, all I could think was ‘shut up, I’m sold already!’ (Though admittedly I was pretty stoked about those free winter tires!) Then she photocopied my dad’s license and we were off on our way, on my very first test drive of a vehicle that I intended to own. MY VEHICLE! My dad did a lap of the north end of the city, talking me over how driving manual worked the whole way and we pulled back into the dealership, both very pleased. After a bit of an adventure running off to my bank so that I could use my money and with financial help from my parents, I AM NOW THE PROUD OWNER OF A VEHICLE!!! 😀

Here she is, in all of her blue glory; we get to pick her up tomorrow and I start learning how to drive her this Sunday. 🙂

I can’t believe this. I never expected this to happen today; this morning I was feeling dejected over my car hunt and over how I’d have to walk home tomorrow (four kilometres through the dark not-yet-snowy scariness – YUCK!) and now I will NEVER have to do that walk again unless I want to. (Knock on wood!) I’m just amazed and completely in shock, but it’s happy shock! I’ll have to think of a name for my sweet new ride, because we’re going to be together for a very long time. 🙂 Thank you so much universe! This feels sooo fortuitous!

And here’s me and the beautiful new car with the super helpful Dad! 😀 <3

SO EXCITED! 😀