First off the bad news, I didn’t get accepted into the literary festival called Litquake in SF, CA, they take well-established writers. It’s probably for the best as it is the same week as the book fair in Cincinnati, which I’m getting excited about, and it’s better to focus my energy on that fair as it in near me and will require less travel.

The good news, I got a car and it’s cool, awesome, and amazing. Now I’m Miss Thang, lol! I feel pretty fancy. It’s the nicest car I’ve ever driven. I’ve had all used cars, hand-me-downs from my mom: a Ford Escort, Mercury Topaz, Chev Lumina, and Chev Blazer. It’s so much easier to drive than the Blazer and it has speed, I love it. I was scared and worried, but that’s normal for me. Worried I made the decision too quickly or it was the wrong decision, but that’s what I do. I overthink things down to the tiniest details. I’m leasing it for three years. My monthly payments are pretty low, which is good.

I walked out to the car yesterday and thought, is this really my car? I was grinning from ear to ear. I thought I hit the unlock button and went to open the back door, but it wouldn’t open. “Hey, you’re my car now. I wouldn’t let me in either.” I hit the unlock button again and the door opened. Who knows? I’m gonna have to get some new clothes so my car will let me in. I put a necklace on, lol. My first excursion was to the grocery store which went pretty well. I look a bit stressed, it was really humid that day, and I’m still getting used to the car! Oh, it’s a 2016 Subaru Legacy Premium, Ice Silver Metallic. It looks silver sometimes and blue other times depending on the light.

After we got it from the car dealer we took it to my mom’s house. I cleaned the interior with a wet washcloth because even though the outside was shining they didn’t clean the interior very well. And it has a new car smell that will dissipate in time. I really can’t complain. It drives so well and the radio kicks butt. When we left the dealer, I accidentally took the first right and got onto the expressway. Oh my, I wasn’t ready to go 60 mph. Luckily, we had just practiced making a phone call with the hands-free bluetooth thing, so I called my mom who was behind me, and it was okay, I went off the next exit.

I like to drive fast and interstates don’t scare me, but when you haven’t driven in a year and you’ve had the car for five minutes, you don’t need to be on the expressway that soon. Our salesman, Brandyn, was very nice and helpful. He’s from Ross, where my dad was born, and he still lives in Hamilton, my hometown. He did a great job explaining what all the buttons meant. Because I always look for signs and synchronicities to help me make decisions, the vin # had 444 in it. It only had 18 miles on it. It was manufactured at a port in Layfayette, Indiana. My mom thought it was a sign that my temporary plates expire on my grandma’s birthday (her mom who is deceased.)

Okay, that’s all for now!

Have a great week,

Julie

Here’s a picture of my niece, who perfectly sums up my week 🙂