Monday, August 29, 2011

Ginormica

This is my very first blog post ever.  Is it bad that it is about my favorite vehicle instead of my husband or kids?  I wonder what that says about me?

Ginormica was our '97 Suburban.  We bought her from a friends' father in May 2010 and drove her for a little over a year.  She was sold about a week ago.

I grew up in a Suburban.  (Not like IN a Suburban, as if we didn't have a house.)  My Dad always drove one to tow our trailers for camping.  My older brother always got the middle seat because he was older.  I got the "way back" seat.  I loved that space, it was a perfect fit for me!  He thought he was cooler in the bigger middle seat.  But I always knew the truth.  The coolest kids sit in the Way Back.

I learned to drive in a Surburban.  On a road in the Upper Peninsula, literally in the middle of nowhere.  I got pretty used to driving this monster vehicle.  Even now, small cars seem so....small.  I love how I feel in a Suburban - up so high, big and powerful. 

Ginormica represents more than my wonderful childhood memories of camping trips.  More than stuffing 8 teenagers in for a night out in high school.  She represents the beginning of an amazing era in our family's life: no car payments!!

We have always had car payments.  I had one even before we were married.  I was brought up to think that having a NEW car was the only way to go.  Don't get me wrong...I loved each new car we had.  I would still love a new car with 100 miles on it, a nice new car smell and everything in working order.  But Dave Ramsey taught us differently and we made a commitment to only pay cash for things and not borrow money. 

So we saved up a few thousand and BOOM there she was!  It was love at first sight.  My Dad, whom I brought along because of his knowledge of Suburbans - he could tell me if anything was wrong...said when he saw her, "If you don't buy it, I will!"  So much for the unbiased opinion. We did have to put some money into her, to make her more wonderful.  But it was still about $35,000 cheaper than a new one!!  Buying Ginormica made me so happy, which surprised me.  I had become a New Car Princess, and Ginormica was far from new.  She was, in fact, older than Lainie!  She had rattles.  When the air conditioner was on, ice cold water would drip on the front passenger's feet.  One of the rear cargo doors would only open if you pushed it in while pulling on the handle.  It wasn't designed for water bottles and they would go flying out of the cup holders at every turn.  But I didn't even mind.  She was MINE, 100% mine.  No matter what happened with our finances, we would still have Ginormica.  She represented our financial freedom.

But the smarter we got with money, the more we realized Ginormica was not economical to drive.  With high gas prices these days, it just didn't make sense to keep her.  We don't tow anything or haul anything.  Being a homeschooler, our daily activities span several cities and our friends live all over Oakland County, which means lots of driving.  I had to face the fact that Ginormica was a gas sucker.  She also had 176,000 miles on her.  She had to go.  But I took her in to fix a fan and the technician told me about his Suburban with 270,000 miles, still going strong.  Hmmm, maybe we CAN keep her!  No, no Lori keep your head on straight.  Gas mileage, remember?  So we put her Craigslist one Friday morning.  I came home from coffee with a friend on Saturday and there was a lady there, cash in hand, ready to take my Ginormica.  "I'm not ready!"  I yelled.  No, seriously, that is not an exaggeration.  I thought we would have several days at least.  I had to get the last of my stuff out and off she went.  I almost cried.  Again, not an exaggeration!  I know it sounds lame.  She was not a classic car destined for the Dream Cruise after all.  But she was my freedom!  My first vehicle I have truly LOVED.  She went to a good home...to a lady who has adopted kids with special needs and is in need of a bigger vehicle so she can adopt one more. 

We bought an '03 Town and Country minivan.  It IS really great...no wet feet for the passenger.  Lots more storage for CD's and such.  Doors all open and close with ease, even automatically!  I do love it.  But it will never touch the bond I had with GINORMICA.