I have no lid upon my head...

So let me just tell you how God totally orchestrated my day.

I convinced Nathan that we needed to attack this mechanic together. So we both took a vacation day to get it straightened out. We get to the shop and the mechanic/owner will not be there for another two hours. I think that this would be a good time to go somewhere else and get the brake switch replaced in Nate's truck. Nathan called multiple shops and no one could get him in until Monday. We were getting kinda frustrated. Then one of us thought about a dealership in the next town over. Sure enough, we call and they can take his truck "right now." Cool. So off we go. I had never paid much attention to this dealership and would never have stopped there on a whim.

As we pull in to the dealership (which has a total of about 20 cars on the lot), I spy with my little eye a car that I like: a beige Altima. (Three years ago, we had a Nissan Altima as a rental car and fell in love.) We take his truck back to the service department and meander over to the car. It is perfect. 2005, woodgrain interior, power everything, controls on the steering wheel, just a beauty. I mention to Nathan that I am just going to see what price they have on it. We go into the showroom and are approached by a middle aged man in a t-shirt and shorts. Very laid back. Said he saw us looking at the car, wondered if we wanted to drive it. I explained that we don't have a downpayment or a trade, and we are in a pinch with our other car. He explains that if our credit is good enough, we may not need a downpayment. He tells us to take the car for a spin and he'll have a some financing options for us when we get back.

Nathan and I hop in and take it to pick up the car that is in the shop. We agree on a monthly amount we could afford. We get to the mechanic and decide to just take the car with all the repairs. I didn't feel like I was making any headway, and I need a car. I was still unsure if we would be able to get the Altima for the price Nate and I had agreed on.

We get back to the dealership, and he has some ballpark figures drawn up for us. He shows us the office reports that show that as of today, they took $1000 off the price of the car. So we fill out some paperwork, get insurance, and meet with the financing guy. We decide on the 100,000 mile extended warranty. We see the monthly payment and as the finance guy is typing away on his computer, I say to Nathan, "Look...that's only $2 above the limit I set!" like I was very proud of our luck. Then the finance guy says, "Actually, that was just a close estimate. I need to take $2 off that payment." So now it's less than $.25 over. How crazy was that! I had just said that, and he was wrong. He did not do that for our benefit, we were already sold.

So off we drove in our new car. Isn't she a beauty?





(One day I will take pictures with my house in the background instead of my neighbor's.)

It was amazing how many things just fell into place today. We would have never shopped at that dealership. The only reason we were there was because they had an opening in their service schedule (a repair that cost $33). The financing worked out beautifully. Insuring the car was easy and fairly cheap, since we were adding it to an exisiting policy. When I bragged that we were so close to our estimate, he had made a mistake and we were right at our estimate. I handled the bully mechanic, again, with humility and grace (although I was so angry that he treated me totally differently with Nathan accompanying me). I felt okay with paying the full amount, and that is so different than how I felt yesterday.

Eating the last two days? Two thumbs down. I didn't even count dinner last night. I've counted today, but not stopping when I reached my point target (I went 5 over). I weigh in tomorrow. I dread it. What if the past two days of stress/celebration eating will bring me to a weight higher than my start weight? (With a two week total of -1.4, that is a possibility). Oh well. I've learned from this. I've stopped eating for the day. I've done all the damage I am willing to do. I can only hope that the effort I put in during the first 5 days of the week will make up for the destructive behavior of the last two.

I hope you all have a great weekend. It's beautiful in Kentucky! Tomorrow, I weigh in and then I am going to buy the rest of the supplies I need to finish brother-in-law's wedding gift. I think I may talk Nathan into playing Jesus Golf. And then we will clean in anticipation of Father-in-Law's visit here on Sunday.

Send me skinny vibes!!!