Introducing...Sylvie

I don't have any really great pics of her just yet, but this one is very poignant:

Thank you for the adventures, Rosie. (Sorry for that front bumper
scratch. And...the one on the back bumper, too.)

Meet Sylvie, a 2016 Mazda 3 (4-door sedan). I bought her today--or rather, signed over $350 a month for the next six years (but in that, I get all maintenance costs paid for those same six years). It's an excellent deal. I originally intended to buy a 2015, but the dealership gave me the same price on a 2016, and it comes with a standard back-up camera (the 2015 did not).

It took several hours of paperwork and number-crunching, but what's most important to me is that I did it alone. I know if I had asked, Dad would probably have been happy to help, but it's also important to both of us that I figure out how to do these things on my own...and in the end, it's really not that difficult to buy a car. Just time-consuming. And, if you're me, maybe a little emotional because you really love your trusty old Protege, and feel a certain amount of gratitude to her for keeping you safe for twelve years.

But Sylvie is lovely. She's silver, with black interior, and she drives like a dream. When I started her up to drive her off the lot, I said, "Okay, Ro, let's g--Oh, sorry, Syl. It's going to be a hard habit to break."

She is Sylvie because she is silver, and because it popped into my head and wouldn't leave (that's how I named Fester the Escort, and, of course, Rosie, too). It suits her, and yes, she is most definitely a "she."

Kay, the awesome young man who helped me out today, laughed, but totally understood my desire to take a picture of Rosie and Sylvie side-by-side where they waited. Rosie waited for me to take my personal belongings out, and Sylvie waited for me to take possession of her. As I dipped my head into check under Rosie's seats for any loose belongings, I patted her and silently thanked her for twelve years of smooth driving, reliability, and safety. As I started Sylvie (with a button, how novel!!), I watched Kay get into Ro and drive her off to the back of the lot...and yes, a few tears came. But I had a 35-mile drive home and a new car to get used to. And I like her, I really do.

She is different--so new. She's slightly larger than Ro, and so full of technology that will take me a week or two to figure out.

And she is gorgeous. I love the lines of the 3, and the inside is just as gorgeous as the outside. I've loved my Ro, too, but next to the new car, she definitely showed her age.

I got a fantastic deal--a lower interest rate than even USAA offered (and they are a fantastic company--even the finance guy at Maita Mazda acknowledged that), a seriously reduced price on the car itself, and an extended warranty and maintenance package that will have me paying about $350 a month, but also not paying for maintenance on the car for six years.

All of this "adulting" has me feeling exhausted tonight--but proud, too...and perhaps a little bit overwhelmed. I can't quite believe just yet that the brand-new car in the garage is mine, that I walked into a dealership on my own and said, "This is what I want," and a bit of negotiating and paper-signing later, drove away in Sylvie. Who is sitting in the garage tonight, all new and shiny and beautiful. I think we're going to get along just fine...but she does have big shoes to fill.

Adventure is out there, in all it's Wild and Absolutely True glory. Watch us find it.

Welcome, Sylvie.