Fancy Times

So, we bought a Buick. That may be the single least sexy thing I have ever typed in my entire life, which is saying something, because I've blogged about eyeballs and skin rashes and parasites. But seriously, for those of us who have come of age in the Honda era... you know, where it seems like everyone our age drives a sporty Japanese something or other, or at least a Honda minivan... American cars have sort of been out of favor for a while. And then, too, Buick sounds like something your grandmother would drive, if your grandmother were still driving. In fact, I think at least one of my grandmothers did drive a Buick.

When the used car guy suggested we check out this Buick minivan, I'll admit I was skeptical. Walking up to it, I very nearly ruled it out entirely, on sight. It's navy blue, with pinstripes on either side, and a couple of scratches on the exterior. It's huge. It's a minivan, but then again, not quite a minivan, because it looks much larger. Like a maxivan, perhaps. And very old school- the pinstripes make me think of 80s conversion vans. It is not what we were looking for, because we have been on a month long quest for "not a minivan". Not that there's anything wrong with minivans, and our previous two have served us well, but the fact that I just said "previous two" means I've been in minivans a long time.

Then we looked inside this car, and... holy cats! This is one fancy car. Double-stitched leather upholstery, wood trim, immaculate condition, and it has a DVD player, and stores MP3s, and has a tire inflating thingy, and an outlet in the back. I mean, like, an outlet, where I could, say, plug in my laptop during a road trip. Then, too, the back seats fold down to enable an immense amount of cargo space. This thing has everything, all wrapped up in a fancy pants package.

Next, we drove it. My goodness, I am not used to fancy pants cars. It was the smoothest thing I have ever driven in my life! I said to the Man, "Wow, it drives..." and he said "...like a Cadillac!" Yeah, I'm used to a different type of vehicle in my world.

So, to recap, we have now signed a lease on a fancy pants house, and purchased a fancy pants car. It seems, my friends, that the creatures and I are headed into fancier times.