"Shush Girl, Shut Your Lips..."

So, there I am.

.... heading to Haverty's to replace aforementioned couch with enough credit to buy more than a couch. 

Like maybe, this couch:

(which I am NOT in love with, but I only have 13 more days to pick one and I walked around this store for 2 hours, had a tiny panic attack and finally said "well, the heck with this". Mike and I had two prerequisites: dark and "nap" worthy)

But with these pillows:

(I did not miss my calling as an interior designer. Hats off to those people, but this stuff is so not me.) (and I also got a side table, a recliner, a vase and some really heavy bookends that are likely to end up as weapons for the boys... anyhooters...)

I'm listening to my new best friend - let's call her "Sarius" satellite radio (in my new car!)(squeel!). And let's also not call it a her, seeing I am totally in love. So, we will call him Saritri and he's Greek and has a boat. He also plays all the music I love, which makes him extra hot. 

So, yes.. there I am listening to the 90s on Channel 9, the 20s on 20 (which is the "20" in 2000... I know... just nod and keep reading) or the BPM (those might be the correct letters) which is basically "today's top music mixed with some ultra gnarly beats" (club music). Yeah, ok. It sucks. But really, it gets me moving, so sue me.

Anyways, I am singing along. Loudly. Hand gestures, a little window crackage and some wickedly pathetic dances moves from the waist up (remember: driving). 

It is worth noting here that I am obviously without the offspring and am totally rocking out with my music way up. I am singing at the top of my lungs to a song I am not prepared to disclose to Teh Internets for fear of tar and feathering and lots of laughter and maybe a "Wow, Amanda... you are such a dork". I will disclose this though: I can NOT sing. Like, for reals. CAN NOT SING.

It's then that I look up in my shiny new car over the top of my sunglasses and notice the OnStar microphone.

Hum. 

That little microphone-y thingy. Yup.

Music goes down a few hundred numbers and I stop my singing.

What if, on the reallllllly slow days, the nice people at OnStar do random car checks. Which, I hope all their days are slow because a busy day at OnStar means bad things, so if they are doing random car checks because the "crashing business" is slow, then by all means - eavesdrop on the stay-at-home 20-something mom who is rocking out to If You Seek Amy, Dance Remix a totally awesome song that makes me look hot.

But, seriously.

I stopped singing.

Then that song that goes "Shush girl, shut your lips... do the Helen Keller and talk with your hips" (google says: "Don't Trust Me" by 3Oh!3) and I could not resist. I mean, how many times have I rocked out at red lights without a care, fully aware that the people around me are considering calling 911 for what they believe to be a Grand Mal Seizure? 

A million would be a good guess.

OnStar still kinda freaks me out though.... but I'll never stop rocking out in my car. I'm also taking requests from OnStar employees. It'll be like a bad karaoke bar! On demand!

My New Car Gets Its Own Post (But Shares It With Conner)

*Now with 3 less typos!

Michael is the King of Hair Brain ideas - like "hey, let's move to Montgomery, two hours away from our family, and then have another baby!". Sometimes, his ideas are just plain silly, other times they are absolutely bonkers and don't work out, and then there are the times his ideas only seem nutty...

A few months back, he attempted to trade my 2007 Equinox for a newer model in efforts to help GM/Chevrolet get another "American made"** car off their lot and to refinance and get a lower monthly payment for us. It almost worked... but the few extra steps it would take from the dealership to seal the deal just weren't happening - it seemed they simply weren't motivated enough to make the sale.

Then, last week, Michael received a promo from our GM card saying that instead of using our normal point value (1 point = $1) with a max of 2,000, we could use ALL of them towards any '08 or '09 vehicle on their list. On the list was my Equinox. 

We read and re-read the fine print. Absolutely NOTHING on there could technically hold us back.

When we did the math, our trade-in value plus our $5,000 in GM points was greater than the amount a new Equinox would cost minus what we owed on our current vehicle - to sum all that up for those who just saw Mandarin - we could theoretically walk away with a new car, for less monthly payments and the same amount of debt (and possibly less).

And... in short... it worked.

We traded in my white '07 Equinox, cashed in all of our GM points (thank God, I think Michael checks those things 5 times a day...) and walked away with an '09 Equinox and about $100 bucks off our monthly payments.

Sweet, right?

Totally.

My "newest" (giggle) car has Satellite Radio, which I am in love with. It also has a darker interior so... YAY! Stains less visible! OnStar is nice, seeing as Mike had it and I didn't till now... booooo... And the biggest plus aside from, well, the whole thing: NEW CAR SMELL AND NO CHOCOLATE MILK STAINS!

Score.

I know you guys are probably wanting more than just me rambling on about my new car, but this is all I have since I've been up & down (mostly up, praying and administering drugs...) ALL night with Conner who had a delirious fever. 

Apparently, he caught Chase's extra-mean strand of Strep. Around 7 last night, he started running a 103ish fever and by 7:30 he went around the house turning off all the lights. Poor baby had a light-sensitive headache (oops, sorry kid... you get it from ya momma).

I dosed him with Tylenol and Ibuprofen ALL NIGHT (every 2.5 hours, actually) and he STILL ran a 102-103 fever till 6 this morning. It was absolutely absurd. The weirdest thing was that when he did nod off for a half hour or so, he'd ramble out loud in his sleep. 

He'd yell out random things like "I want you to MOVE THAT CAR!"

or 

"I have not seen any puppy dogs!"

Even funnier?

...In Michael's sleep, he'd respond! I felt like I was witnessing a hypnotic therapy session or The Freak Circus or one of those late night comedy shows that never make any sense....

So. Yes. Tired.

Blog. Later.

**A long time "marital discussion" is my love for Honda, but how Michael refuses to buy "only American", especially for large purchases (i.e. - cars). 

My argument has been that there are multiple Honda plants in the U.S. that make cars using parts made here and employ Americans. 

Michael's argument is that GM is based in America, and therefore they HAD to be mostly made here, right? HA! He's WRONG. 

While at the Chevrolet dealership, I noticed that they changed the stickers on the cars to present what percentage of the vehicle was made in America using Americans for labor and what percentage of American-made parts were used.

My car had the highest, at 50% American labor and something around 25% in parts. It had the highest in both categories. The first car I looked at? 1% American made, American parts!! PATHETIC!

I WIN, I WIN, I WIN!