My car is junk

I took my 1998 black Mazda Millenia to CarMax on Monday to get an appraisal. I was hoping that I could sell my car for a decent trade in price to CarMax so that I could use it as a downpayment on a new car, namely a 2007 Toyota Camry. If you haven't been to CarMax, I'm sure you've seen their advertisements that promise to "buy your car, even if you don't buy theirs". Well, guess what? They want to buy my Mazda Millenia for a whopping $250! (yeah, I said it), so now they've made it harder for me to buy theirs...dumb jerks!

It seems that my car (which isn't even 10 years old!) is basically unsellable. I guess it was really unrealistic for me to think that my car would garner a decent price when it's afflicted with the following problems:

• Broken engine (needs a knock sensor and probably to be rebuilt)
• Broken struts
• Cracked CV boot
• Cracked front bumper (damn, road debris)
• High mileage (149K miles)
• CRACKED RIM (which I just found out about today...sigh)

However, most of these factors weren't even considered in the CarMax appraisal. Just the fact that my car is a Mazda Millenia and isn't being manufactured anymore, is old, has high miles, and has engine noise, was enough for CarMax to deem it only worth $250! (Please bare with me. I'm still reeling from the fact that my entire car is worth less than the new brake service that I just put on my car.)

I'm now confronted with the following options:

• Take car to a traditional dealer and try to negotiate a higher trade-in value AFTER finalizing a price for a new car - I would really love to do this but my negotiation skills are terrible. They would see right through me and some how they'd end up getting over on me.
• See if another car appraisal company (WeBuyCars.org) would give me a better appraisal price for my car - I'm checking into this option today.
• Donate my car to charity - Unfortunately, it appears that I missed out on the too good to be true tax benefits of donating a car. It used to be that you could write off the fair market value of your car (i.e., what Kelley Blue Book says your car is worth). NOW, the tax laws have changed and you can only write off what the charity sells your car for. If I'm looking at the possibility of seeing my car sell for a measly $250, what the hell is the point! (Hmm.. I guess I'm not very charitable after all.)
• Initiate a private party sale (meaning put a For Sale sign in the window or an ad in the paper and hope and pray that someone will give me a decent price for my car - My cheapskate dad loves this option. No matter how I try to convince him that NO ONE would buy my heap of junk (that's my new name for my car by the way), he thinks this and donating to charity are my only two options. He refuses to even accept that I would consider trading it in.

So as you see, I have some decisions to make. I also need to call my insurance company to see what rate I would get for a new car of my choice (that Dodge Caliber is looking better and better), call a credit union to see if I can join it and get access to better rates, and go car shopping.

I hope by this time next week, I'll be blogging about my new car. Keep your fingers crossed!

Another death in the family

Mom called yesterday morning to tell me that my Aunt Paulette (my dad's sister-in-law and one of my mom's closest friends) had died. I knew when I took the call that it wasn't going to be good news. My mother almost never calls me first thing in the morning, and when she has, lately, it's been bad news.

Last year, she called to tell me that my uncle (her brother) had died. Then a few months later she called to tell me that one of my great aunts had died. The week of my great aunt's funeral, another great aunt died and a great uncle too. I guess death really does come in three's sometimes.

Anyway, back to Aunt Paulette. She had been battling cancer for a while, but lately it had seemed as though she was going to beat it. However, it's not clear whether the cancer caused her death. I'm now hearing speculation from the family that the cancer may not have been a direct factor. In addition to the cancer, she had other medical problems. She was found, by my uncle and cousin (who were home at the time), in the bathroom after having collapsed. From what I heard last night, she never regained consciousness. Another cousin told me there will be an autopsy.

When my mother and I went to my aunt's house last night, I couldn't get over the feeling of her not being there. Every single time I've been to her house, she's been there. And she always greeted me with a smile and her usual "Hey, Dee Dee. How ya doing?" I'm going to miss that. I'm also going to miss watching my mom and aunt sit together and gossip like true sisters. They were really close. But why wouldn't they be. They met in college, married brothers who they had met in college, were pregnant at the same time, had daughters 4 days apart (one of those daughters was me), and were both elementary school teachers.

I guess it's kind of fitting that my last conversation with my aunt was just before my mother's 60th birthday party this month. I was asking her if she was going to make it to the party. Her voice seemed a littled tired and weak but her personality was the same as ever. Unfortunately, her body was too weak to make the trip from Maryland to North Carolina for the party, so I didn't get to see her, but I'm glad I got a chance to talk with her a few weeks before her death. I'll always honor her and cherish the memories.

I love you, Aunt Paulette. You will be missed.

Car hunting

Last Saturday, Derrick, Jamal and I went to CarMax to look at cars. As I already posted before, my current car is slowly headed towards that junkyard in the sky, so it's time for me to buy a new car. The problem is that I have absolutely no idea what I want. One minute I want an SUV, but common sense tells me that I don't like spending a fortune on gas, so that's out. The next minute I want something sporty like a Dodge Caliber (yes, I said it). It's different (part SUV, part wagon, part car), kind of cute, and good on gas. BUT it's brand spanking new, a Dodge (American!), and maybe a little too trendy (meaning no resale value). I also haven't seen the interior. The interior of a car is VERY important to me. If it looks cheap and plastic, then I don't want it. I want LEATHER!

I would really LOVE LOVE LOVE a luxury car, and I make decent money so I should just go out and get one, but the problem is that I just don't know if I want to spend $550+ a month on a car, and the maintenance on a car like that...UGH! My last car was just under $400 a month and there were times when I felt strapped. Besides, I have bills out the wazoo and I want to buy a new house in a year or two, so I'm not sure if I really want to saddle myself with an outrageous car note.

So now I'm thinking about a Toyota Camry. It's a decent car, gets great gas mileage, and currently looks way better than its predecessors. The only downside is that they are so common. It seems like every other person around here has one. But as my friend, Kelli, told me, it would be MINE so I wouldn't have to worry about what anyone else is driving...LOL

My top choices (in no particular order) are as follows:

• Lexus IS (Hefty price tag. Beautiful interior)
• Acura TL (Derrick thinks I should get this. Nice interior)
• Toyota Camry
• Infiniti G35 (Hefty price tag. Beautiful interior)
• Dodge Caliber

Your suggestions and opinions are welcome. Please share.

I love my reality TV

This weekend I managed to go to my goddaughter's 8th birthday and that was about it. I mainly vegged out on the couch, watching reality TV shows. I never really considered myself a big reality TV fan before, but when I think about it I'm actually pretty addicted to them. These shows are currently on my "must watch" list (Note: some are currently in reruns):

• Flavor of Love 2
• Celebrity Fit Club (I love this new group. They are really committed.)
• Big Brother All Stars (My girl Danielle is fierce, and hopefully NOT about to be booted.)
• Project Runway
• Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D List
• Sell This House
• Flip This House
• Move This House
• Flip That House
• Find & Design
• Gene Simmons Family Jewels (LOVE IT...I used to be a HUGE KISS fan!)
• Intervention

Water walking is fun!

"30 minutes of water walking is equivalent to 2 hours of walking on land"

The quote is from the water walking pamphlet at the sports and aquatics center, where I worked out last night. I think water walking is my new "thing". I like it. It's easy, low impact (which is great for my bad knee) and afterwards I feel as though I've done something. My muscles are a little tired but not sore.

Yesterday, my coworker and I went to the local sports and aquatics center and walked for about an hour. I also took a walk for about 45 minutes during lunch yesterday. I'm hoping I can walk again today but the weatherman is threatening rain, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. If I can't walk, I'll try to go to the sports and aquatics center again tonight to maybe try out their gym. I want to work out on the elliptical (my favorite gym equipment) this time.

I'm hoping this is a start to developing a regular work out routine. Since gaining 6 pounds, I've noticed that I'm sleeping harder and snoring louder (according to Derrick) again. If I keep this up AND get back on Weight Watchers (ha ha), I should still be able to reach my goal of being a size 10 by my birthday...

I love how I set high goals for myself when I haven't even completed my first week of working out. I'm so funny.

It's a new day

Sometime last week I saw a news program on seniors and exercise. The segment featured a 58 year old African American woman who has been working out 4 days a week doing cardio and weight training. The woman didn't look a day over 30, and that's no exaggeration. She looked incredible. Even Derrick thought so by responded with his typical, "Wow!" He does this every time he sees a beautiful woman on television (and YES, it IS annoying.)

Um...but why was I jealous of a 58 year old woman?!

Since April when I stopped Weight Watchers, I have gained 6 pounds and haven't worked out a lick. This news segment was just the motivation I needed to get myself back on the weight loss track. On Monday of this week, I started water walking. My dad has been doing it for years, but during the summer has stepped up his work out and has gone from a 38 waist to a 34 waist. My mother and I joined him on Monday (yes, it was a family affair). It actually wasn't as boring or as bad as I thought it would be. I did about 30 laps in an hour, which is almost a mile. There's greater resistance involved in walking in water so it really was a pretty decent work out. I'm planning to go again today.

I'm also starting my lunch time walks again and have recruited some coworkers to go with me. My new goal is to walk 4 days a week during lunch time and then do some type of physical activity for at least an hour in the evenings. I'm determined to not gain back the weight that I lost a second time. It was depressing the first time and I don't want to go through that again.

Party Update... as promised

My mother's 60th surprise birthday party was a smashing success. Somehow all of the stressful days of planning and bickering with my sisters resulted in a great party for my mother. She was beyond happy. However, now that the party is over, I'm left to ponder the following:

• Why does party planning stress me out so much? I became overly consumed with all of the party planning arrangements. Even though I was only responsible for creating and sending out the party invitations, creating the photo slide presentation, and creating the party programs, I felt the need to check up on EVERYTHING. I had to get involved with everything from the party location to the birthday cake to the caterer to arranging the bi weekly party progress conference calls between my sisters and dad (and yes, they were all properly sick of me). Oh, and did I mention the mini meltdown I had when I learned that the party location we put on the party invitations was too small and we were left scrambling for a new location (thanks NCCU for the use of your lounge with 1 week's notice). Or what about the major meltdown I had when I found out one day before the party that my boyfriend (who had volunteered to be the DJ) was having problems with the music. Guess what? EVERYTHING WAS FINE!!! I quite literally thought at some point over the past 2 weeks that I was going to have a heart attack...I think I have a problem.
• Never assume that people will not be willing to drive a long distance to attend a 60th birthday party for a friend. I invited members of my dad's family and a couple of my mother's friends to the party, thinking that they would not come because of the 5 to 6-hour drive (they live in Maryland and the party was in North Carolina), but wanting them to know about the party anyway. I did not invite my mother's retirement buddies who she lunches with monthly, her beautician who she sees weekly, or her card party buddies who she plays cards with bi monthly. However, when I received RSVPs from my aunt (dad's sister) and her family and my mother's friends saying they would be coming to the party, I instantly felt guilty that I hadn't invited the other folks. Now I'm waiting for the fall out of that decision as word of the party starts to get around.
• Why does the caterer provide food for 120 folks when you ordered enough for 60 folks? After the party, we were left with a pan and a half of banana pudding, one whole pan full of fried chicken, a pan of macaroni and cheese, a pan of string beans, and a pan and a half of yams. Lucky for us my sister is close with the NCCU football team. Maybe they won't mind eating leftovers. ;-)
• Why is that no matter how good the music is (and it was good), people don't like to dance? I've noticed this at family weddings too. So sad...
• Kids will always find a way to entertain themselves away from the adults. I left the party briefly to visit the ladie's room and on my way saw all the kids from the party playing in the hall way. It reminded me of how I did the same thing when I was a kid.
• When did 60 start looking so young? Mom may be 60, but she sure doesn't look it. I hope to be so lucky.

I'm BAAAAACCCKKK...

and caving to pressure from my cousin, Tiff, to resurrect my blog. My absence has been unintentional. For weeks I've been busy planning my mother's 60th birthday party (WOW, mom's turning 60!!!) that will take place this Saturday, and I haven't had a lot of spare time or thoughts between work and the party to concentrate on my blog.

I'll try to post another entry this week, but I can't promise. I hope to be back to my blog posting routine on Monday. Monday's entry should be filled with party updates, so stay tuned.

Until then... stop nagging me, Tiff. :-P