Honeydew

Yes, that's the name of my new baby...

She is sleek and cute, clean and smells nice, and better still, she doesn't consume very much....ah....gasoline.

Yes, folks, I have traded in Lit'le Blue Ice for this much newer and efficient style of vehicle.
I know, I have sold out to the Hybrid myth and gone green...literally.

But....I must admit that as I was driving a few days ago and looked down at my consumption monitor to see how many miles per gallon that I was getting, I was surprised to see that it was 55 mpg! Ok, so it only lasted for a bit and then went back to 48 mpg, but it was exciting, nonetheless...

It is interesting how different that you drive when you can see how much gas your car consumes. I used to accelerate every time I merged on the freeway, even if there was no one to get ahead of as I was merging... Well, I did it once just to see how the acceleration was on my little car (by the by---its excellent!) and noticed that the gas usage went way down, or rather, I was using a lot more gas so the mpg were not very good. I immediately checked myself and have been very good about reminding myself that I shouldn't accelerate if at all possible!

Now, for those of my three readers that are "tsk, tsking" about the fact that I shouldn't have gotten a new car, when my Matrix was only 5 years old and had a measly 114,000 miles on it,
I have to rationalize back my reasons:
The payment is pretty much the same.
I travel...alot...and my hubby wants me in a car that he doesn't have to worry about.
I travel....alot...and with gas prices where they are, I needed to get some sort of a break.
I have a friend that has had a Prius since they first came out and she loves hers and that was before they had worked out the "kinks" and she hadn't had any trouble with hers.
I really like the look of them and love the fact that I can still carry a bunch of gear, or antiques, or stuff I get when I shop or whatever if I need to!

Now, I must confess that I felt a bit guilty and started wondering if my vanity had been taken to a new level, as I was spraying three coats of Scotchguard over the entire inside----yes, the ceiling too----and was covering the front seats with plush beige/gold seat covers that go so well with the color combination of the green outside. (Silver pine, don'tcha know...)

Here she is...

..and her cute back end.

Oh, those lush seat covers---so chic!

But then, I made myself feel better by telling myself that it's not like I bought a convertible BMW or a vintage convertible mustang, or that really sleek convertible Solara that I love.
Man, I would look really chic driving that car... (and did you notice that I am a bit obsessed with convertibles---its that Hollywood bad influence image of the perfect woman that keeps creeping back into my brain)

Well........maybe in another 5 years.