Well, so far this weekend, I've gotten about six hours of sleep. And I hadn't been able to eat anything until late this afternoon. Last night--that is to say this morning--I couldn't get the warring factions in my head to stop their screaming matches. It got to the point where Simon and Billie actually worked together to snuggle me and try to help me sleep! Now for those two to occupy the same area and not 1) try to bite each other and 2) not hiss and growl meant that I must have really been putting out a vibe to them that they thought I was rather "fragile."

It was a rather stressful morning. The "piglet" voice that keeps worrying about all the things that might go wrong just wouldn't shut up. One of my truest, best friends not only went with me to get the new car detailed (so I could drive the Hyundai back here and she drove the Subaru home for me), she took me to this really yummy smelling diner for breakfast. The food looked really good...too bad I couldn't appreciate it because I was so worked up I could only drink coffee and eat a few bites of wheat toast. AND, she patiently put up with my neurotic ranting. I owe her Big Time.

I had spent so much time working the numbers and, even though I knew I could work the car payment and still have a cushion of money, the wild card was the insurance. I had no idea how much it would go up, so I budgeted for it to at least double, and that was the source of much stress throughout the morning.

I got through to the insurance company (I've been with them almost as long as I've had the Hyundai). And by the time we were done, my insurance payment only jumped by about $20/month! I was so relieved that I nearly started crying while the customer service rep and I finished up.

And, once I got that huge monkey off my back, I decided to go enjoy my Brand New Car! First order of business was, naturally, the tunes: I thought it most appropriate to start the bonding ritual with U2's "Beautiful Day". And it was beautiful out, too and the album was the perfect soundtrack for the mini-road trip. I did a loop around the East Bay, out Hwy. 24, down I-680 over to I-580, and back through Oakland. I decided to cruise Bay Farm Island and stop over at the ferry dock to take in some of that wonderful marine air...and to take photos of my Brand New Car!

At some point, I may be organised enough to download them out of the camera and post them here so that everyone else can enjoy my Brand New Car!

Right now, I'm just relieved that I finally was able to relax enough to eat, and I think I'll definitely be able to sleep tonight (unless the furkids get too rambunctious and keep me awake).