"Cars I Have Loved, Men I Have Wrecked"

That should be the title of my next book, huh?

Oh, man--I can’t tell you how much I LOVE my new Scion! I am so diggin’ tooling around town and country in that little thing. And here I thought I could never love another car as much as my 1996 Saturn. (Did you watch the video I posted on Saturday? The car’s a giver!)

One of the cars I seriously considered buying was a Nissan Versa. One of my friends has one, and I rented a Versa during a trip to the Northeast last March. They’re cute, which of course, is what I look for in a car. Same with clothes, shoes, and men.

Anyway, last week I rented a Versa while I was in Vegas. I sincerely hope I don’t offend anyone who drives one, but I’m so glad I ended up with a Scion. My Scion handles much better, you sit a little higher, and it’s much more fun to drive. But the worst thing about the Versa was the air conditioner never got cool enough. At first I thought, okay, it’s 113 degrees—maybe I’m expecting too much. But then I was like, hold on, my Saturn never had a problem like that.

It was pure luck, or maybe divine intervention, that led me to my new Scion. I decided to buy a car during one of my famous breakups with Mike. Bad timing. I should never make any decision on my own—even "paper or plastic?" is tough for me.

Anyway, after a little research, instead of a Versa I decided I was going to buy a used Scion xA, but I still wasn't sure because that xA model is really, really tiny and I was beginning to think it would be too small for my upcoming cross-country trip.

That night after work I sat at my dining room table thinking, “Oh, for Christsakes, Linda, just make a freakin’ decision and buy the damn car." The nice lady at CarMax had phoned me earlier in the day, but I ignored her call because I was still on the fence. Finally I decided to just freakin' go for it and call her, and when I picked up my phone, I saw there was a voice message from Mike. I hadn’t spoken to him in a couple of weeks, and I didn’t expect to hear from him. You can only break up with somebody so many times, you know? I called him back and told him about the car situation.

He insisted it would be smarter to buy a new Scion and offered to go with me to the Toyota dealer to check them out, but he was tied up that night. I was antsy and in a car-buying mood, so I went to the Auto Mall myself. The new xD model was bigger than the xA and super cute and my sales guy seemed really honest, so I bought one right then and there.

I love it, I love it, a million times over. And I’m SO glad I bought a brand new car instead of the smaller used model.

A week or so after I picked it up, Mike came over to check it out.

"Isn't it cute?" I gushed.

"It looks like a hearse for midgets," he said.

I smacked him for insulting my adorable new car, but it was clearly a love tap.

I must have thought a million times last week that it's a good thing I called him back that night. Besides ending up with a vehicle I wouldn't be so thrilled with, I would have had cut short a relationship that I'm also very thrilled with. No more breakups. (I know, famous last words... but I'll keep up my end.)

Bear with me as I say it more time: "The universe unfolds in divine order."