Ode to the Citation

This will be somewhat of a before and after posting. First I will start with before, that is before Friday when I got a new car, or before Tuesday when my citation crapped out, or before I met Terry.

First, I want to forward a HUGE thank you to Grandma and Grandpa for their faith in me and their generous graduation anticipation gift - their beloved citation. College became much easier as I had more freedom not having to rely on borrowing Mom and Dad's car (which I was grateful for too). I felt the freedom deep in my soul and was glad to be able to tote my toddler around with me. The compressor for the AC was broken and the radio only had AM, but I didn't care. Before I got this car I was very dependent on others which can be hard on them and slightly depressing. Grandma and Grandpa gave me the citation, but what they really gave me was independence. THANK YOU!

I started pounding on the miles to this pour citation. It came to me with roughly 60,000 miles on it. Today it has over 93,000 miles. For a car almost as old as I am (it's a 1981), it's last 1/3 of it miles were probably the hardest, crammed into a quick three years. It took me everywhere, even on road trips (but not lately).

I had had the car too long before I took it in for an oil change, but now I wonder if it was just right. It may have left the car thirsty too long, but the Jiffy Lube near school was quick to handle it's lube deficiencies, especially the knowledgeable sales leader Terry! A couple return visits and the rest is history. I won't go into more details but to say I owe the citation for bringing us together.

The last several months require constant care, luckily I had the best caregiver in town, Terry. Between he and his buddies, they kept the citation alive probably longer than it wanted to. Most recently a new alternator, battery and radiator. Plus a few cosmetic improvements including oil for the loud squeaky doors, staples for the droopy headliner, and tape for the suspended headlight.

Although that all might shed a poor light on the car, I really loved the car. Besides the obvious convenience of having a vehicle at hand, I thought it was a REALLY comfortable car to drive. Allison agreed, calling it "soft" inside. As to the outside she had a different opinion I think due to the encroaching rust covering mainly her door. To this she would often straight up tell me, "Mom, your car is ugly." To this I would reply, it may be ugly, but I'd rather have this than nothing. Luckily when it died this past week Terry stepped in and made sure my fears did not come true.

(Enter BMW)

This is a beautiful car. We were looking in a lower price range, much lower. But when we saw this, we both fell in love with it and could hardly talk sense to each other, didn't even try. Terry said he always wanted a BMW and I had never even fathomed it. But I did love the leather interior and the exterior style was beautiful. The black rims were a big selling point too. Terry likes that the car sits an inch lower than factory. It really hugs the road. It has power windows, locks, trunk, tilt and telescoping steering wheel, moon roof, cruise control, AC! and AM/FM radio, tape deck, six-disc changer option. It is absolutely dreamy inside and out. Allison looks like a princess in a limo behind me in the seat. When we test drove it she asked, "Mom, are we going to buy that pretty car." Sure enough we did. It is a crazy replacement for the citation in that it's not just a step up, it's a whole flight of stairs up. Interestingly enough, the previous owner's name and address was in the glove box, it came from Lincoln, NE.

Well, that's my new ride. THANK YOU, Terry!!!!! I of course have to fight him to drive it, but if he wants to drive it, I get to drive the truck so not a bad trade off.