i'm letting my brand new car go.

i hate to say "out with the old, in with the new." or "move over bacon...now there's something meatier." or "there's a little more to love in a plumper." there's just NO nice way to say it.
*sigh*
i'm letting my brand new car go.
after 11 years of INCREDIBLE service....it's time to (i can't even say it) upgrade. it's not that i want an upgrade...to say that is to imply that my honda is a lowgrade. it's been an AMAZING car. i still see it as the brand new car i drove off the lot. it was the summer of 2000 and my legs were itching for a roadtrip. so i went to the local honda dealership and slapped down $1,000 and said "i want a civic in plum with a sunroof and cd player." that was that. a few days later in came my car on a big old truck and off i went. i drove all OVER the country. boston, florida, colorado. that was when i fell in love with colorado. i'd never been here before. my parents always went to texas or florida for family vacations. and by the time i got back to illinois 20,000 miles and 3 months later me and my car had bonded. i mean BONDED. i think it's safe to say i found myself in that car.
i bought a 4 door so when i had kids it would be paid off. little did i know how long i'd have it paid off by the time i finally had kids!
a few years later it had it's first nose job. paul was driving and some idiot (i don't usually call people idiots unless they deserve it) pulled off on the LEFT side of I-25 south and "Mad Sexy" in front of us slammed on her brakes and in we drove to the back of her. i know she was "Mad Sexy" because the back of her window had a humungous sticker that told me so. we still joke about how neither mad (for our benefit) nor sexy (just an observation) she was.
i know about every service it's had or oil change it's missed...oops! i know EVERYTHING about that car.
so with great reservation, i announce the new-to-me car that will attempt to fill the honda's shoes.
it's a volvo. and i love how safe it is. it has an amazing carfax report. i have faith it will be a good car. it can fit one more car seat into the backseat and has 2 more seats in the way back that fold down. so when karyssa's 14 and no longer needs a booster seat she can sit back there. the boob stroller (my 2nd bob stroller) will fit in there with out having to wrangle its tires off. and we will have a way to drive extra kiddos around in the near future. and it still gets good gas mileage.
i assure you there will be tears when i have to hand over the keys to the honda and actually walk away and leave it at the dealership. it truly will feel like i'm leaving a child somewhere i'm not supposed to leave a child. i hope the next person loves that car as much as i have.
i do know that karyssa is loving the volvo. when we had to leave it at the dealership while we work out financing she cried "whiiiiiiiiiite!!" for about 15 miles. *sigh* girl loves an upgrade.