Drumroll, please...

Here it is: our new beauty...

...and I have to admit--she's not so bad.

My only bones to pick at the moment are:

1) The fact that the unlock/lock remote control for the doors doesn't work (and yes, we've tried a new battery)

2) Sometimes the key won't go in the lock (so in other words, sometimes I CANNOT get into the car at all...this is especially maddening when I'm standing in the Target parking lot in twenty-degree weather for almost five minutes, with two very cold, very cranky kids, just trying to get the thing unlocked)

3) No CD player, so I've had to dig up my old mix tapes--yes, mix tapes--from high school, which are sort of fun to listen to...but get old really fast.

4) The sliding doors aren't automatic (this isn't the end of the world, of course--just something that for some reason I assumed it would have, and was slightly disappointed to learn I actually have to use my own muscle power to get the doors open...actually, I really wish they had buttons to open automatically for the kids' sake, so they can get in and out easier...but it's not a big issue right now)

Things I DO like?

1) Clean, bright, and spacious on the inside.

2) About eight thousand cup holders.

3) Doesn't hurt my back to put the kids in.

4) Jack can climb into the car by himself.

5) The windshield wipers work beautifully, as does the clock (neither of which functioned in the 4-Runner)

5) It drives well. (Isn't it always fun to drive a new car? I love how the turn signals sound different in different cars. I know. I'm weird.)

6) NO DVD PLAYER. Yes, you heard me right. I am thrilled to no end that we don't have these built in. (This is not to criticize any of you who have this feature...it's my personal preference for our family.) I just feel like our culture is so inundated with TV and entertainment, that come on, can we not drive across town without the kids glued to the tube? Do they not watch enough (too much?) at home already? I hate driving around our town and seeing people next to me in the car with "Dora" or some other kids' show playing. Let's give them a break, for goodness sake! I know a family that has a TV in almost every room of their house--with the exception of the bathrooms. That's six television sets/entertainment centers, people! And yet...they still see the need to have the DVD/TV thing in the car. I just don't get it. So when I say I am "thrilled" that we don't have one, I really mean that I am relieved that we don't even have the option so it's a non-negotiable. I could MAYBE see the value of those portable ones that hang off the driver's and passenger seats for INCREDIBLY LONG BORING drives through cornfields or desert wastelands or something. But my family drove almost 18+ hours one way to Colorado every summer since I was a baby and we never had a TV in our car, ever. And I am not the worse for it (if I can say so humbly). I really hope we can hold out as long as possible and stick to our standard of no TV in the car. It just really bugs me. (Can you tell?)

Ok. Off my soap box. For now.

Thanks for the well-wishes and cheerful exhortations...especially those of you assuring me mini-vans really ARE cool. :) I'm still a bit unsure how "cool" it looks from the outside, so I try to refrain from imagining what I look like driving the thing. And I still hate the idea that we blend into Suburbia so well, that we scream "babies on board" so determindely. I do like your nickname though, Liz, the "MVM"...so close to MVP (i.e. Most Valuable Parent...just kidding, Eric!)

In all seriousness I am very, very grateful for this car and I really do enjoy driving it. I hope you know I'm only half-kidding about looking "cool." I think I just got spoiled when we got the 4-Runner...remember those dumb games we use to play in junior high where you'd pick your four favorite cars, four types of houses, four choices for how many kids you'd want, and four boys you'd be willing to marry, and then somehow someone would narrow it down and tell you your "future"? (What was that called??) I never knew any names or types of cars, and always picked the dumbest ones, usually listing a minivan or two (and only because that's what my family had!). But then one day I noticed the 4-Runner on the road and thought to myself, "Now that is a cool car. I think THAT's my new dream car." So when, out of the blue, my friend called us a couple years ago (when we actually needed a new car) and asked if we were interested in buying their black 4-Runner...it seemed like a childish dream-come-true, and now seems so short-lived.

Ok, that was probably the most boring story I've ever written on our blog. Sorry.

Anyhow...it's getting late and I know I tend toward major tangents this late at night, so I'll sign off...a quite satisfied Odyssey owner and an almost proud-to-be MVM. (I'm getting there.)

(Anyone else know why Blogger won't let me put spaces between my paragraphs? Or why my post won't publish with the font/size I changed it to tonight? Maddening.)