We're all okay!

Just in case you weren't one of the 87 people I called yesterday looking for sympathy, or you're not on the loveliness that is twitter, I and my family were in a minor car accident yesterday. One month & two days after Todd's accident & 5 weeks after I bought my new car. Yes, in my new car. New car. 1,620 miles on the car. My beautiful, blue, new Rav4.

It wasn't our fault, the other guy was issued a ticket, I was checked out by a doctor today & have been told to take it easy. The boy-child and husband are all okay. Todd's a little sore, but the boy is completely fine.

We were rear-ended. I was driving (my new car). I exited the freeway to make a right (north) onto 7th avenue to get to the puppet theater to pick my show up to go to the bank to deposit the check from Todd's car accident. The person behind me failed to see that a large blue object was in front of him and not moving as that large blue object was yielding to oncoming traffic. Identical to Todd's accident, just a different freeway/street.

Our bumper is smashed in as is the back door. We can't open it. Today I pulled everything out through the side..which makes me glad for the fact that it has a wonderful set of fold-down seats. I still really love my car.

My NEW car! We didn't have the plates on it yet! Or the proof of insurance in it because they didn't have time to issue it to us...because the car is so new.

If you can't tell, I'm still a touch frustrated. I still also have a screaming headache that I've had since the accident. I was hit on the side of my head, rather than the back because I was looking to the left (to yield to traffic..) at the time of the impact.

In other news, and news that makes me happy, I got a tomtom today for work. We'll see how it goes when I'm going out to schools.

Smoothing out.

Rav4, Blue, 3 rows of seats, fits my show, completely AWESOME. And it drives like a car. AND it has tinted windows (a must in AZ) AND its awesome AND that has nothing to do with puppetry...except that I did my first four shows monday and yesterday. let's just say the 2nd one went better than the first one....a lot better. Let's also say that I don't like hooded shows due to bad lighting and not being able to find my foot-switch for music cues. Let's also say that I almost fell on my face due to poor balance.

2nd day went well, though. like..I'm really pretty darn amazing kind of well. which means today i fail! I'll go do show #5 in a bit here.

It's a good stress, right?

My first show is Monday.

I've been car-shopping all weekend.

I think I'll do okay for the first show. I worry nonetheless.

I'm pretty darn stressed out, but I look at the reasons & think Ok, this is because life is good, right? Still, stress is there. (I need to get a car by Monday, by the way.)

Can't decide between a pre-owned Rav4 (Toyota) with 11,000miles (bottom of the line, but drives like a car & has great space inside) and a CR-V (Honda) with 17,000miles (higher model, higher price, drives more like an SUV--but not much more--and is just in general, prettier.

Ok just so everyone can tell me what I should do (please tell me--even if I don't know you or you don't care--just tell me)

Rav4 is good for the: Driveability, cargo area is flat (a plus when loading in puppet stages/boxes) 11,000 miles, back door opens from the side (not sure if/why that's good or bad), better gas mileage by 2mpg (which gives you a free gallon of gas per tank in comparison), Airflow of the A/C is better in the backseats (I have an almost-5-yr-old), parking break is in a better location for me (I like them where a passenger can use it in an emergency), better Consumer Reports rating from the 07 Rav4, Slightly more spacious than a CR-V, it was a reposessed car--so it's practically new (cupholders are in plastic). (the 2007 Rav4 was rated the least depreciated vehicle in its class by someone--not kelly blue book.) Rav4 wins in the cool "push a button and it makes things open/close" category--their 'extra' glove box is pretty cool like that.

CRV is good for the: Exterior looks are better than a rav4 (let's face it , that's important), Cargo area is easy to fold back, mileage is 17,000, It's a certified pre-owned, which means it comes with an extended warranty, back door opens up like a hatch-back (again, not sure which is better), Hondas don't depreciate--dude..really, they don't--ever, it's all "upgraded" n' stuff, it has an mp3 player BUILT INTO THE CAR! (it records your cd's onto a chip in the car & you play them that way...WOW), Its light blue (better than the gold option for the Rav4 as I am not yet 65), gear shift location is pretty cool, although it will take getting used to, kelly blue book is higher on this model by about $3,000...the price we buy it for is going to be close to the Rav4, but its a car that's worth more...and then there's the cupholders. CR-V wins in the cupholder department,

Salesmen: Have been awesome at both places, however the girl that showed us the Rav4 was really, really nice. If its a matter of people to give my $ to, she'd win. Honestly, to the point that if we don't buy the car from her, I'm going to make her cookies. super-uber no-pressure. (The nice folks at the Ford dealership lost the no-pressure round of Sell Todd & Stacey A Car.)

Neither car comes in green. This makes me sad. Very sad indeed.

Ok, so if you don't mind, please leave me your opinion. pretty please. Thank you.