I hate all this Adult crap.

Christmas music plays,
Drinking red wine in the glow;
Savour the moment.

I'm getting old - or is it called maturity?? Last night Q and I managed to find the time to at least put the lights on the Christmas tree. Then I fired up the laptop and played selections from the Ultra Lounge: Christmas Cocktails CD's (they really are a must-have if you're in the mood for Christmas music). We then turned off all the lights, opened a bottle of wine, and sat in the living room, relaxing, chatting in the multi-coloured glow and generally savouring the moment. This is the first Christmas in many, many, many years that I'm actually enjoying. Usually I'm stressed and not looking forward to all the family crap. This year I've taken control and put myself first and it's done wonders.

Lemon on wheels,
Does not like to go in gear;
Will be blamed on me.

This evening of relaxation was in stark contrast to the day a few hours earlier. I had to drive up to Newmarket to take my car in to the dealership because the clutch has been slipping lately. They're also finally replacing the parking brake cable. My car is less than two years old and this is what's been done so far:

Replaced faulty windshield washer hose
Replaced faulty mirror switch
Replaced tires after 36000km
Replaced parking brake cable + rear brakes + resurfaced rotors
And now the clutch - which I'm sure that they'll try to blame me for.

I'm beginning to think that I should paint it yellow and put a big SUNKIST sticker on the side.

At least the gave me a loaner for the meantime. I wanted a Tiburon, but was handed the keys to a 2007 Elantra instead. I now want to call Hyundai's designers and ask them just what the hell were they thinking? They took a decently designed (and in the case of the hatchback - sporty) car and turned it into Y.A.B.C. (Yet Another Bubble Car). I swear, this thing is now just a glorified Toyota Echo. It feels like it, it looks like it, it drives like it and it rides like it. Not to mention that they've completely eliminated any hope of legroom in the back. Echh. And it's an automatic. Echh Echh. There's also something else about the way it drives that makes me slightly nauseous. I can't explain what it is exactly, but it leaves me feeling a little car sick. If the Elantra's were like this when I was buying, I would never have bought one - let alone taken it for a test drive.

In any case, I turned my misfortune to my advantage and zipped over to the Upper Canada Mall to get some Christmas shopping done. Without having Q with me, I could actually browse and take my time finding what I wanted. I didn't find much at the mall, but did stock up on a lot of crap at all the big box stores up the street. I can't believe my Christmas shopping is almost done.