Chasing the Hyundai

So I have been leasing my Hyundai Tuscon for 3 years now. My lease officially ends at the end of June, but I have decided that, rather than buy or lease a new car, I am going to keep my Tuscon. I called Hyundai to see what steps I needed to take and the man I spoke with was very helpful. He told me that all I needed to do was go to the bank and they would take care of everything. He also gave me a pay off amount. The pay off was less than the 3 remaining payments plus my residual, so I thought it would be a better deal to go ahead and buy the car early. I had been to the dealership the week before and they were very unhelpful. The sales guy tried to sell me a new car and didn't give me any useful information on what I needed to do to purchase my current vehicle. So, annoyed with the dealership I decided to do a little homework on financing a used car. It turns out that Chase, where I bank, has very low interest rates right now. In fact, they have the best rates that I could find. How great, right? Well, so I then I went to Chase. The lady that helped me there was nice enough, not really nice or exceptionally nice, but nice enough. However, she needed a 10 day payoff amount. I filled out the necessary paperwork to get the ball rolling on my loan based on the amount the nice Hyundai man had given me. Then I called Hyundai a second time to confirm that the amount was a 10 day payoff amount. This time a lady answered and told me that they were not licensed to sell cars in the State of Indiana and were not allowed to give me a quote over the phone! The first really nice man should not have given me that quote. I needed to purchase my car from the dealership. Well, I do not like car dealerships. I had been so happy because I thought that I could just deal with the bank and cut the dealership out of the loop! So I had to call the dealership, then they called Hyundai, then Huundai told the dealership how much I owed, then they forgot to apply my $400 deposit, then they had to call Hyundai back several time, etc. Meanwhile, I had to call the bank and the dealership back and forth to keep everyone informed and to try and get the darn loan before my next car payment is due! Around and around we went until now, finally, 3 days and countless phone calls, faxes, and trips to the bank later, I am on the road to car ownership!
Smarty Pants Neil has received excellent mid-term grades in both of his grad classes this semester. One of his professors said that he submitted the best work he has seen yet. That is quite a compliment! He has also been obsessing about the remodeling project that we need to undertake next year. More on that one later!
The kids are great and growing up fast. They just got home from the park. I am stealing a minute to update this blog as Sofia complains about her foot blisters. There are never enough minutes in the day! Enjoy some recent pictures of the kids outside playing with bubbles and enjoying the nice weather we have had of late.