Driving Lessons

Well over a year ago, Kurt bought his current car, a Mazda 3. It's fun and cute (am I allowed to say that, kurt?) and supposedly fun to drive. I wouldn't know; It's a manual transmission. I knew he wanted a manual, for the fun and the gas mileage, but I wasn't so excited about it. He said he could teach me to drive it, but I've heard that from about five different people. None of which were able to successfully teach me. I won't tell you all the stories, because there's a list of the people, as diverse as the kinds of cars they drove. Some were patient, some not so much.

Last spring, Kurt and I went out for a date night and decided to make use of having a baby sitter for Joshua and do some driving lessons. It was amazing, I actually got around the parking lot! I was so proud of myself and imagined driving around town. Kurt was pleased too but reminded me I still needed a lot of practice. Practice I never did.

After returning from vacation, the XTerra ended up in the shop for a few days. I don't do so well being stuck at home for several days at a time. It was a good reminder to get out and work on my driving again. So that weekend, we loaded Joshua up and went to the school across the street. I took the wheel and started her up, but we didn't get very far before I killed it. Joshua apparently thought the car ride was like a carnival ride as he cackled and giggled when we jerked back and forth. So I started her back up again, and tried again. Killed again, giggles again. And that went on for about 10 more attempts. Of course, Joshua laughing got me laughing so I couldn't even pay attention to the instructions Kurt was barking at me. (He was the only one not laughing).

So we gave up. Kurt took back over and we ran an errand. We talked about what I might have been doing wrong and decided to try again. As Kurt and I traded places again back in the parking lot, I kid you not, the little stinker says, "oh uh!" Oh, uh was right. I still didn't get anywhere and haven't had a lesson since (I think marital preservation is more important). I just can't wait to laugh at Joshua from the backseat when it's his turn to drive. Course I'll probably be too busy gripping the door and slamming the air brake.