Learning to drive

Let me start this entry by saying, I have a husband who loves cars and has a short attention span. We've had more vehicles in our almost 7 years of marriage than I had when single. Anyway, with a son soon to be 16 years old in the family the search is on for the "perfect" vehicle for him to drive. Needless to say my idea of the right car and my husband's idea are two completely different ideas. I had it in my head that we'd get him a small little S-10 truck and that's what we discussed and I assumed had agreed on. Nothing fancy and nothing super charged. The first purchase was a spur of the moment, gotta have it, what a deal truck. A Ford Z71 with lift kit and glass packs. Guess what, I didn't have a say in that purchase...go figure. lol Well, the son didn't like it. Didn't fit his "image". Brad doesn't consider himself a MossyOak seat cover, tool kit in the back, deer stickers in the window kinda guy. He's cooler than that. Give him anything with skate stickers and he's happy. So David decided to sell the truck. It was going to need a good bit of work anyway. We traded our F150 in for a little Ford Focus due to gas prices and that's what David's been driving. Nice little car and Brad likes it. But wait, the plot thickins. A week or so ago David's boss bought an '02' Jeep Sahara for his son but wasn't really happy with it. He couldn't get his money back so my adorable husband with the motor fettish made a deal with him. We are now the proud owners of a Jeep. David has decided that Brad really needs to learn to drive the little Focus first. What it boils down to is "Dad wants to look cool in the jeep". But we'll keep that our little secret. ;o) Anyway, so now we still have that massive bubba truck, a Ford Focus, a Jeep Sahara, and of course my little Sebring. I say all that to say, David is teaching me how to drive the jeep. Both the Focus and the Jeep are 5 speeds and I don't know how to drive those. I've spent most of the day in the driveway going from 1st to go forward to reverse to back it back in. Its David's way of teaching me the "feel" of the clutch. Its working because I took it( with him grasping white knuckled onto the dash) around the neighborhood. My heart was pounding but I did pretty good I think. At least I didn't kill it. I have a key to Focus and I'm going practice again tomorrow in the driveway. I promised I wouldn't take it out on the road. I'm 33 years old and I feel 15 again. I guess thats a good thing in away. Ahh well, another day...until the next.

Holiday blessings

I think this holiday season has been the toughest yet. Money is so tight and getting into the Christmas spirit just wasn't easy this year. I didn't even get my Christmas tree up. What a Scrooge am I! We went to my parent's house to celebrate as we do each year but this year was very special. My cousin invited a gentleman to join us for Christmas which was different but neat. As we sat in the den opening gifts and talking, my youngest sister Meg got up and left the room to get one more gift. She brought in a book and gave it to my mother. This book held all of my grandfather's ( her father's) military records. It was a very touching gift. Then my little sister handed my mother another package. We all waited with bated breath as she opened it. In a case sat all of my grandfather's metals he had earned while in the Marines. Needless to say we all cried. Then my father put a CD in the stereo. It was recording of his father singing "Cheer Up Ye Saints of God" in his best Irish brogue. Again, we all cried and reminisced. Needless to say, I went from having no Christmas spirit to being filled with a different kind of spirit. I could feel the presence of God in our midst and it was a warm feeling. A feeling that all was well and that life is precious. Thank you Lord for giving up little reminders of how much You love us. Merry Christmas to all!!