...to write an extraordinarily long post on recent happenings, most of which probably do not concern you personally, and therefore leave you no obligation to read my ramblings.
If, on the slight chance that you have read further than my last sentence, you may feel free to continue reading my ramblings. These particular ramblings relate to certain hectic events that have occurred since my last post.
As I wrote before,
I got my driver's permit! After reading through the Missouri Driver's Guide in a record three days, I finally convinced Mom to take me to the Highway Patrol and take my test. I got a horrible score- 87%, but it was a passing score. Besides, one of the questions was mathematically incorrect. How in the world ought I answer it?
In any case, I did indeed get my permit. And my picture is not
entirely idiotic!
Yesterday, my parents were out at my brothers' soccer games. At 9:30, the realtor office called. They spoke the dreaded words.
"May we show your house?"
The worst part was what followed:
"At 11:00?"
This is what ran through my mind: ELEVEN O'CLOCK?! Holy COW, that is almost an hour from now! Oh my
goodness, Mom and Dad are not here! Okay, okay, deeeeep breath. Your bedroom is clean. Good. The kitchen isn't trashed. Okay. Ben is here. He needs to finish his bedroom first. Okay. Deep breath. The library? Just needs a quick vacuuming and putting the horizontally placed books on vertically. The atrium? We cleaned that last night, just needs a mopping. The craft room? THE CRAFT ROOM!
OH MY GOODNESS, what am I going to do? My sewing project is out! My paints are out! The crayons and markers and papers and the whole box of toy cars are out! Okay. Breath. I can shove all of that in the giant drawer which happens to be empty. The TV room?
HOLY COW, THAT PLACE IS A PIGSTY! And my bathroom! Adelynn left all her dirty laundry there!
(a somewhat accurate picture of the state of the house)
At this point, I miraculasly kept myself from freaking out. I scurried like a madman to clean the craft room while I set Adelynn on the task of the TV room. I talked to Mom on the phone. I scrubbed the bathroom in a grand total of three minutes.
etc. etc. etc.
Finally Mom and Dad got back, around 10:15. Dad gets pretty freaked out whenever we show the house, so everyone was hurrying around in such a fashion that it actually might have been detrimental to the amount of work actually accomplished.
But we did it. By 10:54, the van was crammed full of dirty laundry, and the whole family was crammed into the other vehicles. We went off to grab a five minute lunch and then head to the soccer feilds. Nick, Will, and Addie all had games to go.
Now comes the fun part. Nick's game was over. Dad, in his usual no-explanation mode, brought some people home. Then he handed me the car keys. I looked at him, uncomprehending.
"Well, get in!"
Ooookay. The car was in the driveway. I sat down. I located the gas and the brake. I expected Dad to show me where the blinker, headlights, etc. are. Then he might bring me to a relatively empty parking lot and let me practice a bit. After all, I'd never even
sat in the driver's seat before.
I was not prepared for what he said next.
"Okay, Shaylynn, you are going to take us to the soccer game."
WHAT?!
Well, let us say I was insanely nervous that first drive. I know I never once checked the rearview mirror. My turns were far too wide. I went 20 mph on a 30/35 mph road. I nearly ran into the curb. But I survived.
And a few hours later, I drove us back. Then I drove around the neighborhood, practicing turning and breaking. Dad "only" had to grab the wheel once. But it was fun. :)
