Stay off the sidewalks!

I've learned the true meaning of fear.

And it has a face...

Yep, that's Colin. And yep, he's holding a driver's permit. We waited as long as we could...but at fifteen and a-little-more-than-a-half, he won the battle he's been fighting hard since he turned fourteen and the concept was even possible. And so, a couple of weeks ago, we decided it was time to let the man-cub wield a heavy piece of machinery in traffic.

And so commenced the driving lessons. Not that Dad hadn't let Colin drive down the back alley and park the car in the driveway, without telling Mom that Driver's Ed had officially started. (Imagine my horror the first time I actually happened to catch one of these sessions in progress.) They'd been doing a little training on the sly as they prepared for the big day. Good Daddy. Save Momma the trauma.

Don't get me wrong. Colin is not a bad driver. Actually, he's a little more cautious than I would have expected, and I appreciate that. But I can still feel my heart in my throat as I sit buckled up to the hilt on the wrong side of my van. And he's learning lots of lessons on taking constuctive criticism from parental figures. Especially since he drove us home from church on Sunday and he had Dad in the front passenger seat, Mom in the back seat, and two sisters next to me all correcting his every twitch and turn. Talk about your backseat drivers! Poor kid. We made it home alive, but he's the one who probably needed Tylenol more than anyone else!

Over the past couple of weeks, I've come to forgive my own father for all the bad jokes...like bringing a broom and hanging it out the passenger window, telling me "I might as well sweep the gutters since we're driving in them anyway." (True story) And driving me to a large corporate parking lot after hours and making me park exactly in the middle of a parking space over and over and over until I got it right several times before I could even get close to a main road and a stop sign. (And this took more than one night, though I think he was just delaying the inevitable.) I understand the panic that comes when you realize your offspring is taking his own life--and others--into his hands.

And now I understand why my mom never had a single moment of driver's ed trauma with me. She was smart enough to leave it to my dad. I don't think I drove her anywhere until I'd had my license for a few months.

So fair warning. Colin's legal, and loose on the streets!

Honestly, though, I think you'll be safe. I'm proud of this kid!

Tagged! I'm Quirky and I'm It!

So my dear friend Sarah noticed I've been AWOL, and she blog-tagged me to get off my pitoosh (Rebekah's word) and find my blogging voice again. Thanks, Sweetie!

Here are the rulesfor "MY UNSPECTACULAR QUIRKS":

1. Link to the person who tagged you
2. Mention the rules on your blog
3. Tell 6 unspectacular quirks about you
4. Tag 6 following bloggers by linking to them
5. Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger's blogs letting them know they've been tagged.

So here are My Unspectacular Quirks, in no particular order:

1. Because of my background as a professional editor, I have to make sure everything I write for public consumption is exactly right. Maybe that's why it takes me so long to blog sometimes! I shudder to think I might be sending a typo or dangling participle or split infinitive into cyberspace! This post will probably take me way longer than it's supposed to, as I will write it and then let it percolate, coming back to it often to edit and tweak. Keep in mind that I had a professional editing and writing business for many, many years, and I still do a little work with it. I think this issue stems from my desire to never let my education wither away.

2. I love the TV show Monk, not just because of its subtle humor and insight, and the fact that I wish I were a detective in real life, and that I think Tony Shalhoub is a brilliant actor. But because I sympathize with Adrian's plight...many of his OCDs are more than familiar to me. I won't embarrass myself by listing which ones, but I, too, have some bizarre quirks that make it hard to get through moments in my day sometimes. (But I definitely do not have his aversion to milk.) I credit my family for being so patient and quietly knowing the answers I need to hear sometimes.

3. I do not like some items that most people consider necessary to daily existence. I will not eat anything that contains nuts, raisins, or coconut. I will not even try to pick them out of scrumptious-looking cookies. So adding them to anything sweet is really a good diet-enhancer for me. I will, however, pick nuts out of a salad or main dish, especially when it's what's for lunch and I have to be polite. But I will politely turn down the dessert. (I've been to luncheons where there are nuts in the salad, the main course, and the dessert. What's up with that? Am I the only one with this aversion? What about people with real nut allergies? How would they eat anything?) It's not allergies in my case, just a really really really really really strong dislike of all those items. Picture in your mind the bridal shower given for my by David's and my best friend Bruce's mom in Colorado, for all the ladies of the ward where David grew up. And she served a very moist and possibly tasty carrot cake with ALL OF THE ABOVE in it. I picked around what I could and talked a lot until a helper came to clear my plate. I'm so grateful for that shower so long ago, but I will never forget trying to be so polite when served such a large piece of something I would ordinarily run from. WITH THAT SAID, there's always an exception. I absolutely love toffee and have been known to eat it if there are small pieces of almonds in it.

4. I tend to procrastinate things, and therefore I'm not always be right on time for events. I absolutely cannot stand this problem. I'm working on getting better. But it's a slow and gradual process. I really can't stand this trait about myself.

5. I must read for a small chunk of time every day, epecially before I go to bed. I love love love books. I'm usually reading 2-4 of them at a time. And I'm often listening to a book on CD or tape in my car when I'm alone. Mysteries and thrillers are my favorite, but I like to have several types going at one time. I belong to three book clubs, and I love discussing what I've read. That's the English major in me. Here's a minor quirk associated with books: if I hear of a series of books that I should try, I have to start with the first one and read them in order. No skipping, because that would ruin some of the plot before I read it first-hand. And I will never read the last page of a book before I'm done. No spoiling the ending for me.

6. I cannot stand to sweat. Or as I prefer to say it, to glow. This not a good problem for me, as my body seems to need to sweat often when exposed to the slightest bit of heat. And since my body needs me to work out more often, I have a conundrum. I would definitely be in better shape if it didn't involve sweating. If you have a solution for this, please let me know! And I really can't stand to watch other people sweat. All those Rocky movies, or the boxing my dad would watch on the weekends, when the guy would get hit and the sweat would fly? Or any sports we watch on TV and the players are a little drippy? Insert gagging sounds here. It's bad enough when my own sweaty, stinky offspring gets into the car after lacrosse/basketball/cross country/track/football practice. I seriously have a hard time getting home fast enough sometimes. I make him throw his own wet and smelly clothing into the washer because I don't want to touch it...but to my credit, I have learned to cope with this as he's often in bed before those nasty loads of laundry get done and I won't let it sit on my laundry room floor.

(Breathing deeply now)

Too much information? Probably, but it's been fun to think of things that make me so special and unique. Or odd and anti-social. You choose.

So without furthur ado, here are the lucky friends and family I'd like to tag. Your replies can be much shorter than mine. Put your thinking caps on. It's your turn:

1. Meg
2. Betsy
3. Jennifer
4. Sherry
5. Shelly
6. Nicki
7. Karen
8. Jenn

Let me paraphrase a quote from Sarah, my tagger: I know that's eight. But that's another one of my quirks. I don't always like adhering completely to the rules as long as no one gets hurt.

There are a couple of blurkers I'd like to tag as well, but they don't have blogs: Marianne and Terra, wanna post your replies in the comments here?

Now you know some deep dark secrets about me. Your turn!