In Case You Think My Secret Killed Me...

So, clearly I have been pretty out of contact in the blog-o-sphere. I can't exactly name what it was that has kept me from updating...I think after my last post I went to Philadelphia to visit my family, them came back for Craig's 37th birthday celebration, and from there the other tasks compounded...leaving me with limited time or energy to get back into the habit. Because to keep up with this thing, it really does need to become a habit/ritual. And since I have several other habits and rituals that are more long standing (crafting or dreaming of crafting, obsessively cleaning the house, trying to FINALLY get to the end of Six Feet Under, drinking wine after Maceo is asleep, trying to read the New Yorkers that are piling up, trying to read my cooking magazines so that I can clip the recipes that actually have some possibility of getting cooked and filing them away, giving myself pedicures, making quick bread late at night...) the blog needs to get more regularly into the rotation for it to not become the task that takes the hit. So anyway.

Lindy won the prize on the mystery post. Lindy - please name your prize. We can discuss options off line.

Although I must have drafted 20 possible entries in my head about how to break the news, my lapse in communication requires me to get to the point. At the ripe old age of 35, I got my drivers licence. For those of you that know me well, this is pretty remarkable. The experience was memorable to say the least. Because Craig had to be my "sponsor" and ride in the car with me, and Maceo was not allowed to accompany us during the test, we had to arrange a babysitter. That meant that Uncle Marc went on a field trip with us. The test took place at the Dorchester DMV, which is not a DMV at all but a satellite office in some bizarre Army/National Guard Bunker. So once we drove around for 15 minutes trying to find the DMV, we located the TINY sign that read "for DMV road test park here" . At this point I could take the time to explain a tremendous amount of superfluous detail that is indeed amusing, but I will get to the heart of the story. When it came time for the actual road test, Marc and Maceo were escorted to stand under an overhang of the bunker in a monsoon while mommy tried to pass the test.

I was given three chances - I like to think of them more as learning opportunities - to parallel park. I was also given about 8 opportunities to identify where on the dashboard the hazard lights were. The parting words of the test administrator were as follows: "So, you know you were given many chances today, right?" Large pause. "Yes, sir, thank you for that". Even larger pause while he looked repeatedly from his little score sheet into the whites of my eyes. "You passed. You were lucky". Indeed.

As my neighbor Lydia said after I came home triumphant (sort of), "well, now that you have your license you can start learning how to drive". So true.