Happy Birthday, Kilby

Here a light-hearted post in the midst of heavy-duty weeks. (Pray for us.)

Took Cal to the airport at 5 a.m. Returned just in time as I was so tired I knew I couldn't drive safely much longer. Wrote a couple short emails, put the "sleep in" sticker on the door for the kids' information, and went back to bed. And a hard sleep and deep dream wakened by Gene Douglas, in Tallahassee, wanting to know when Cal's flight would arrive. I think I acted awake enough to tell him I would be happy to check. But when he heard that it was the Delta 7 a.m. flight, he knew what to do. I got back to sleep (that is not an easy thing for an old lady like me) and was wakened later (an hour? a few minutes?) by Tina wanting to know about choir and Bible study. (It's okay, Tina. We're usually up by then.) But I didn't start this post to tell you all of this.

Decided to deposit a check that came in yesterday's mail. And since our bank is right next to Dunkin Donuts... I looked for Peter who was not in bed to see if he wanted to drive (first time) and I found him in Susan's room checking online about a baseball star. He was using her computer because his power cord died last night. So he put on his shoes and got his drivers' permit and we set out to run errands.

1. Unlock car
2. Open Mom's door whenever she is with you.
3. Adjust seat
4. Adjust mirrors
5. Fasten seatbelt
6. Turn on car
7. Look all around for kids and cars
8. Put foot on brake (that's the pedal on the left, and you only use your right foot, so be sure it is in a movable position--man! his foot is big)
9. Put car in reverse
10. Now back it up slowly using only the idle, keeping your foot over the brake, turning the wheel, yeah, you've got the right direction going...
11. But you're not turning enough, so put on the brake now.
12. NOT THE GAS! (He thought since he was moving, the OTHER pedal, the one on the right, was the brake)
13. We stopped just short of the street sign, up on Daisy's grass. Hope she's not watching. Oh, my goodness, I saw Cal's car getting major damage in that split second. An AJ putting out garbage thought it was really funny.
14. Okay, Peter, we're just going to learn all about the idle and the brake. We drove almost out of Laguna Pointe before I let him try the sparest of the gas pedal. We let a couple cars go by us, and then he turned right on to 136th Avenue, learning to use the gas pedal slightly. (Hey, girls, he already turns better than any of you did at the beginning!) We turned right into the Clubhouse parking lot and spent about twenty minutes pulling in and out of parking spaces. Then we crept through the Clubhouse drive and out through the Taft gate where we changed drivers.

Bought him a milk and me a coffee and all the kids a dozen donuts after we were done at the bank. And then to RadioShack, Best Buy, and finally, CompUSA where we found the power supply he needed. He was eager to drive again after we entered Laguna Pointe. And but for a few cars parked on the street in our subdivision being too close to his lane, I thought he did pretty well. I had been nervous about his pulling the car in between Nonnie's and the van, but he did fine, stopping just before the garage door!

Becky is still asleep and I have finished my accounting work. Now to find the tape for tonight's Bible study and organize our Friday housecleaning. I think they saved a donut for Becky.