If you're in Alabama, I have some words of advice: Stay Off the Road!! There's a new 16-year-old driver amongst you!!
(and some "drive-by" Random Tuesday fun!)

Yesterday there was an unbelievable amount of squealing, high-fiving, jumping-up-and-down, shouting, and smiling in our house. All because McKenna is now officially a member of the driving community and she was EXTREMELY excited about it.

Yep, McKenna got her driver's license yesterday...hence the title of today's post (although, she really is a very good driver... if you try and ignore the fact that she's 16-years-old and it seems like yesterday she was just three and riding around on her little pink plastic tricyle!).

I thought I'd try and share some of the excitement of the day (literally, no one in the house could stop laughing and smiling! it was just one of those "happy to be alive" kind of days... you know, kind of like the day you head out on vacation or are getting ready for a wedding!) via a couple of phone conversations we all had with each other.

We let McKenna take a day out of school and, in the morning, Gary took her to the DMV for her test (he was Super Pop yesterday, taking her for her test and then working on her car the rest of the day. He is re-vamping a 96 Mustang convertible for her and has it up-and-running now!). I got a couple of phone calls from Gary, which included such statements (all given to me in separate calls):

"Okay, she just went into the room to wait."

"All right, they just called her name."

"I can see her driving down the road now. Oh no, she's turning back and heading this way. I hope that doesn't mean she's already failed. Nope, she passed by me and now she's driving the opposite direction."

"I'm pacing outside and some guys just asked me if that was my daughter taking her test. I told them, yes, and that I was really nervous about it."

I'm telling you... it was nerve-wracking waiting to hear about the test. And, obviously, Gary was sorta freaked out about it too. (LOL) McKenna was so excited about getting her license, but I was so afraid she'd get too nervous and not pass. (All of you parents of drivers--did you feel the same way on their test day?)

I told Gary to have McKenna call me with the news, and when I got the call it went something like this:

"I passed!!! {followed by a high-pitched squeal that lasted for a full ten seconds!}"

Gary later said that McKenna was so excited, but that she then kinda moped and told him that she wished she could drive around town but that "Mom probably won't let me." Imagine her surprise when I let her drive throughout town the rest of the afternoon (although I was very nervous on the inside, I decided that it was important to let her extend the excitement and enjoy the newness of it all!).

So then came the most priceless phone calls of the day, all from McKenna throughout the afternoon as she and her cousin Lori (who also got her license yesterday) experienced their first day of "solo driving":

"Mom, we drove up to the church and had to show Carol [their youth minister] and then we went and showed everyone in the office our licenses. And then we showed Carol how we did our three-point-turns."

"Mom, can I drive up to McDonald's to get something to eat?"

"Mom, can I drive over to the Dollar Tree?"

"Can I pick up Steven (another cousin) and go spend some time at the park?"

"Hey Mom. We're sitting here at the Snow Cone place. This is so fun!"

"Mom, it's almost 2:30 now. Can't I just go on and pick up Delaney from school for you?"

As I received each call, I just smiled and chuckled a little to myself. And I said "Yes" to every request, relishing in the joy and excitement she was experiencing.

Later in the day, I took McKenna, Delaney, Lori, and Sydney shopping and got the biggest kick out of the bottle of sparkling grape juice McKenna pulled out in the Mall parking lot. She had bought the bottle, so they could all share in a celebratory glass once she and Lori both got their driver's licenses. We all toasted the two of them...smiles on every face... smiles that wouldn't go away, no matter how hard we tried!

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And, now, extending the theme of the day, I present you with a "Drive-by" Random Tuesday post dedicated to cars and driving and related topics. (You know how Random Tuesday works! Put your answers in the comments section below, if you so desire, or borrow the post for your own blog and share your answers there. Just let us know that you're doing it, so we can go check it out!)

Okay, how about some fun share time...

(1) When did you get your license and what was the first car you drove? I was 17 (I wasn't as anxious as McKenna for some reason to get my license) and my first car was a 1980 red Mustang. Yep, I learned to drive on a stick shift!

(2) Ever had a wreck? I was in one when I was 15 (someone else driving!), but the only time I've ever "wrecked" was when I ran into one of those concrete poles at the gas station (Gary does NOT let me live that one down!!).

(3) Honest now... how many speeding tickets? I'd probably say three (not positive!), but the worst had to be the one I got when I was racing to take McKenna to day care and to get to class on time in graduate school. I thought that the cute little baby in the car seat next to me might speak to the police man's soft side, but no... I guess he thought I was endangering the child or something!

(4) How much are you paying for gas right now? Yikes...it changes (goes up!) almost everyday. I think I paid $3.16 yesterday.

(5) What would be your Dream Car now? I LOVE little BMW convertible roadsters, but any small, brand-spanking new convertible would work!

(6) Favorite road trip you've gone on? I loved the trip that Gary and the girls and I had throughout Georgia one summer (we did Plains, Savannah, Tybee Island, and lots of places in between!). But I also have fond memories of the college road trip to Greenville, SC (Jeff, remember that one?), and one to the beach with my best girlfriends (THAT was some fun!).

(7) Road trip you'd love to make? I would absolutely LOVE to take that "classic" American road trip out West and see the Grand Canyon. Maybe someday...

(8) Ever gone "parking"? Uh, duh...of course! (it gets more difficult the older you get, believe me! lol)

(9) Ever done the Chinese fire drill? Duh, again...my favorites were when we did it in my friend Cheryl's station wagon she drove in college back around 1988. It took FOREVER to get around that wagon!!!

(10) Any other "crazy" car-themed activity you want to share? Maybe I shouldn't share too much...lol...but I'll never forget riding around in my college friend Jay's car (it had TWO gears... it didn't have first gear and then went straight from 2nd to 4th!) and then riding in my friend Cheryl's old Vega (it didn't even have a front seat!). By the way...I don't think I will share any of that information with McKenna, lest she gets some bright ideas!!

(And I guess a last, extra question might be: What is your favorite car-themed song? There are a lot of them--"Drive my Car" by the Beatles, "Life is a Highway" by Rascal Flatts, etc.--but I gotta put this one as my choice:



Have a GREAT day!!