Fun and Games on the Highway of Life

I've had so much fun with my daughters this week. We have been shopping and talking and eating out ALOT ...oh and playing Scattegories...I love that game. In fact I love most board games and I guess it's possible that in years past I may have become a teensy bit 'over zealous' while playing games with my family. And my competetive spirit is possibly the reason why my children now restrict which games they will agree to play with me. And my husband might have referred to me as the game nazi once or twice in our married life but I'm pretty sure he means that in a nice way.


Anyway, besides all the fun and games (clever, isn't it?) we've also been driving. And driving. And still more driving. And parking. And reversing. And then more driving. Daughter2 is hoping to get her US license this summer at the tender age of nearly 19. I'll let you in on a little secret here....this whole teenagers not driving thing was one of the hidden blessings of spending the teenage years in England. For one thing they couldn't even apply for their learners permit until they were 17. Then there was the matter of insurance...if I told you in US dollars the cost of insurance for teenagers in the UK you'd be telling your teenager to take the train too. Then there was the problem of what car to drive...mine was almost too big for me to navigate on the narrow English roads and sitting in the passenger seat while my 17 year old child tried to negotiate my too wide car into a parking space that was most certainly designed with a moped in mind...well, let's just say it wasn't pretty. In fact it wasn't even pretty when I tried to do it and I had 30 years of experience. In addition to these obstacles we didn't own a car in the states for our girls to use for practice and testing when we were home for summer visits. And those summer visits were usually a whirlwind of activity and travel from relative to friend to relative and kids don't want to spend that time in driving instruction. And really, let's be honest here and just admit that no one actually wants to get in a car with a teenager who has only driven for a couple of weeks while home on summer leave do they? I knew you'd agree. So here we are...Daughter2 has now had her permit for several months and has had lots of practice so it's been a good week in that regard too.

Tomorrow I will be leaving SC and I might feel a little bit sad about that fact except my girlies will be coming to NJ next week to 'meet home'. Knowing I will see them in just a few days makes it so much easier to trek back north. And if that's not enough to make me smile well, I'm also going to be stopping in NC for the weekend to meet up with some of the girls from my college sorority days. And while I have seen some of these friends since college there will be a few coming to the reunion that I haven't seen in 25 years. Wow that makes me sound old and you'll just have to take my word for it when I say I am not. Or you can ask my kids next week after I embarrass them at pool. I'm just sayin is all.