Distracted driving..........

Saturday was a big day in our house. BOTH Arlie and Hannah were scheduled to take their driver's tests. Besides the insult of the early-morning hour, the girls were excited and nervous (but maybe not as nervous as the parents were). We headed to the school where the tests would take place and waited for the instructor. I MIGHT have said a little prayer, something like "oh please, oh please, oh please let them pass!"

Hannah is 18 and it's high time she got her license. Plus, I really need her to drive because some days I just cannot be in two places at once. I know, right? My super powers are limited. Arlie is only 15 so she's still got some time but she had already taken two "final" drives and passed them, so she was anxious to get it over with, already.

Both girls took their tests.............and both girls failed. By two and three points. The instructor was definitely a stickler, the girls made some mistakes, and in the end one was curled up sobbing in the backseat of the car, and one was all "oh well!" I'll let you guess who was who. Ha.

And inside, I know both Jeff and I were feeling all the crummy, horrible feelings you get when you don't pass your driver's test. Well, he was. I passed mine on the first try. But I get it! I do! You work yourself up, study hard, practice - and then instead of the glee of waving your score sheet and screaming "I did it!" you get to do the walk of shame back to the car, only to have to go through it all again. It sucks. It sucks like junior high sucks. Or getting a zit on picture day. Or dropping a tampon out of your pocket in front of your friends. THAT kind of sucky.

So, after a pep talk and promises of doing it again soon, we took the girls to Starbucks to cheer them up. Pretty soon we were talking, and even laughing a little. But the cheer factor was not high enough, so we headed over to the pet store to cuddle some kittens.

Fast forward to tonight. There are two adorable black kittens in my house right now. DO NOT PANIC! They are here on a trial basis, to see if they get along with the other cat. We might not even keep them. We might not even like them! I mean, who cares if they are shiny and have orange eyes and look just like Halloween cats? Who cares if they are playful and sweet and give kisses? Who cares if they tumble head over heels and attack each other out of hidden corners? They are ON TRIAL and don't you forget it.

Now, I know this sounds like we rewarded the girls for failing their driver's tests with shiny, new kittens. But, in our defense, we WERE thinking about getting another kitty to keep Matilda company and help her be a little more social. We DID discuss it as an option and we didn't just bring those kitties home that same day. Goodness, no, we had to wait a whole day and fill out some paperwork. We had to agree on a two-week trial period of assimilation into our home. We're not THOSE people.

Except now I have two kitties in my house and my kids still don't have driver's licenses. So maybe we ARE those people?

Eh, I hear meowing. Benjie and Beau are calling!