Quite often, people get frustrated with me because I don’t seem to answer their phone calls or text messages. Hey, folks, I’m really sorry, I swear I’m not avoiding your calls. I would answer if only I could just find my phone or remember to switch it on .

My first cellphone was the one my company made us carry. So like it or not, I had to lug that huge, fugly thing with me and keep it on 24 hours a day even though my job description didn’t include being night watchman watchwoman. So me and cellphones never actually got off on the right foot, know what I mean?

Then there’s my perpetual problem of never being able to get to my cell phone quickly enough to answer it before it goes dead. It’s worse if I’m driving. I tried wearing a Bluetooth headset which made me feel like an alien from planet Pluto, so out it went!

By the time I left my job, cell phones had gotten considerably smaller, sexier and even harder to find in my big bottomless tote bag. With 3 school kids to juggle, my mentality has always been: don’t call me, I’ll call you unless there’s an emergency in which case just text me and I’ll get back to you within the next 30 days or after all my kids are married, whichever comes first, thanks .

If you liked this post, subscribe to my RSS feed or follow me on Twitter for more hip parenting stories.

I was speeding down the highway to Steev’s college. Okay, I wasn’t exactly speeding but I wasn’t exactly turtling either. Let’s just say I had to step on it as I was going up the ramp. And then, all of a sudden, I feel my car jerking… just a little but enough that I was starting to feel maybe something was wrong, like we were going to stall maybe?

In the bright sunlight, it was hard to see the icons on my dashboard but when I peered more closely, I saw one of the icons was lighted up. And what did it say? Brake? Brake! Eeek, I was driving with my hand brake on the whole time! The things I do sometimes, seriously !

For weeks, I’ve been without my car CD player. The freakin’ bad roads killed it, that much I know. Not being able to play my CD is an added stress to driving, something I really don’t need. Half the time, I’m flipping between channels trying to avoid those darned ads. The way the radio channels are besieged with ads, believe me, it’s really hard finding a song, never mind a good song .

Then there’s all that talk and news and information updates. Listening to those fake accents, mispronunciations and half-past six grammar drives me nuts! For years now, I’ve kept the radio off when the kids are in the car with me. They don’t need to hear all that. They’ll have lots of time to pick those up at school .

Yesterday while waiting to pick Raine up, I had some time to kill so I started fiddling around with the CD player to see if I could get it to work. Please, please work!! It coughed and spluttered. I gave it a few encouraging whacks and whoa, we’re back in business! Woo-hoo !

Steev went to the gym with me after we dropped off the girls at school this morning. Turned out to be another family milestone for us.

On the way out of the parking lot, I asked Steev if he would like to drive *startled look*. Okay, I guess we were both equally surprised I asked.

He turned 17 last year but we haven’t done a thing about enrolling him in driving school. Strangely he hasn’t ask and I didn’t push him either. Most of his friends could barely wait till they were 17 and made a dash for their drivers’ licenses the minute they came of age. Not Steev.

Anyhow back to this morning. There’s an empty parking lot at the club which is barely used unless there’s an event. It’s fairly big and shady and there are no cars parked there. So I decided to let Steev have a go. He’s already got quite a bit of experience driving a golf buggy which is pretty similar in that it has 2 pedals.

He says the golf buggy is more difficult to maneuver as it’s smaller, lighter and prone to flipping over. Mine is a 7-seater MPV (minivan) which makes it more stable and easier to steer because of the auto transmission. I didn’t have the heart to remind him, wait till you have to struggle with the stick shift which is what learner drivers will be tested on.

When I look across, I just can’t believe my baby is sitting there in the driver’s seat. I remember the day he was born and I looked at him for the first time, this big bouncy baby. I just had to lean across to the driver’s side and gave him a big hug and kiss!

Anyhow since he’s got like a month’s break, I thought he could use the time for some formal driving lessons. Now to go hunt down a good driving school and a reliable driving instructor.

I’m bored. I’m listless. I’m driving a tin can of a car which isn’t even mine! Driving it makes me feel like I’m sitting on the floor. The darned car is so low it makes me feel short.

And I don’t like feeling short. I’m not even that short to begin with. My head is in the clouds. I wanna be far away. I wanna go to sleep. I wanna be left alone. I just wanna eat my Oreos with milk.

Okay, just ignore me, I’m not myself… and don’t wait up!

I was on my way to the gym this morning, singing merrily in my car as usual when a motorcyclist shot out in front of my car. He cut straight across in front of me from out of nowhere! What was he thinking?

Amazingly I managed to hit the brakes in time. He didn’t even flinch, neither did I. I just kept right on singing. He was lucky I wasn’t going very fast or he would’ve needed an Omaha accident attorney right there.

It’s not my normal practice to speed. It’s a habit I’ve developed from having kids in my car. I’m quite happy to let impatient folks pass me and if they’re still not happy and decide to use their horn or middle finger, that’s fine too ! My policy is, don’t like the way I drive, get off the road, buster!!

After my car problem last week, I decided I’d better send my car in for a full service this morning. I’m not one to take chances with kids in the car. That’s the reason I drive like a turtle and obsess about my kids being securely strapped in.

Actually I loathe going to the mechanic’s because of the long wait for them to finish servicing the car. Today however I was thankful for the 2 hour wait because I got a chance to kick back and relax and be entertained by the owner of the workshop who happens to be an old friend of my father’s.

For the past one week, I’ve been running around like a crazy woman. Reason? I’ll have more updates on that later. But for now, all I can say is I’m beat, tired, zonked out. This afternoon, I was chatting with my girls when I fell asleep in their room in the middle of our conversation ! I hear duocal powder is a good source of energy. Maybe that’s what I need. I really should find out more about it.

I was traveling along the highway one day last week when my kids and I thought we heard a snapping sound. I thought we’d run over a bit of litter and didn’t worry too much about it till I saw red lights flashing on my dashboard.

I was a little worried as we were quite a ways from home. But we pushed on nevertheless and managed to get home without incident. The mechanic promised to come by first thing and well, as soon as he opened up the hood, he pulled out my alternator belt which had snapped.

I couldn’t believe my eyes. So that must’ve been the snapping sound we heard. To think I drove all the way home with a broken belt and 3 kids in the car ! Scary, huh!

That’s not all. Next my mechanic announced my radiator water had all but leaked out! I could’ve burnt up my car for crying out loud! I can’t imagine how that could’ve happened since I’m someone who religiously checks my car. Then of course, I’m no car expert.

Thing is my mechanic, who works on my car quite often, never alerted me to these things. Maybe it’s time car manufacturers invent something like barcode scanners that women can run over their car engines to detect potential problems like these ?