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So I was driving home yesterday from a morning of errands with Steev, deep in mother-son conversation as usual. On the road, I saw what looked like a harmless bit of crumpled newspaper and before I knew it, I was driving over it. This is a busy highway at lunchtime so there was no way I could’ve avoided it.

Whatever it was, I figured my minivan is high enough to go over it. Well, I figured wrong. First off, it was NOT a harmless newspaper, it was a rock. Not just any rock. But a rock on some sort of vendetta because as I sped over it, it hit back with such a vengeance and sonic boom that Steev and I jumped out of our skins.

We were almost home so I didn’t stop to check. It was only after I parked in my driveway that I noticed drops of oil on the floor and then the horror of it. Engine oil leaking from the bottom of my minivan forming a big, bigger, even bigger puddle!

And the front hood of my baby was smoking! Hell!! I’m in b-i-g trouble this time, I thought. I called my mechanic who happened to be in a meeting and could not talk! Hell, mechanics are not supposed to be in meetings !!!

So I called his assistant who happened to be out at lunch on a motorcycle and couldn’t talk on his cell phone! Hell! So what do I do now? There’s a huge puddle, I yelled at the poor guy. And he says to call the tow truck, pronto!

By the time the tow truck arrived some ten minutes later, the entire 2 litres of engine oil was on the floor of my driveway! Hell! I didn’t know which was worse – watching my poor baby being towed away or wondering how the heck I’m going to clean up that massive oil slick on my driveway!

In the panic, I didn’t think to take a photo but it was definitely far, far worse than this.

Just great!! Looks like I need to install a security camera under my minivan now to warn me of rocks with evil intentions. Next up, how we cleaned up the oil slick!

Steev’s driving classes are going very well, I must say. He’s all done with the theory part which included briefings on how to change a flat, pump gas and tips on what to do should they require roadside assistance, etc.

It still makes me smile to see Steev all crammed up inside that tiny car with an equally large driving instructor beside him. The two of them look like grinning sardines . Steev’s getting quite good at parking and he loves driving down highways because it makes him feel like a pro. Well, he’s got a few more classes to go before the test.

We ran out of bread yesterday and I only managed to run to 7-11 when I went to pick up the kids from school in the evening. My car’s back at the workshop for finetuning and business is so good for my mechanic he didn’t get to finish fixing my car yesterday, duh! Good thing he lent me his spare car to use which isn’t that horrible old taxi. This time, he lent me a shiny black minivan. My mechanic says he orders those cool dash kits online from Carid and he can fix one for me if I like. Nice guy!

So my minivan’s spending a few nights at the mechanic’s and being car-less is just not on if you live in the city. Brainwave: borrow my dad’s Tuna Can. I have to admit I’ve never driven a Tuna Can before and it feels weird, maybe because it’s a car I love to hate.

It’s possibly the smallest, flimsiest car in the world, according to moi (no offense to anyone living or dead who may be driving one of ‘em). Drivers of Tuna Cans seem to think they can get away with hogging the fast lane, flying out from nowhere and weaving recklessly between larger cars. Try imagining the little fishes that live off the backs of whales. Yup, that’s how it is and they annoy the heck out of me!

But today, the situation’s reversed and I’m the Tuna. And this tuna is going to put all the other tunas to shame, bumbling merrily down the highway, keeping to the slow lane, and being careful not to annoy anyone. It’s hard but at least I tried. I’m acutely aware that some drivers are cursing me, others are avoiding me like the plague and yet others (bless them!) are actually slowing down to make room for me ??! and I thought chivalry was dead!

My dad swears by his little car and I agree it’s cute but only if it wouldn’t make me feel so claustrophobic. I guess driving my minivan has spoilt me. I’m definitely the big fish car kind of girl. I like throwing my weight around . My next car, it’s going to be a truck!

Incidentally Steev is using a stick shift Tuna Can for his driving course. Today was the first time he drove for miles down the highway and he was so excited. So proud of my son and so happy we’ll soon have a new driver in the family.

I’ve been holding my breath all morning (well, since last night actually) in anticipation of Steev’s first driving lesson. I still can’t imagine my firstborn, my baby driving a car. Gimme some time, I need to get used to that thought .

At the appointed time, the driving instructor pulls up outside our house. Steev tells me later the car is so freakin’ small that he can’t stretch his legs all the way even with the driver’s seat pushed to the max, all the way back as far as it would go .

After the initial briefing, Mr DI allows Steev to drive round the block. Many times. The car’s a stick shift so it’s one big balancing act with the clutch and accelerator. I’m not sure who even drives stick shift any more but we don’t have any other choice. On the bright side, it’s probably something to brag to his grandkids about .

I had such a good dream the other night I’m still smiling. I dreamed a young woman walks up to me and offers to be my maid. I remember thinking, man, someone up there must really love me to notice how much I loathe housework! Yup, an angel sent from above, no doubt! No more dirty dishes, greasy sinks and faucets, no more laundry. Woo-hoo!

And that’s not all. I turn around and there’s this uniformed guy holding the limo door open for me. Woah, my personal chauffeur. Could dreams get any sweeter? No more circling like a vulture looking for a parking spot, no more knocking my head on the steering wheel in frustration, no more filling up the air pressure in my tires. Woo-hoo!

Do dreams ever come true, you think ? Ever had a dream you wish would come true?

Considering the amount of time I spend hanging out in my minivan, you can well imagine the things I do while waiting for my kids. You’ll either find me playing games on my pocket PC, flipping radio stations, singing along to songs I like, or if it happens to be gym day and I’ve just washed my hair, I’d be busy drying my hair in the cool air from my car’s air-conditioning.

That’s exactly what I was doing this afternoon outside my girls’ school. I do this all the time. It’s not a crime, right? So how was I to know that today, someone who was parked in front of me was watching me from his rear view mirror. His windows were heavily tinted so it never struck me until he and his camcorder eyes slithered over to my car door and sneakily threw a glance in through my window.

And no, it wasn’t his car, he’s the chauffeur judging from his uniform. I hope he was bitterly disappointed that there was really nothing to see. I was covered all the way to my knee caps in my ugliest pair of black bermuda shorts.

What’s more worrying for me, as a mom, was when I saw who he’d come to pick up from school. It’s one of Raine’s friends and I hope, for her sake, that her parents know what kind of perv person they’re sending to pick up their 17-year-old daughter from school .

Okay, so I’ve finally signed Steev up for driving school. He’s 18+ and definitely old enough to drive and it would neat to have a backup driver to chauffeur my girls around .

Yesterday he went to take his written test after attending a full day of driving theory the previous Sunday. The driving school has a van service to ferry them to the test center. We didn’t know which test center he’d been assigned to but apparently it’s somewhere out in the boonies.

Me being the worrywart decided to go check the place out myself so I could pick Steev up if he finished early. If he would’ve taken the van, he would’ve had to wait for everyone to finish their tests which might’ve taken the whole day.

We had to be at the pickup point at 9:30am. We were already running late but I had to stop by the gas station. Steev jumped out, stuck my credit card into the gas pump and it threw back an error, yikes! I backed up to the gas pump behind and Steev started over, and again it spat out my credit card. OMG, we wer e going to be late. So I said forget the gas, let’s go.

We got to the pickup point just in the nick of time and that’s when they told us the van would only be leaving at 10am. Dangit! All that rush for nothing. So I left Steev there to wait and we went hunting for the nearest gas station.

Back at the pickup point, the van driver agreed that I could follow him to the test center. So Steev rode with me and I had Raine along as well to note the directions to the place so I could find my way back there later.

As I expected, following the van would not be easy. I was pretty sure the guy would speed all the way there since it was a Sunday, no traffic jams. And I was right. He flew down the highway with me chugging along at my usual turtle speed .

And there was Steev in the back seat going, Mom, maybe you should step on it a little, we’re going to lose him. And so started my high speed chase like one of those ‘follow that car’ scenes we’ve seen all too often in movies.

Much as I’d like to say I drove like Paul Walker in Fast and Furious, I was doing way below speed limit. Hey, I’m not in the habit of speeding with kids in my car, okay? So I was left wa-aay behind! The van driver didn’t care, he just raced on and me, chug-a-chug-chug, hahaha! To cut a long story short, we made it there in one piece, Steev passed the test and this tailing a van to the boonies is not something I’d care to repeat .