Even the Wicked Witch had her broom

We're settling into more of a routine here in Oz.  Scarecrow and I get up around 8am, he has a shower while I make his lunch.  He gives me a kiss as he heads off to work and I head upstairs with every intent of being productive.  Sometimes that lasts into the day and sometimes it doesn't.  Most of the time I close my eyes for another hour or so.  I'm starting to dig more into my thesis now that everything is quieting down and am looking forward to being done with the silly thing and get a real job!  The downside of life (if there is such a thing) is that I don't have anything really pressing to get me out of the house.  Not too much anyway.  I was called as the first counselor in the Young Women's presidency in our branch (I think we max out at around 10 girls) so we have a meeting biweekly that gets me down to the church on a Tuesday morning.  I'm hoping to find some work from home and maybe volunteer somewhere.  Both things to work on.  But how do I get to all of these things?  That's right, I'm learning to drive.

It sounds kind of funny to say "learning to drive".  I did that.  I remember, I was 15 driving our Ford Arrowstar van through Wyandotte Co. Lake.  I like driving big vans and trucks.  I think it's the look on people's faces when they see a petite woman driving a massive vehicle that I like the best.  But here, obviously, it's like going backwards for me.  The rules of the road aren't an issue.  I know how to steer, signal, change lanes, all that good stuff.  Even doing it on the other side of the road doesn't freak me out nearly as much as it used to.  In fact, it doesn't bother me at all.  No, I'm being taken back to school by a manual transmission.  I always wanted to learn to drive stick and had plenty of opportunity to do it.  I had friends in high school who offered loads of times, I just never took them up on it.  And now I'm kicking myself.  To be fair, I've actually been doing pretty well lately.  I've started doing more "solo" trips, mostly to the church or the shopping center.  But it still feels good to know that if I need to go, I can.  I'm only limited now by knowing where I'm going (generally taken care of by my good friend Garmin) and if there's a car available.  Eoin takes our car (2007 VW Jetta, love it) most days.  He's going to start carpooling with a fella from work and they'll switch cars every other week.  That'll be nice to at least have the option of going somewhere.  My In-laws also have an Audi ('97 I think) that has open insurance on it so I can drive that as well if it's available.  The last thing that limits me on occasion...the size of the roads.

 

This is the road we live on.  On a good day 2 cars can get through, but only if both see each other well in advance and if both drivers are feeling cooperative.  Let me tell you, it's not always that the other driver is cooperative.  In tight situations I tend to just pull over and pray they don't take off my side mirror.  I also tend to avoid small parking lots (like the Centra near our house) and driving in the city centre.  I still stall out relatively frequently so I'll be avoiding the city centre for awhile yet.

Welcome to Oz.  Where the roads are tiny and the sheep in people's front yards are real.