Last week, was a VERY big week for me as my husband, who never travels, was away in Orlando taking a class for school. And since he never travels, i have very little experience with staying home….alone. All of my fears in life are encompassed in being alone with my children at night. But, i wanted to be a big girl about it and take advantage of the fact that he and two of my best friends would be traveling. And by take advantage, i simply mean….be quiet and still.

Those two words are very important to me. I live in a very busy city, with something going on all the time. Plus, i’m allergic to too much chaos.  It can tend to rattle me like a snow globe in the hands of a small child. i’m getting much better in my ability to handle stress, but it takes an effort to have some sort of inner stillness which is the only way i know what is going on inside of me at times.

That being said, there is nothing about these two things put together that says, “quiet and still.”

Before he left for class, my husband had injured his back and neck. It would have been a very long and stressful trip for him to make in his Chevy 2500 HD(i think that stands for Huge and Destructive or something like that) truck. Here was our conversation about it.

Me: it’s ok, you can take the van.

Him: i know, but i’m worried that you may hit stuff with the truck.

Me: that most certainly, is a possibility.(*see “On the road” post)

Him: no honey, it is most certainly, a probability.

With no choice due to the amount of pain he was in, he set off in my mini van and left me his smelly, big, man truck.

Now, aside from my tendency to hit things behind the wheel,( not small children or anything like that. I mean that curbs, mail boxes, and parked vehicles are more my style,) i’m barely 5’3 on a good day. and when i stand beside his truck, the top of the truck bed comes up to the level of my eyes. I need a step stool to just get in the cab. if you think i’m exaggerating…have a look-see…

I set off to have a good attitude about all that i was going to encounter on my week as a single mom. I’m proud to say that though extremely exhausted from the effort, we had a good time with just  a few minor break downs. This may surprise you, but they mostly centered around this  monstrosity of a vehicle.

The first one occurred Tuesday when i had to drive down town for a dr’s apt which required entering and parking in a parking deck. As i turned off one of our city’s busiest streets to enter the PD, the truck could not make the turn. *did i mention that it has a 0* turning radius? So, i had to put it in reverse, feeling like  ellie may clampett in town, pull back out into traffic, and readjust the truck 3 times before it would make it through the entrance. This is when i said to my girls in the back seat….”Just for the record, right here is where i will begin getting hostile about having to drive daddy’s truck.”

And never before have i noticed height clearance signs, until i was holding my breath and barely squeezed under the one that allowed me into the deck to find a space. And who was i kidding, i drove to the very top of the deck as my stomach plummeted to the bottom of my feet(did i mention my thing about heights?) and parked in the single, very last spot on the 8th level.

The other ‘gem’ of a moment was each time i took the girls to our pool. It has a very small, snug, compromised parking lot to begin with, but now they are doing lots construction this summer. The renovation has required all  kinds of bob cat and dump truck obstacles to an already maze like situation. Plus, there is the added bonus of having to maneuver this maze with construction worker….onlookers. One evening, i heard one fella say, “Dios Mio” as i was trying to back out and head for home.

oh, and there was the friend who heard i was driving the truck all week who just happened to be getting something out of her car when i was pulling away…..she laughed out loud uncontrollably, while shaking her head  since no words could be found.

I am happy to report though, that my husband and my chariot arrived home safely. And no mailboxes, parked cars, or small children were injured this past week while i was behind the wheel. The curbs well, what can i say…i’m not a miracle worker.