"Honey are you for reeeeeeal?" I'd heard it but didn't realize the words were intended for my ears until a nice looking African American man leaned into my field of vision waving his arms and pointing at my car. The young man was in a group of three people, a white woman in her thirties at least, an African American woman also in her thirties and this guy, all hanging out in a corner lot automotive station. I was stopped at the light in the intersection. My car bearing four large bright fluorescent green banners with the words "STUDENT DRIVER" and painted on them. Smiling, I rolled my window down, the dark woman leaned closer, dipped her hand down, threw her hip out and, "Honey are you for reeeeaaall?" Then we were talking at the same time, "I mean, what you charge?" I was confused - what do I charge? She could see I wasn't following her train of thought, "Honey what do you charge for you driving services?"  OMG, that's what she meant! "Oh no, I'm not an instructor, I put these on my car by myself last week when my daughter got her driving permit." She threw her head back and laughed loud and hard, "Oh Honey, now know you ARE for real, watching out for your baby - Lord I bet she hates that!" The light turned green, I waved, they waved, "Goooooo Momma!", I could hear as I turned the corner.  Ah, yes, good fun. 

Truth is, this isn't the first time I've been asked about the signs. We - Piper and I - pulled into the the Burger King parking lot and got out to switch places. An older Latino man hollered across the sidewalk, "Are you for real, or is this some kind of joke?" A joke?? "Uh no, no joke. We have a new driver in the family, the signs help the people around us be more patient with her while she's learning." And HE had laughed.  Walked off laughing and shaking his head, occasionally looking over his shoulder and laughing some more. "Great," Piper muttered. She managed to force a smile at another older man walking behind us who had heard the earlier exchange and was giving me a thumbs up. Her friends, even her brother, were in total sympathy with her, "that's sooo embarrassing." Well, she was getting honked at people and it was making her nervous and frustrated. I want her to be a good and confident driver. This has helped. She didn't mind the smile and thumbs up from the passing cop. Then again he was particularly cute. The signs stay on until she is more confident with her timing . . . . . . . . . and corners, she's still struggling with those. Still haven't tackled freeways. Not sure I'm up for it yet.

In other news, yes I'm a clutz! Twice in the last week I've spilled large amounts of water over my art table. Wouldn't be a problem if I wasn't working on my WATERCOLOR illustrations for my book! The first time, the water ruined the piece I was working on. All I could do was lift the drenched paper and watch two hours worth of work running off the page in a blaze of glorious color. Tonight, Oh so silly me, my phone got it the worst and 24 pages of reference material I spent hours printing out all this last week. That's why I had a few minutes right now. I strung a line across my living room and back again with a floor fan doing it's best to dry them out for me. Looks like a line full of wash inside the house. Buntah would love it but I just fed her, she is digesting in my bathtub for now.

In OTHER news - heads up people - the 49ers are playing Texas this Sunday!!!!!  WaaaaHoooooo!!!  Gooo 49ers!!! WooWooWoo!!

Yes I know I haven’t posted for two weeks. I’ve been being traumatized and recuperating over and over on a daily basis for two weeks. The trauma? My daughter, my Pip, the one taking great strides into adulthood has finally obtained her "Drivers Permit."  This is not her Drivers LICENSE. There’s a difference. This is the piece of paper that declares she knew enough about the rules of the road to pass the DMV exam and is now permitted to LEARN to drive. And here comes the trauma - I am the one teaching her. I swear, if we can survive this and come out still friends on the other end, we should be able to make it through anything! Tensions are high, both nervous systems on full alert, and the blood pumping hard and fast while we’re in the car. Once I reach the safety of my bedroom, my head is spinning, my body vibrating and I’m in need of some serious unwind time.

She’s doing much better lately, but the first day she ran a stop sign, parked us on a sidewalk, drove us into a bush and backed us up onto some guys lawn. Corners where just freakin SCARY! Two wheels Man, she could only keep TWO wheels on the ground!! Or she’d forget to give it gas enough to finish getting around a corner and there we’d be, sitting with other cars coming at us.

She hasn’t worked her way up to freeways yet – which is just fine by me, however, she reached freeway speeds on some of those first hundred corners! We’re still avoiding major three lane streets and parallel parking – that’s how we ended up on the guys lawn. So wish me luck!

What do I have to say about the 49er’s / St. Louis Rams game last night!!!!!!! HOT DAMN, HELLYA AND GOOOOO 49er’s!!!!

By the way, the black lace gloves have been effective for their intended purpose. However, they are no discouragement from cracking knuckles – damn!