One Car Family

David and I sold my car last Monday to get rid of a car payment, lower our car insurance, and generally just save money. But here's the catch: not only do we have to coordinate errands and figure out who gets the car on what day (not too big of a deal), David's car is a stick shift.

He had given me a few lessons when we started talking about selling my car, but I definitely had a crash course. I'm pretty certain that David had his doubts and was concerned that his car wouldn't survive the lessons, but it has. He's a wonderful teacher, giving encouragement and challenges at exactly the right time, but I don't hesitate at all to let him drive whenever we're together.

So, here are a few of the more interesting aspects of driving a standard car:

~I hate hills now. I never used to think about them, and while the animosity has been slowly decreasing, it still causes stress. It's especially bad when someone decides to pull up right on my bumper at a stop light (at least, that's how it appears to me...). Funny how something as little as learning how to drive a new car has produced a greater dependence on the Lord as I beg Him to help me not roll backwards into the car behind me! :)

~David and I have to allow a couple of extra minutes when we get in the car for readjusting EVERYTHING! This has nothing to do with the fact that it's a stick shift; it's just that 2 people who have a difference in height of almost 1 foot are sharing a car.

~If you've driven a standard, you know that it takes a minutes to shift into first gear. Well, what makes this interesting is our timing in deciding to go to a 1-car family. You see, thousands of people have been making the yearly voyage back to this great town, and some of them have a tendency to be, well, impatient. David got honked at earlier this week as he was going into 1st gear at a stop light, and he's a MUCH better driver than I! So there's a little bit of anxiety, especially at lights, that I'll take too long, get honked at, and stall out, thereby causing even more honks. Thankfully, the Lord is merciful, and that hasn't happened yet.

~I guess one of the good things about driving a stick shift around town is that my mind definitely stays more engaged. I'm sure that this will get to be more second nature, but I'm constantly calculating which gear I should be in according to the speed. I can't just coast anymore and accelerate when I want. I have to downshift and figure out what gear I need to be in so that I can accelerate again.

That's been one of our latest adventures, and I sure there will be many, many stories with me driving a standard... Have I mentioned that I left tire marks on the little hill in a parking lot when David was teaching me how to stop and start on a hill? oops...