You guys, I’ve been spending a little too much time at Starbucks lately. My daughter has had some evening rehearsals that are far enough away that it doesn’t make sense to drive back and forth- so I drop her off and find a nearby Starbucks where I can sit and work on NaBloPoMo. Anyway, Wednesday evening at 8 pm I was the only customer left in Starbucks- I looked up from my computer and saw the employees UNWRAPPING THE HOLIDAY CUPS, GASP! Imagine my excitement!
As always, there are several different designs, and each year I have a favorite (too early to tell which is my favorite this year though.) So, obviously you have to run immediately to your nearest Starbucks, get yourself a festive beverage in a holiday cup (or you can be like me and just get tea in the holiday cup) and join Coco and Deborah for our monthly coffee date.
If we were having coffee (tea) together, I would remind you that I’ve been having a rocky time with my daughter. Back in September she auditioned on flute for the Florida All-State band, and has been on pins and needles ever since. This is a really important event for these kids, and as an eighth grader it was her first time auditioning. She had self-imposed added pressure, because my son was a little superstar at that age, and made All-State five years in a row, starting in eighth grade. I don’t think a day has gone by since the audition that she hasn’t reminded me, “PAUL made it in eighth grade.”
Yes, the last month has been extra-stressful but on Tuesday we found out she not only made All-State, but was selected to be the only piccolo player! We’re elated and so proud of her- but mostly we’re RELIEVED. The tension has reduced dramatically in our house, and I’m riding this wave of euphoria as long as I can… until the next crisis.
In other news, remember my car accident? Well, I had to do traffic school in order to avoid getting points on my license. OBVIOUSLY, I chose the online option, and it was actually pretty entertaining. I would love to meet the person who put this course together. At the start we’re informed, “Driving each day will give you hours and hours of boredom, with a few seconds of sheer horror.” Um… okay.
Then there was a video about a teenager who got drunk, got behind the wheel of his car, caused an accident and now has permanent brain damage. This was followed by a little quiz: “Jared made some poor choices regarding drinking and driving: true, or false?” Ah. Well, I’m a very good test taker, so I had no problem with these “tricky” questions.
Here’s another little gem: “Let’s say the car you are driving is a compact and you are driving 40 mph. Let’s say the other vehicle is an 18-wheel tractor-trailor, with 300 overweight pigs on board, coming in the opposite direction at the same speed…” Wait a minute! 300 overweight pigs??? You really have to wonder if the person who wrote this was just extremely bored, or if they truly thought this was the best way to get their point across.
While it was amusing, I can’t say I learned much from traffic school, other than DON’T GET INTO ANY MORE STUPID ACCIDENTS. Believe me… I’m the most careful driver on the roads these days.
The last thing I would share if we were having coffee together is how much I’m looking forward to the weekend. Sunday is the NYC Marathon AND we finally turn the clocks back, woohoo! And there will be plenty of football- Baylor game on Saturday, and Sunday the Dolphins play the Bears. The icing on the cake is, Sunday is National Nachos Day. My sister and I will be rivals on Sunday (she lives in Chicago) but we’re both going to make nachos for the big game. Fun stuff!
If we were having coffee together I would ask if you’ve ever gone to traffic school? Do you like watching football? What are you looking forward to this weekend? Don’t forget to make nachos on Sunday!
42 Responses
Years ago, I had to go to traffic school for a ticket–I don’t remember my violation, lol–and I also did online school as well. The thing that stood out to me was that I couldn’t move quickly through the questions. Once I answered a question, I had to wait for the quiz to move forward. I started doing other things while the time passed. It was ridiculous. And yes, the lesson I learned was never to have to go to traffic school again.
We’re heading up to Madison for my son’s very last rugby game. Of course, the weather is going to be awful. But I am looking forward to seeing him play.
No nachos for me. And since the Bears traded so many players this week, are they even the Bears anymore?
I didn’t know the Bears traded a bunch of players! Should be an interesting game. But your son’s rugby game will be better.
Yes, this class was FOUR HOURS long, and you actually had to spend four hours on it. If you got to the end of a section too quickly, you had to wait. I did it while I watched TV (obviously- I had to do something!)
I didn’t know about traffic school, and now that you’ve told me about it I will pay a little extra attention the next time I’m on the road so that I never have to experience it first hand.
CONGRATS TO YOUR DAUGHTER!!!!
Thank you! It was well-deserved and we’re proud of her.
Yes, try not to be like me and get in an accident- that way you can avoid traffic school!
HUGE congrats to your daughter! That is AMAZING! I guess you’ve got some talented kids who don’t shy away from the hard work it takes to excel. 😉
I’ve never done traffic school, but if I did I would take the on-line route for sure. I mean, do you really want people DRIVING to traffic school before they learn not to get into a head-on collision with a tractor-trailer of pigs. Of course, with my daughter’s activism, I am thinking maybe you did hit the truck at just the right angle to gentle tip it over so the pigs can escape? (She doesn’t do that type of activism, but has volunteered at sanctuaries with rescued animals)
I will have to pay more attention to the Starbucks holiday cups and pick my favorite.
I think I would get along well with your daughter. I like that thought (rescue the pigs!)
One of the reasons I’m so glad my daughter made all-state is she really did work incredibly hard, and I wanted her to learn that lesson- hard work equals success. No shortcuts!
LOL on your class! It does make you wonder who comes up with this content and how helpful it is. Huge congrats to your daughter! Stressful times at that age for sure. I used to go to Starbucks all the time but have not in forever!
I’m going to try and lay off the Starbucks for a few days- next week I’ll be lurking there again for the free wifi (and holiday cups, of course.)
Those test questions are hilarious – I feel like the superfluous details (300 overweight pigs) would be highly distracting from the underlying message and I’m VERY curious about the author of said questions. Either way, I’m glad you were able to do it online and avoid losing points.
CONGRATS to your daughter. It does sound SO intense for everyone, but especially for her of course. I hated being a teenager. Everything is very emotional and it’s also just really, really hard, too. I was talking to my daughter (Grade 6) this morning about friendship dynamics and it’s so complicated at that age and there really is no escape. As adults we have so much more autonomy about who we spend time with, in many senses. Our kids go into a highly charged educational environment where they don’t have much say over anything still. So I’m thrilled she made All-State and I’m thrilled you’re helping her celebrate. Cake! Balloons! Why not? This is cause for celebration and could mark a turning point for her, too. You never know what life event will trigger a whole new trajectory for her in terms of likes/dislikes.
Yes, I agree- up until she got the results I kept telling her it didn’t matter, but really things like this DO matter and can end up being a huge turning point. This age really is hard for them. Your daughter sounds like she’s doing amazingly well. I’m sure she’ll hae her ups and downs, but overall I think she’ll be fine.
No traffic school….
I may succumb to the Starbucks cup today. Working from has saved me money!
Congrats to your daughter. That is exciting.
I have FOMO on the marathon… so much that I may apply next year (Actually I think I have a timed entry to get me in).
No on football unless it’s a super bowl party. I’ll probably do on a hike.
Okay, I hope you got your Starbucks drink!
I’ll probably have a little FOMO while I’m watching the marathon, but I’ll also enjoy watching the elites race while I’m sitting comfortably on my couch. Yes, you should apply next year!
Congrats to your daughter, that’s an amazing accomplishment!
You and Coco will have to have a talk about the use of the holiday cups prior to Thanksgiving. 😉
I have never been to traffic school, but I was a high school driver’s ed teacher my first year out of college. I wish I’d thought about putting the 300 overweight pigs question on a test. LOL
Did you have to take the kids out driving? Teaching a teenager how to drive is not my favorite thing. They tend to be… unpredictable, and it’s nerve-wracking.
My hubby got me an iced coffee today so no holiday cup for me. Booooo!
Yes, they usually have a holiday design for the cold cups but I didn’t see those yet. That’s okay- you’ll have plenty of opportunities to get a hot drink between now and Christmas.
You’ve obviously never driven in the midwest with huge trailers of swine and chickens on the road next to you. It’s kind of depressing and one of the major reasons why I very rarely eat meat. Seeing the results of factory farms is…heartbreaking.
We don’t have any plans this weekend, but if the rain will hold off, I’m going to try to get more stuff done in the yard and maybe make the cookies that Suzanne posted about on her blog today.
I saw those cookies! I hope you make them and let us know how they come out.
Yes, maybe the person who wrote that lives in a “farming” community. As you know I don’t eat meat, ever… I know all about factory farming.
I believe I attended traffic school once in my life, and it was the night of the final episode of Seinfeld. So I missed that and I runfess I still have never seen how it ended. How’s that for missing out? Sounds like the content was designed to get through to the teenage brain.
Huge congrats to your daughter! That is so awesome! In 8th grade Thing 2 was offered the piccolo spot or 1st chair flute at All-State and she chose piccolo as well!
Thanks for the heads up on the nachos. A nacho face-off sounds like loads of fun! I’m up for “some” football, but not football all day, all night and again on Monday iykwim.
Yes, funny that we both have flute playing daughters! Is it this year that Thing 2 is going to all-state?
The final episode of Seinfeld was pretty disappointing, so you didn’t miss out on THAT much.
Congrats to your daughter. Sounds like it runs in the family.
Our weekend will be low key I assume. Lots of NaBloPoMo stuff going to happen. Going to run some errands tomorrow morning. Sunday we have a house showing as we might have to move again.
Other than that I should clean up the apartment.
I have never been to traffic school but my mom has. She said it was more psychology than actually driving stuff. And as major in psychology was bored and saw right through the instructor…
There was a pretty funny section in my driving school about how stress negatively affects your driving, and the advice was stuff like “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade!” I kid you not.
Didn’t you just move??? That sounds stressful! Well, I hope your weekend is low-key.
Oh traffic school sounds like a nightmare! Could you imagine doing that in person? I’m a very anxious driver, especially when I’m in a strange place…so I think I’m a pretty cautious driver because of that. I LOVE football, but much prefer NCAA over NFL.. Go Hawkeyes!
I think I prefer college football as well, but I’ll watch both!
Yes, I thought of that- how awful it would be to do traffic school in person. I had a boyfriend once who had to do that, and I heard all the horror stories from him.
Yay, congrats to your daughter making All-State – I can imagine the sibling pressure was on. Very exciting for her!
Haha, I had to chuckle about the overweight pigs. Maybe they just wanted to make the online tests entertaining on purpose? So you have something to blog about for NaBloPoMo – haha! 🙂
Well, I am sorry you had to take the training, but it’s better than points on your license… but I think you’ve already learned your lesson when you had the accident.
I really, really learned my lesson. I seriously drive much more carefully now. Yes, I was trying to figure out if they were making the test funny on purpose? Because most of it was pretty dry, and then there would suddenly be these weird little things. Hmm.
OMG the driving school. Remember that Simpsons episode where Homer was drunk driving and had to go to driver’s ed? And there was the film about traffic accidents? “Here’s an appealing fellow. In fact, they’re a-peeling him off the pavement!” Lol. Probably not as funny to have to do online driver’s ed but who comes up with these programs?
Congrats to your daughter! That’s amazing news. 13 is a tough age, I am so glad she got such great news.
No, I don’t know that Simpson’s episode! I’m going to try to find it. But it reminds me of one of my all-time favorites, where Otto loses his job driving the school bus because he doesn’t have a driver’s license. Hee hee!
The driving test questions!! Too funny! Especially the overweight pig question! What in the world! At least it provided some humor and smiles for us!
So last year the SBUX I go to most often had holiday drinks but no cups!! It was such a let down as I love the holiday cups. I am guessing it was a supply chain issue. I held off on asking them as I imagine they got a ton of questions. Hopefully they have holiday cups this year. It adds joy to my weekly coffee treat!
And congrats to your daughter! I made all state for the trumpet but not that young! Way to go!!
You made all state for trumpet??? We must talk about this! I have a post coming up about the musical experiences of my youth.
That is SUCH A BUMMER about your Starbucks. I’m sure they’ll have the cups- otherwise there will be some sort of riot. You’ll have to let us know when they get them in.
Those traffic school questions are hilarious!
A big congrats to your daughter on such an amazing accomplishment!
Thank you Michelle! She worked really, really hard so I’m glad it was a success.
Yes, I did traffic school for having the high beam on in broad daylight of all things. The switch is in an awkward position in our car and since I am short and have to pull all the way up to the steering wheel I can easily hit it apparently. Well, that time I did not notice and a police car saw me. Nothing bad happened. I still get upset about it just thinking about it. And my traffic school was less hilarious than yours, just painful.
Congratulations to your daughter. That’s a big achievement.
Thank you Meike! So you got a ticket for having your high beams on accidentally? That’s really annoying! By the way, one thing I did learn in trafic school is you’re not supposed to put your high beams on in the fog. Who knew?
Congratulations to your daughter, a wonderful achievement.
The traffic school questions were hilarious.
Thank you Melissa! And yes- at least traffic school was amusing.
Go Bears!! Your experience with your quiz made me laugh. It’s been years since I had to go to traffic school. Actually it was 2009 and I had just started teaching. I cannot remember the violation.
Go Dolphins! It was an exciting game, but we just won (sorry about that!)
I’ve had to do traffic school in person (many years ago), and the worst part was I’d planned to do it with a friend who lived 90 minutes away, so we said “oh let’s pick a place halfway between us and go together and it’ll be more fun!” Well at the last second he could’nt go because of work travel so I ended up driving 45 minutes just to go to stupid in-person traffic school by my damn self . D’oh!
Ha ha… that sounds horrible.
That Dolphins game was a nail biter. Was I yelling at the TV a lot yesterday? Yes, yes I was.
Congrats to your daughter! What a great accomplishment.
And woohoo to the holiday cups being out! I need to get my first peppermint mocha of the season!
Yes, rush to Starbucks right now! And that game… I felt bad because there was clearly a bad call on the second to last play and I wouldn’t normally mind, but since my sister is a Bears fan- I could see that it was unfair. But hey- we’ll take the win!