I just wrote six posts in one day. I was going to stop at five, but just had to fit this in. When I was forced to get my license at sixteen (yes forced, I was terrified), I really hated driving. The whole idea scared me…well, it scared me a lot. Then I got in that accident with the old lady in the Buick, and then I was even more reluctant to drive.

Now for some reason, I love it. I find things to smile about in the car almost every day. Here’s what made me smile today as I was driving:

*Chickens. I saw a truck full of chickens on the highway. I know it’s cruel the chickens are all cooped up in their little cages, but it reminded me of Napoleon Dynamite and the chickens. Why are chickens just funny. It’s funny to even say the word, chicken.

*Old Beater Cars. I love to see people driving totally run down cars. It reminds me of when I drove one. Neither of the turn signals worked, the break lights were busted, and the gas gauge always said empty-not because there was no gas in it, but because it was broken. I have total respect for those driving beaters, because I know how humbling it is and I know those people aren’t going into debt to show-off a fancy car. Our cars have always been paid for in full. Don’t go into debt for a car. That’s my advice. People in beaters…you rock!

*The wind. Today was a beautiful 72 degrees. I rolled down both the windows and let the wind mess my hair up. It was in my eyes and in my mouth and I loved it. Even on the highway, driving 80 mph, the whipping wind really made my day.

I signed Gordon up for Young Chef’s Academy. He is always asking me if he can cook. It’s one thing he truly gets excited over. I was thinking of the activities my boys do. Most boys are taking soccer or football. Mine take fencing and piano and cooking lessons. Well, if I were a girl (oh wait, I am), I would want a guy who cooks for me and plays me songs on the piano and uses wicked weaponry.

When I told Gordon I signed him up for cooking classes, you would have thought he won the lottery. On the day of the class he told me, “I can’t frown. If I try, it turns into a smile.”

I sat in the corner, watching the class (and typing), and he kept running over to show me his shredded zucchini and rolled dough.

The best part of cooking is he gets to eat what he makes, and there are enough left overs for the mommies too.

Snow here is different from the snow in Utah or Oregon. In Utah, the snow stays around for months on end and life continues like it’s nothing. In Oregon, the snow turns to ice, and everyone slips down the driveways and sidewalks and crashes their cars. In North Carolina, you get a couple inches of powder and your power goes out, the phone lines die, and everything shuts down.

The boys only spent about an hour out there. Last year, our one snow day turned into in and out of the house five times, with clothes and water everywhere. This year the boys were less interested. I think Nick spent the most time outside the day after the big snow. He wanted to use up the last of it to build a snowman. As I was pulling out of the driveway the next day, I saw something sticking out of the snowman’s head-it was my butter knife! On closer inspection, I saw a trail of blood drawn down the side and words of pain written all over it in Sharpie. Of course Nick had to torture the snowman. Its head now resides in my freezer.

For the Blue and Gold Banquet, the boys were to bring a cake they made with their fathers. Of course ours ended up with dragons, tin foil explosions, and fallen soldiers dripping with red sprinkles. Gordon’s cake won the award for ‘Best Use of Toys.’ A few people came up to me during the banquet to say, “I knew that was your boy’s cake the moment I saw it.”

My husband is terrific. I say, “The girls are going out tonight,” and I get no guff. “All right, go have fun,” he waves.

We saw the movie, He’s Just Not That Into You. I think that’s the title. I just wasn’t that into it. What’s happening to all the movies nowadays? Okay, I sounded so old there with that comment. Has everyone fallen off the loony truck and ended up on the screen? I only liked one subplot-the bar owner/advice guy and the girl who had no idea when to shut her mouth. They were cute.

The movie was just not that believable, just not that endearing, and just not that gripping. What I enjoyed the most was they spoke intelligently, and there were a lot of unique quirky lines. Oh, and they would have random interviews with people on the street about relationships and these two black women were hilarious. I wanted a movie about them. The movie made me think smart people fall apart when they are faced with the prospect of a relationship because they overthink everything. Maybe only us dummies can hold it together:)

Afterward, we all made vicious comments about the idiot who cheated on his wife. That was fun.

We all went out for appetizers and convinced Andrea to join our girls’ weekend beach trip this year. The Three Musketeers are turning into the Fabulous Foursome. I’m totally excited Andrea is coming. I always though she was someone I would really like if I got to know. We stayed for hours talking, and eventually our waitress had to go home. She gave us her card for Pure Romance. Was she listening to our conversations?

Ben is so easy to please. I asked what he wanted for his birthday, and all he said was a membership to the online game, Runescape. On his birthday, I pulled out the credit card and signed him up. I didn’t get his reaction for that (he was jumping up and down), but I did get these:

I’ve never seen anyone sooooo excited over a book. The book is Inkdeath, the last in the Inkspell, Inkheart series. He’ll read a book in two days. I just can’t keep enough books around for him. He reads faster than me, and I took a speed-reading class! My library shelves are spilling over. It completely bloggles my mind.

The day after his birthday, we went and played lazer tag and all those quarter sucking arcade games at Northcross. It’s a boy haven in there. I think I might have seen one girl. Oh, and there was me.

Happy Birthday Ben! You can tell me how Inkdeath ends in two days.