PARK the Car???

My son is taking his on-the-road driving test tomorrow. This whole "driving" thing has been quite an ordeal for me, personally. Here in Idaho, kids start driving at age 14. Yes. You read that correctly. Ten plus four years old. In California kids drive at 16, and mine don't drive until age 18. My premise is that driving is an adult activity, coupled with adult responsibility. So, my 18-year-old, "adult," high school senior son has been pretty adament about getting his driver's license, NOW. Obviously, he's the ONLY senior at his school who does not drive a car to school or even have his own wheels, which means girls have to pick him up for dates, etc., etc.

So, he took Driver Training, which is actually still offered here in high school. He was, of course, the "only senior in driver training class," but he went along with it because he knew it would bring him closer to his ultimate goal. Besides, putting him behind the wheel on the icy winter roads with a certified driving instructor suited me very well. Also, I reminded him that legally, the school must provide driver training to anyone up to age 21, so really, he wasn't too old to be in Driver Training class (should anyone show up who already graduated from high school).

He completed his training, and passed his written test yesterday. Tomorrow is the big day. Turns out his tester will be his driver training teacher from school, with whom we made an appointment by calling his home phone number (this is a small town). We'll be meeting him at the municipal pool parking lot. By the way, my son was worried about parallel parking, so I taught him how to do it. As it turns out, they don't test parallel parking here. The tester informed me that the State of Idaho does not consider parking as "driving." That's like saying landing an airplane is not considered "flying!"

My son is confident he'll pass the test. Once he attains his license, he will have one simple rule: stay away from all other drivers in the student parking lot!

The Popcorn Chronicles

I love to eat. In fact, I have so many favorite foods, it's hard to narrow it down to my favorite FAVORITE foods.

With so many favorite foods, it's amazing that I am not as big as a house. (Actually, I could lose a little weight, but at my age that's not so unusual.) I am not a couch potato. I rarely watch television; in fact, I'd rather play volleyball, or tennis or softball when the weather is right. I walk my dog up to three times a day. I rarely snack. But, sorry, I digress.

My favorite foods include just about anything edible. In fact, I dislike only a very small number of foods, so it may be easier to simply list what I don't like. (You're wondering, "Why? What's the point in all this?" Keep reading please. I do have a point.)

My list of disliked foods includes: lima beans (ugly, bland taste), French toast (Mom used thin white bread, left them raw in the middle, so gross), tapioca (sickening texture), rice pudding (even worse), jalapeno peppers (too hot, give me the hiccups), and most steaks (seared chewy flesh, what's so great about that?). And that's about it for yucky foods.

Of the favorite FAVORITES I would have to say dark chocolate nuts-n-chews (See's), almost any Mexican food, especially enchaladas and chiles rellanos and tamales etc., and finally, POPCORN!

Ahhh, popcorn. Just the thought of it makes my mouth water. I can almost smell its enticing aroma floating from the kitchen. Have you ever walked into an office where someone just popped up a bag of microwave popcorn? Is there enough for everyone? Is there more in the back?

It's important that I get my popcorn at least once a day, without which I feel thoroughly deprived. I look forward to settling down at the end of the day with a bowl of hot buttered popcorn to read a novel or watch Animal Cops with my little dog Charlie (it's his favorite show).

I won't even consider going to a movie if I'm too broke to buy the popcorn. And let's face it, the popcorn can cost as much as the movie--but oh, what popcorn it is! Yes, it's artery clogging stuff, but as rarely as I go to the movies, I don't worry about that.

I often make homemade popcorn, the old fashioned way. Heavy pot, a little oil, shake it till it stops popping. Usually it pops the lid off the pan, I'm so good. Salt, melted butter (margerine will do). Sometimes I get a little brave and try some Parmesan cheese, or add a little sugar (Kettle Corn is "in" now.) Even have a recipe for Carmel Corn in a bag that you can make in your microwave oven. And let's not even get into chocolate drizzeled popcorn, especially mixed with pecans or almonds or....

Anyway, yep! Popcorn is the one food I could never do without. And I know for a fact that I am not the only one. We popcorn lovers know who we are. We know it's irrational and maybe a bit over the top. But we also know that popcorn is good for you! Great roughage! Okay, maybe the stuff we put on it isn't so great. But, I tell myself that if it ever came down to it, yes I could air-pop my popcorn, and I could even season it with far less salt and use fat-free butter flavoring and still be the same happy popcorn lover. IF it ever came to that.