a happy song for a happy day

Because I just drove. By myself. For the first time ever.

It was quiet and peaceful and I had time to just. . .think. Time that I don't get a whole lot at home with two younger (and often crazy) younger siblings, not to mention three unruly dogs.

But I had one of my first whiffs of freedom, which I could easily neglect and take advantage of or use wisely. . .and drive safe. ;)

[And trust me, I do. Like a grandmother, actually. Just ask the car on my tail.]

Thanksgiving...the most original title this world has ever laid eyes on

How many times have you been asked around Thanksgiving what you're thankful for? And how many times have you said, "My family" or "My house" or the oh-so-original, "My friends". Well, I don't know about you, but I've lost count. Yes, we ought to be thankful for all those things. God has given us so much. He has given us countless blessings. But He has provided so much more than mere physical needs. He has given us His Son, Jesus Christ! What more could we ask for? How often do we forget Our Savior? And we ought to remember always what a Gift has been bestowed upon us - poor, wretched, undeserving sinners as we are. We must not only remember and be thankful at Thanksgiving, but always.

Okay, here's where I get boring and tell you about my Thanksgiving week.

We drove 7 hours to Pioneer, Tennessee (which is pretty much the middle of nowhere) to Crampton Farm and visited my family. It was a lot of fun; we played countless card games, hiked (once even in the snow! But Katie would tell you I'm exaggerating and it was just a few flakes. Even so, there was snow), played a few very long games of Risk (one in which I actually dominated, thank you very much), some frisbee (a new Crampton tradition), ate a ridiculous amount of Aunt Carla's should-be-world-famous-cookies, stayed up late, lost a lot of sleep, and went home with very sore arms...and legs...and whatever else can be sore.

Then, we had a wonderfully non-eventful car ride home.

Not really. We're the Cramptons, remember?

Our trip home was more like a Griswold trip. 15 minutes down the road, we broke down. Luckily, we had two cars and at least one than was running properly. So, we decided to try to make it to the city (if you can call it that) and find a car repair shop. I knew it would be a long trip. Little did I know. We found an Advance Auto Parts shop and we got an employee to look at the car. He said it was just a battery problem and replaced it. After a that little detour, we drove on. After a while, we decided to split up. The car I was in planned to take a quick stop at York's home and burial ground (since we're homeschoolers and all) while Mom's car went home. I didn't really care to go explore the world that was Alvin C. York, but was too drained to switch cars. So off I went to the home of General Alvin York. (By the way, any detour remotely educational will not be "quick" with this family.) We finally leave and after an hours or so of driving we get a call from my mom. She's at the mall and we decide we'll have dinner at the food court. Notice anything? Yeah, I got to go explore the house of one called Alvin (hmm, future son-o'-mine's name? I think so!) and the girls got to go to the mall. Lucky me. But at least I'm not bitter or anything. After dinner, we set out for home. After only a little while on the road, guess what? We got home really quickly? Guess again. We stopped for ice cream? No. The newly replaced car battery was dead. So we searched for another Advance Auto Parts shop (a place we got to know well), finally found one and stopped. We got there just 10 minutes before they closed, hired an employee after closing time so he'd be free to work with us. It wasn't a battery problem after all, it was...some other car term that I can't remember right now. Anyway, the important part is he fixed it.

God was at work even then. It wasn't chance that we happened to break down as soon as we got back into the city. It wasn't chance that we were near an Advance Auto Parts shop when the battery died. It wasn't chance that we drove up to the shop exactly 10 minutes before no one would have been able to help us. It wasn't chance that after the store closed, the man could help us and that he would find the problem and fix it.

So, yes, I'm thankful for a whole lot. Especially handy-dandy-Advance-Auto-Parts-employees.

I'm hitting the roads...with an adult at least 21 years of age, of course

I recently turned 15. Not a very exciting number, except for the fact that with it comes the opportunity to drive! I really do love driving. I don't know why...I think it's just a girl thing. I guess that's the reason most girls get their permits the DAY they turn 15 and guys get it when they get around to it.

And I know you won't believe this, but I AM a good driver. So far, I've only driven a few times. Darrin took Luke and I out driving last week. I drove from my house all the way to New Albany. No one died. And I only had a couple "rolling stops" at stop signs. Mom was quite worried and offered Darrin her insurance card. She wouldn't let me go on the highway, so we took the long back road route.

Mom said she wouldn't drive with me because she remembers when Joseph first got his license...and it wasn't pretty. But the other day I had the opportunity of driving home after we dropped some kids off. It wasn't far at all. Afterwards, when asked what I did wrong, Mom couldn't think of anything (much to her shock and dismay). You'd think she'd be happy to discover I'm capable of driving well, wouldn't you? Guess not.

Even today I drove to New Albany. Once again, no one died. And once again, Mom wouldn't let me drive on the highway. I'm gonna have to do it someday, why not today?