Teaching an old dog new tricks

      Some say you can't teach an old dog new tricks. I dare to say I used to agree with that, but now, I don't so much.
Maybe it's getting older, maybe wiser. OK, it's getting older lol.
I am a stubborn person, I get stuck in certain ways of doing things and change isn't always easy for me. Thinking outside the box, seeing shades of grey. For me, most everything is either black or white, there's a right way to do something, and a wrong way, and that's it. But over the years I have learned that's not always the case, and although it's been hard, I have started to learn that I can do some things more than one way, not only that but that I can learn new things that I never thought I'd be able to do before.
So it might seem simple to the majority of you by now, this old dog is learning a new trick. That's right. At 40 years old (wow, has it been that long?! We'll save that topic for another day lol), I am learning how to drive.
I had my learners license when I turned 15 and took drivers ed through the school. I had to go to Drayton Valley (we lived in the country) to take the lessons and our big city trip was to Edmonton. All I remember of it was that I loved the one thing everyone hated, traffic circles. After that I never went any further, I don't even remember if I passed that course. But I moved to Edmonton when I was 17 and I held onto my learners for many years, never driving never practicing. I never dreamed I would leave Edmonton and was happy with the bus, it never occurred to me that I would ever even need or want a license or to drive. So eventually, I let it expire. I couldn't afford to renew it one year, and decided it was not worth hanging onto. Skip forward 15 years to where I now live in Calgary and have a teenage daughter. Being here the last 4 years has been tough. As far as I see, transit sucks, especially being in such a large city that is so spread out. It has taken me 4 years to learn my way around and I am still learning, unlike Edmonton where, I knew every part of the city like the back of my hand, new places were easy to find, an the roads were so easy to figure out. So many subdivisions, cul-de-sacs, one way streets, freeways, overpasses and roads not meant for regular citizen driving. To get to the Northwest from the Northeast I have to take the bus to the train, go south and then head back north because there is no train or bus that goes east to west. At least not yet. Travel time is 3 or 4 times what it would take to drive, which, when you are working on the other end of the city and have appointments or emergencies, makes for a very long tiring day.
So I decided that I would get my license and be driving by the time I was 40. I know, I kept pushing the date back, but when I had to take my daughter on the bus across the city to various schools for volleyball and basketball games, the tightness of the schedules hit me. And I thought to myself, it isn't fair, for her, that I can't get her where she needs to go and I hated to see her have to miss out because we just couldn't get there fast enough on the bus and rides were unavailable. Being on a team means you have to be there all the time no matter what. Oh, we made it, but I felt bad for her, not that she minded, she was fine, and she understood, but still. So I decided, no more. I was going to be able to drive her to practices, and youth group, and activities.
So I took my learners test but I didn't have the money for the actual license, so as soon as I could afford it, I got it. I worked and saved as much as I could so I could take drivers ed again, and start from scratch because I had literally forgotten everything I learned about driving. I had to wait a month after the in class lessons to start the in car portion, and now I am on my third lesson. I found someone willing to give some extra practice, thanks Marc ur a godsend :P. I am hoping to finish the in-car and get some practice and be ready for my test by February sometime.
I think it's going well so far. I need a lot of practice, but I am looking forward to it now and the dream doesn't feel so out of reach.  It might not seem like too big of a deal to most of you but to me, it is. Setting goals, learning new things, and accomplishing them, has been hard. And I am excited! I can't wait to be able to go places the bus doesn't go, whenever I want to, and to give something to my daughter that she deserves! And so by spring break, I'm thinking, road trip!
And the picture? Just what everyone keeps telling me in various ways and forms LOL
 Phil 4:13 "I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me."