Win!

Before I begin today's post, I'd like to share a link. I've written about The Non-Consumer Advocate before. Her blog is getting some attention at the moment and she recently did an interview on Australian TV from her home in the U.S. Here's the link if you're interested: Katy's Interview.

One of the issues we struggle with is how much to use the car. Teenage Daughter's driving is good enough now that we don't have to take her out for separate drives anymore. We just let her drive whenever and wherever possible in the general scheme of our lives. (She's only about six hours away from getting her license.)

Before we began Footprints we used to drive one or both of the children to their youth group on a fortnightly basis. One of us would bring them and one would pick them up. It's about fifty minutes round trip and the meetings last for two hours. Teenage Daughter isn't doing it this year because of school commitments and the meetings are only monthly.

For various reasons, Teenage Son has only made it to two. This month and last month. Last month Husband was away so I decided it was a good time to save on carbon emissions by killing time nearby. I went to the library but it was closed. I went to the next nearest library but it was closed. I went to the next nearest library but it was closed, too. I ended up sitting in a cafe. Ultimately there was still a lot of driving around.

This month, however, the sun was shining and I knew the Botanic Gardens in the city would be open. The rest of our small city must have had the same idea. I drove along the back of the Gardens and every spot was taken. I followed the road around past the zoo and nearly every spot was taken. Obviously, those not going to the Gardens were going to see the pandas. I got to the very end of Plane Tree Drive and found a parking place. It would mean a five minute walk through beautiful Botanic Park back to the Gardens. That was okay, it was sunny. I made my way through the picnickers and Frisbee throwers and into the Gardens.

My first port of call was the cafe for a cappuccino. It was full but there are two there now so I went to the other one. I sat outside with my cappuccino and laptop and worked on The Novel (it deserves a pseudonym now, too.) When I'd finished my drink I went and sat on some lawns in the sun. I couldn't work well there so I ended up lying back, closing my eyes and soaking up some Vit D rays. (Let's not mention melanoma.) WIN!

Cheers.