The Life of Bon: Introducing: THROWBACK THURSDAYS! Week one: Learning to drive

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Introducing: THROWBACK THURSDAYS! Week one: Learning to drive

FOLKS:  Don't forget to pick up a copy of "Seriously, I'm Kidding" by Ellen Degeneres and read it for June's book club.  I bought it yesterday and have been tearing through it.  It's the perfect beach or lazy day read and it is hilarious.  We will be discussing that book on Wednesday, June 26.  Book club has always been the last Thursday of the month, but I'm moving it to the last Wednesday of the month to make way for something extra exciting I got going on for Thursdays.

I introduce to you....

A SUMMER OF THROWBACK THURSDAYS
BLOG STYLE


Here's how it works:

1.  Every Thursday through August we'll be throwing it back here at thelifeofbon.com.  We want to see pictures of course, but we want the stories that go behind those pictures even more!  And because I'm a total control freak, I've even mapped out a nice little schedule for all of us.  I figure the prompts will make it easier to come up with something to write about every week.

TH  6/13  A memory of learning to drive, your first car or the early driving days.
TH  6/20  Elementary school crush
TH  6/27  Throwback birthday
TH  7/4   Throwback fourth of July
TH  7/11  First job
TH  7/18  Moving away from home
TH  7/25  Memory of one or both of your parents from childhood
TH  8/1   Favorite summer vacation
TH  8/8   Childhood friends
TH  8/15  First kiss
TH  8/22  Memory of a high school teacher or high school class
TH  8/29  Back to school memory

Admit it, those topics are totally bomb.

2.  Follow www.thelifeofbon.com, slap that little button somewhere on your post, and link up your Throwback Thursday posts!  I'm so excited to read everybody's stories.

3.  Visit new blogs and make new blog friends.  No duh!

Shall we begin?!?

This week's Throwback Thursday subject is learning to drive.  Well, I think you all know I am pretty much the worst driver ever, and that started from day one.  Part of my problem was I was learning to drive on a stick shift- that's a lot to think about all at once!


Me at sixteen.  Such a baby.  A baby who couldn't drive a car.

From the get go I had a "lead foot" as my driving instructor said.  What can I say?  Some of us are just born speed demons.  It took me forever to get the hang of driving- just a lot to process all at once.  Take this journal entry, for example.

June 10, 2002

The other way cool thing that happened this week was that I got in the car for driver's ed!  YEA!  We have to be in the car with an instructor for 6 days (12 hours) before we can get our license. This makes me so happy. It means that after I turn 16 I can get my license right away! Driving is pretty hard.  I hope I can pass the test.  My problem is that I am not very aware of my surroundings.  I will be concentrating so hard on the car coming to me from the left that I won't see the one coming right at me. Or I'll be trying so hard not to speed that I'll be swerving out of the lane! It's like I can only concentrate on one thing at a time and any more than that just completely overwhelms me. I know I will get the hang of it, and I have gotten a lot better since I first started, it's just frustrating.

Six months after getting my license, I was driving home from school in my mom's minivan.  I understand a minivan ain't too hip for a dashing 16 year old like myself, but my parents were on a vacation and it was the minivan or don't drive at all.  I chose the minivan.  Naturally.  I was cruising on home, happy as can be when I thought, "Oh wow!  Is that Heather and Matt in that jeep?"  I started honking, looking over at them, waving wildly, the normal 16 year old antics when CRASH.  I rear ended the car in front of me. The car was stopped at a red light and I was just cruising on through, like there was nothing in the world to worry about.

My parents were not too happy.

Wish that was the end of it.  I totaled our gray station wagon my senior year of high school.  Even got the newspaper picture to prove it. Yep, the car accident made front page of our local small town paper, ah geez!

See me standing next to the car?  Cool hair do, huh?

With two accidents in high school, my parents weren't about to let me take a car to college.  I went my freshman year without a car, and then my sophomore year I totaled another car that I was borrowing from my brother for the weekend.  Yep.  Three accidents by the age of 20.

I guess I can't get too mad when people give me such a hard time for my driving, huh?  In my defense I haven't gotten a ticket in two years and haven't had an accident in six years.  I'm getting better!

Now link up!  What do you remember about learning to drive, your first car, your first ticket or accident?  LINK UP LADIES!

17 comments:

  1. Must say. I feel pretty bad, I'm not old enough for a challenge :/ LOL. I haven't even done some of the stuff on this list yet.

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  2. I linked up my story about my first car but I'm not sure how to get the button on my post. So, I just linked back to your blog twice :)

    BTW all good teenage accidents start out by us trying to wave down our friends and not paying attention to traffic, haha.

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    1. Hi mendy.I'm so glad you linked up! To get the button just save that picture somewhere on your comp and then slap it on your post for next tiMe. Or just put the link like you did... Its all good either way :)

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  3. Anonymous6:56 PM

    Um, this is basically the story of my life. I have never totaled a car but I once got in three accidents in three months that all damaged the same exact spot on my car (passenger side front light/bumper). I have been in 8 accidents total. I also have three tickets for going 89 in a 65. In my defense, I thought I was going closer to 95.

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  4. Love this link-up idea!

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  5. Anonymous9:18 PM

    I so totally loved writing this. Thanks for the walk down memory lane.

    Ronda

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  6. Awesome linkup! I love having a similar story to read and write about with bloggers, but I don't like writing about the same thing every darn week. This gives me the best of both!

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  7. I love it! I'm attempting at blogging 5 days a week, and I need ideas! So this is perfect. I'm late for this week (already wrote my blog for the day) but next week I'm in!

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  8. Bonnie!! I'm in. Unfortunately I read blogs the next day, so I'm late to this partay... but I love it. Linkin' in next week.

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  9. Love the theme this week! I just submitted mine :)

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  10. i love this link up idea. i did jenni's blog every day in may, so i am excited to do this! plus, you should totally read my blog post for today. mine is about a car accident too. there are some nasty pictures haha

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  11. Thankfully I'm (reportable) accident-free, but I can't say the same for ticket-free. Got my first one the other day. yuck. So you're driving record is sounding pretty good to me!

    Thanks for starting this link-up. I'm looking forward to walking down memory lane every Thursday!

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  12. Love this link up! Thanks for hosting it!

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  13. I love this link up idea! And your diary entry was cracking me up! Maybe I should dig up some of my old diaries!

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  14. Love the pictures! Are you from Price?!

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  15. Thanks for the perfect opportunity to expand my blog's horizons (and a great excuse to skip out on housework today).

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  16. This is the reason that we should learn to drive properly.

    Driving School

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