Driving Ms Morley....

Do you remember your first ever car?

Mine was a yellow Lancer and his name was "Lance". :)

I COULD NOT WAIT to turn 17 to get my Learner's Certificate so that I could start my driving lessons. And so on my 17th birthday my Grandad took me up to the local Police Station to sit the test and YESSSSS I got it. The nice Policeman wrote it down that I was five foot one and A HALF!!! Cause when you are short a whole half... is mighty important. Mind you, I think I have lost that half now as I have prob shrunk with my "young age" hehe.

Anddd then I bought Lance Lancer two days before my driving test. Thank god I passed. And I can remember the very first day that I drove to work as I normally caught a bus and train each way... I know I was keen - silly me! So back to the first day driving to work... I am reversing out of our driveway, waving to the kids across the road (yes this would be you Christine and Davina...) anddddddddd scratch my car against the gate hehehe. I knowwwwwwwwwwwww can you believe it!

And then only two weeks later I snuffed the car at a turn left anytime with care sign and man ran up my arse! He was very nice about it and paid to have it fixed... But for many years I would go a different way instead of using that same intersection and guess what? When I did start to use it I had another accident up the arse, same place!! My poor dog Dannii (as in Minogue and spelt the same way!) was pretty shaken up and "the car, car" was never quite the same for her again. :(

Only good news was this time it def wasn't my fault. I can even remember Jake was in the car too and asking me questions about his report card.... Why do I remember such stuff yet can't remember what I wore yesterday LOL.

Years later poor old Lance was written off by my ex-husband (boyfriend at the time) as he was driving to pick me up to take me to the car show, so that I could buy a new car :(. His car was getting fixed, hence he having my car, but it wasn't his fault, honest... wish I could say that it was LOL. But he was stopped at the lights when someone ran into him from behind and pushed him into the car in front. Poor Lancy... and because car insurance was sooo expensive on a two door car for my age I didn't have full insurance. Eventually we did get the money out of the lady via solicitors, but from all of that I have learnt that you must always be fully insured.

Over the years I have had a few cars, not many. When my marriage broke up I got our Mazda 1300, that had no carpet, no demister, any key could open and start it and you needed a five cent piece to keep the choke out to start it. I know Lucky Right!!!

This is what she looked like but we had four doors:

Oh and did I mention that the other car we had when we were married was a silver Mazda 626 with electronic sunroof. Of course with a young baby having the Mazda 1300 was the much better option once I was a single mother.....

Jake and I would have to wear beanies on our heads to keep warm in the winter and I can remember leaving my friends Sandra & Marty house from a dinner party and Jake and I were blowing smoke (from the cold nothing else.........) we were that cold!!

And can you believe that someone even stole it from the train station car park one time! I was fully insured and got a brand new spankin car to drive around for a week and at the end of the week guess what? They found my car. It had run out of petrol and they had just left it there. Of course they took Jake's stroller, car seat and even my first aid kit. Gotta Love it.

Poor little thing was never the same again. Eventually I traded it on another little white car, maybe a Datsun.... can't remember but here is my next story... I knowww I am full of THEM!!

She kinda looked like this but nicer. White with Pink stripes down the side, cause remember I'm hip and happening....

So one night I was going to a wine tasting party with my friend Elaine and normally I would drive but this night Elaine said, no I'll drive. Isn't that nice... So much later in the night we are driving home, back into her street and there are all these people out on the footpath and we are like "I wonder why" and thennnnn I see my car.

Some guys had come speeding around the corner (which was way up the road from my car which was parked on the street) lost control as it was lightly raining and drove my car up onto the footpath, reversed and took off. They had a bull bar, hence why they could drive off.

Elaine's flatmate Frank was actually on the toilet when it happened and of course it made a very loud noise. He came running out and can you believe it he even drove after them but alas didn't find them... my poor little baby was written off.

About three months later I got the insurance money as I had learnt from losing Lance Lancer :(

Then a couple of years later a job I had provided me with a different 4wd every night to take home so I sold my little car car.

And when I left that job my Grandad gave me his car because this was around the time that he moved to his retirement village and couldn't drive a car anymore, he then got a little red scooter to get around in.

Soooo Groover's that brings me to today.

Currently I have my Grandad's 1995 Magna and when he gave it in 2005 it had done 45,000 km's!! I kid you not. So she is around 17 years old and things are slowly starting to wear out on her. On Friday a part of her muffler fell off and now when I drive I sound like a hoon! (fast car driver). Last night down at the shops when I got into my car to reverse out, I noticed a guy turn around at the noise.... I think he was looking for a hotted up car orrr hang on maybe he thought I was HOT! :)

But this brings me to my little dilemma: yesterday Funny Nana has offered to buy me a new car!! Now I have never had a brand new car before and I'm 45!! or 9 if you add the numbers together....

My Grandad loved his car or as we call it "Car, Car" because you only have to say the words "Car, Car" and Embee jumps up and down with excitement! She loves it.

When I used to go pick up Grandad he would pat his dashboard, he loved that car so very much. But when he was alive he did say that if I wanted to sell it I could, as it is quite a big 4 cylinder car and takes alot of fuel.

It is very generous of my Mum, but I'm not sure if I am ready to say goodbye to my current car. I'm such a big sook aren't I!

Anyway I don't have to make my decision right now and we have a couple of other things to iron out before we go car shopping....

So stay tuned Groover's, as I promise to let you know as soon as I know myself - if I am going to go ahead and get a new "Car, Car".

Me xxx

P.S.
You should probably know that I am not really into cars much and found it really difficult to even find any pics of my cars over the years.....

Cars and BBQ Sauce!

So this morning I had to put my car into the garage down the road for a new radiator!

Let me tell you about my Car. Well it's a 1995 Mitsubishi Magna, a beautiful Army Green Colour (don't worry if I had known when he was buying it back then I def would have talked him out of THAT COLOUR!) because you see it used to be my Grandad's car.

Grandad first gave me the car back in 2005 when he could no longer drive and moved into his retirement village. And get this the kilometres were only 45,000!! He loved his car soooo much and when I would go pick him up from the Retirement Village he would pat the dashboard cause he missed it sooo much!

So even though things are wearing out on the poor little car car, I just can't bring myself to sell it. Even Grandad said I could sell it, as maybe it was too big for me. But now that he is gone, well let's just say it will be a little time until 1. I can afford another car and more importantly No. 2 That I can't bring myself to sell it as it reminds me too much of Grandad.

Do you know Grandad only ever had in his lifetime 2 brand new cars. Here was the other one, the old Galant!

And here I am at nearly 45 and still to own my first ever Brand New Car! One day Groover's, one day.....

And let me tell you the story that I have enticed Ashlee with all day and told her she has to read The Morley Report tonight to get the whole complete story!

Soooo when Jake was younger and in Primary School, he was sometimes friends and sometimes not with a little kid, mmm let us call him Little Johnny!

So over the years Little Johnny and Jake would be neck and neck in exam results. And in Grade 7 they were put in the same composite class. So as there weren't many Gr7 boys in the class they decided to be friends.

Jake asked if Little Johnny could come over one Friday night and sleepover. Now Little Johnny was also a fussy eater, so we spoke to him on the phone to work out what he might eat that night for dinner.

And so when he did come and stay he never ate the dinner he said he would like, Jake of course..... accidentally made a coke bottle explode onto the ceiling and of course I got up him! Cause I'm a good Mum like that! hehehe But I didn't get up Little Johnny. Anddddd I even let them (remember they were 11 turning 12, actually Jake was, Little Johnny was 12 turning 13) watch American Pie, cause I am cool like that!

And so I go to bed. I wake up during the night to let our old cat Herman out for a wee. Now keep up I promise this story is good!!

I notice, cause I am anal like that (meaning very clean and everything has it's place!) that there is a salt sachet that has been ripped open and there is salt over my kitchen counter andddddd I noticed the BBQ sauce bottle was in a different spot in the pantry. Now you see, I knew that Little Johnny used to like eating BBQ Sauce sandwiches, so I just presumed that because he hadn't eaten his dinner that he was hungry and got up in the middle of the night to make a good old BBQ Sauce Sandwich. Which for some reason was he staple dish!

So I go back to bed and then when I wake up in the morning around 8am, I decided I would stay in bed until Little Johnny left (as I felt he was Evil) and Jake sung out that Little Johnny was leaving. So then I thought mmmm safe to get up! hehehe.

Before I go downstairs I checked Jake's bedroom. Now one kid was there the night before and one was in the lounge room on the floor, but I wasn't sure who was who. Although I did notice that the light was on in Jake's bedroom the night before when I got up in the middle of the night.

And I noticed that there was a sticker on the bedroom wall and that the sliding wardrobe door had had the plastic like bumper bar ripped out. And just so you know this townhouse was brand new when we moved in!

Soooooooo I start to come downstairs and Jake sings out, come and look at this!!! And in our lounge room, all around the same level of the room was this splatter pattern. Much like blood!!!! And over the vertical blinds too. It was very strange and we couldn't work out what it was.

Jake and I then started to clean it up but the more we cleaned the more we could see and it was just such a strange thing. I felt I had to tell Little Johnny's mother. So I went up to the school as she was doing Saturday Swim Club and told her. She was swimming in the pool and decided to do another length before getting out. As you do.....

So she came and saw "The Pattern" anddddddd was so cheesed off with Little Johnny! And went home I presumed to have it out with him. And Jake and I cleaned it all up. Jake was sooo scared it was blood or that our brand new townhouse was haunted, that he asked to sleep with me that night.

So the next morning Jake gets up and comes running back into my bedroom. "The Pattern" is backkkkkkkkkkkkkk. Same pattern, same place on the wall etc.

Soooo we clean it all up - AGAIN!!! On the Monday after taking Jake to school I rang a pest man, thinking maybe it was a bug pattern.... Ok I was grasping at straws... but PLEASE what was The Pattern???? I had to know.

Now back then I was working at home for a company as what they called a Telecommuter, so half way through the day the pest man arrives and I fill him in on the story. And tell him that I thought maybe it might be BBQ Sauce and that I had even sprayed some out of my BBQ Sauce bottle but it was big globjules (my own word!) and not the fine spray, so it def couldn't be BBQ Sauce.

He wiped his finger to taste it ewwwwwwww as I also said it might be bugs. But I had to go upstairs and take more work phone calls and a few mins later he called me back downstairs anddddddd told me that I WAS RIGHT! That the pattern was in fact BBQ Sauce.

So do you wanna know how?

Well since you've come this far and read all these words, I think I owe ya!!!

Little Johnny, during the night had got up on a chair and emptied out BBQ Sauce on top...... ready............ ON THE CEILING FAN!!! I kid you not!!!! So every time we turned on our ceiling fan, more would finely fly off and make this pattern.

Andddddd the little prick would have known that each time we cleaned it up anddddd turned the ceiling fan on, more would come off and we would have to clean it up again. And to make matters worse when I rang his mother to tell her, the father answered the phone and so I told him and he said that Little Johnny had said he hadn't done it and they believed him.

Now I had asked Jake many times if he had done it or knew about it. But here is the thing, why would he do it to help me clean it up each time andddddddddd why was he that scared that night that he wanted to sleep with me!!! So I did and still do believe him.

And you know what? That mother and that family never spoke to us again!!!!!!

So Groover's the moral of the story is this: NEVER EVER let you kids have a sleepover! Either that orrrrrrrrrrr don't have BBQ Sauce and Ceiling Fans in your house! hehehehe.

Nighttttttttttt

Me xxx

P.S.
Ashlee cooked us a "Family Dinner" tonight! Here is the proof!

And it was YUM! Buttttttt I am a bit worried about the noises coming from downstairs, now that dinner is over and done with!!!!!!! :)