June 26, 2015
IT’S OFFICIAL!!!!!!
We are proud and excited to announce that we both, successfully, passed our CDL A driver’s test!!
This last half of school has been full of driving, learning, and light bulbs. The seat time we have had is incredible. Learning to feel, understand….essentially becoming one with the truck has had light bulbs lighting up. Backing up a trailer has become a comfortable natural thing. We have spent a good amount of time driving around Colorado Springs. We have been up and down Academy Blvd, Fillmore Ave, Nevada Ave, and the side streets in-between. For those not familiar with the area these are all busy in-town major streets with lots of traffic and lots of turns.
The night before the night before! Many of ‘my runners’ and both my boys have heard that saying many times. That is the night of critical sleep for maximum performance two days out. So waking up at 2am and not falling back asleep til after 4am didn’t give me lots of confidence in my performance on the test. Now Whistle (Grant) isn’t a runner, thereby not believing fully in that saying. However, he didn’t have issues until the night before. He spent the night going at least 20 Miles in reverse, 50 plus miles around town, and performed no less than 25 pre-trips….all in his sleep!! Haha..what a dork!! Good thing we don’t have to log drive time while sleeping…there would no way Whistle could have legally climbed behind the steering wheel, and he didn’t think he was nervous. Well let me just say, for us, there is much on the line and this is a giant leap!!! I still woke up, and was awake for a couple hours, but knew it wasn’t a big issue! …..ya know, the night before the night before!
Test day….
Hooper (Kelly) is first (remember this important detail smile emoticon ) Taking many deep breaths and managing anxiety, listening to the the advice from our son Mason regarding test anxiety and a test taking mindset. Not only that but his giggles and enjoyment over me have to take my own advice regarding ‘race day’! Saying my prayers and talking to the cones, truck, and trailer (envision Days of Thunder) staying calm, using advice and convincing myself to be confident, started my test. Pre-trip, maneuvers, and a road test. To cut to the chase and eliminate non exciting details, I was far under the limit for deductions and passed with flying colors! I was told that I was the best female student to come through the school. SCORE for my ego!! Whistle started his test which overlapped mine. It gave us the ability to give each other thumbs up and for me to say more prayers and talk to his truck and trailer. Grant, with no surprise passed with flying colors as well! Let it be known….I passed my test first, received my paperwork, which has an official number that is before his, which means I received my CDL A endorsement before he did!!! 🙂 Yes, it is most likely I will never forget that detail!
