where am i?

I have been doing a lot of driving. My skills have improved and my terror levels have dropped. I have been staying on the correct side of the road. (FYI: in Japan they drive on the other side of the road-like England) One time I drove above the actual speed limit. I was on a 55 mph stretch of highway and I was going 60. I was still being passed by everyone, but at least I was a bit more respectable.

I picked Mandy up from school (she usually rides the bus because I am evil-but when she has an after school activity I have to go and get her). While driving home, instead of going down the road to our house, I went in another direction. There was this area of town I had always wanted to see. While I was researching the area, I had found a ton of houses in this area that were for sale. My Realtor had told me that all the homes in that area had been flooded in Katrina so I hadn't looked at any of the houses. But, I was still curious.

I didn't know how exactly to get there from where I was. I didn't know exactly which road to take or where to turn. I asked Mandy to look at the map. She was not amused. She was upset that I had kidnapped her and wasn't driving directly home. Lily was upset about that too. Mandy at first refused to look at the map. Then she pretended not to understand how to read the map. I kept going and basically explained that we weren't going home until we found what we were looking for. We could meander around without direction or she could guide me. I also explained we were low on gas so she might want to hurry or we would be meandering around on foot.

Mandy map reading skills improved immensely and soon we found the neighborhood in question. We drove up and down the streets for awhile. We looked at the beach in this neighborhood. We determined that we like our neighborhood better and we are very happy with our choice of a house. I made a u-turn near the beach. No one was on the road around here, we were chatting and looking around. I guess the fact that my mind was not on the driving 100 percent and the u-turn got me confused because I did it again, I drove on the wrong side of the road. Mandy pointed it out that I was driving on the wrong side. At first I disagreed.

I was all set to tell you that I no longer have to even think about which side of the road I am driving on. That I have re-acclimated myself to America. I guess not. I will probably be confused for life. Mandy got a big kick out of my mistake. She enjoyed the rest of the ride home, laughing at me. We even saw some really cool looking mansions.