A Colourful Life: The Nervous Driver

I drove to Guildford and back yesterday. 
This is a big deal for me. No mean feat. 

I had my dad in the front and children in the back. (Which meant chunks of the journey were spent with one hand on the wheel and the other passing various objects back to Maia to pass to Leo. A toy, water, a biscuit, wipes for the mess the biscuit made.) 
I was mostly very calm and this is very very unusual for me. Even upon realising I was in the wrong lane on a big roundabout and had to move, I did so with very little fuss. Again, not like me. 
This particular drive was a practice-run for tomorrow’s journey. (Where I will be alone, without my dad for moral support. I am nervous.) 

I did not want to do this drive.
I did not have a choice. 
I waited at Wokingham station for over an hour and 20 minutes last week for the rail-replacement bus to come. 
It was cold. 
I left before discovering quite how late it actually was. 

I maintained a sunny disposition for the majority of my wait, torn between reading my book and staring in hopeful anticipation at the road. 
As the minutes dragged on, people began to voice their frustrations: 
“They said it had left!”
“It shouldn’t take this long to come from Reading!”
“There’s just no communication..”

Obviously, I got chatting to some of these strangers. 
There was the old lady on her way to meet her Grandsons: 
“They’re 26 & 28, they live in London. Today is Archie’s Birthday treat..”. 
She then informed me she’d quite like to use the loo but didn’t want to miss the bus when it came.

Then there was the Portuguese lady from Madeira, on her way to work at a restaurant in Guildford. 
She was understandably angsty because this was making her late. 
“I’m sure they’ll understand..” I said, aware this was probably inaccurate. 

Lastly there was the young couple going to play Dungeons & Dragons with friends. I wondered what exactly this involved. Made me chuckle. I joked about sharing a taxi, wishing I’d voiced this idea much earlier on. 

As much as I enjoyed making friends at the bus stop, I do not want a repeat of that chilly morning. So I am forcing myself to drive. 
Please send “smooth journey” thoughts.