Another exciting thing that has happened in the Thompson household this past month is that young Mark (we can't call him "little Mark" anymore since he is taller than all of us) has gotten his learner's permit for driving. He is doing very well and is a careful driver, but I still seem to hold on for dear life anytime he is behind the wheel (funny, I distinctly remember my mother doing the same thing when I started to drive). I am really surprised that there are not visible finger indentations in the door and arm rest of our car. Every time I hand over the keys, I tell myself that I need to just stay calm and that everything is going to be alright. But after a few minutes I can just feel the tension building up inside and I am trying desperately not to show him how nervous I am. I really hope that this anxiousness goes away soon.
The other thing that has kept us very busy over the past few months with Mark is scuba diving. He spent the months of January, February, and March becoming certified in scuba diving. In January and February he took scuba diving, advanced scuba diving, rescue diving, cpr, first aid, and life-guard classes and successfully completed the check out dives and written exams for those. In March he took the master diver course and has passed the written exam. He will go for his check-out dives for that class in June sometime. He also has a job lined up as a life guard for the summer. Now if I can only get over my fear of riding in a car with him....
