Whiny Britches

Does anyone know how much I despise driving anywhere except for around town??  I HATE IT.  I wouldn't say I'm a wuss, but it just gives me huge anxiety.  It didn't used to be that way, but it is now.  Living in Yelm, I really don't have reason to drive anywhere else but to Olympia, and out to Spanaway to get Gavin.  And there's not really even any traffic on those drives. 
Today, I had the DELIGHTFUL task of driving to downtown Tacoma to pick up Ernie's race packet for the Tacoma Narrows Half Marathon that he's running tomorrow morning.  Okay, so I wasn't looking forward to driving to Tacoma in the first place, and add on top of it that today is Friday, which is Awesome Traffic Day in the area, especially after 2 pm, which is when the packet pickup started!  Sophie and I left home at 1 pm and went on our merry way.  I got to drive through the armpit that is Spanaway/Parkland (by the way, I can read about 1/4 of the signs in that area.  Not that I mind Spanish...) and when I got to Tacoma, hooray: road construction!  I took the detour, and by this time I really REALLY had to pee.  We found a parking spot several streets and a steep hill away, and finally Sophie and I made it to the hotel where they were set up.  The actual packet pick up was super easy and quick -- I gave them Ernie's name, the lady pulled his stuff out and put it in a bag, told Sophie she was cute and smiled at her, and we were done!  It was fun dragging a tired 3 year old back up the steep hill ("mommy this is too much, its making me SORE") and then it was time to drive home! 
Also, I am terrible with directions.  Usually, if I say something bad about myself, or whatever, my dad will say "oh no you're not"...when I mentioned to him a couple weeks ago that I'm bad with directions, he said "I remember".  So see, I am.  So I printed off directions there AND the reverse directions.  I made it back through the detour and out of downtown in one piece.  I even made it through Spanaway, and by that time the Friday traffic was in full force.  The one bright spot: I got to get a coffee at Big Foot Java, and there aren't any of those near enough to us for me to visit on a regular basis. :)  SOOOO...back to Yelm, had to stop at Walmart (which is also a delight on Friday afternoons) because Sophie is going to make a t shirt to wear for Daddy's race. 
4 hours of my life that I'll never get back later...I'M HOME.  I think when I snapped at the dog for hacking up her lung is when I realized I am super wound up and stressed just from that drive!  And I would consider it a success: I didn't get in a wreck,  I didn't get lost, I didn't scream at anyone...
Tomorrow, we get to drive back out there! I'm so looking forward to it.

I think I need some chocolate.