The Excellent Adventures of Suzy Trooper

It all began innocently enough.

My friend Phil, recently divorced and feeling like he had no place to go this Thanksgiving left for Peru yesterday(never mind that he made these plans before we had a chance to include him in OUR plans. And that is plural as in his circle of friends)

Why Peru? Machu Pichou. I guess launching himself over the mountain that is divorce wasn't enough of a challenge.

But I'm getting off topic here.

So back to topic, I have a little send off party for him yesterday afternoon. We fire up the smoker, offer up brisket to the barbeque gods, feed him, love on him and send him on his merry way.

That's when things got, well, a little interesting.

It started with the normally reserved architect aka my "boyfriend" Kyle. Don't be deceived. Architects by nature are creative and VERY logical...dangerous combination in my book. And okay for all you puritans who may be reading this. YES I'm happily married and YES, Kyle is my friend and YES he is a boy....and he gives me greeting/parting kisses. so ergo he IS my "boyfriend". Now...back to my story.

Anyway, one minute we're savoring my favorite red wine, "Menage a Trois" (oh SHUT up!) and the next Kyle has planted the seed that it would be fun to take Phil's Izusu Trooper, drive it around town and pose it in front of various favorite and secretly favorite haunts of our friend Phil.

Now here is where I made the mistake. I got up to go to the bathroom (did I mention we had been drinking red wine for a couple hours? No? Okay well, back to story)

So I'm in the bathroom and somehow, "while I was out" the gang decided that I needed to be the designated driver and that we would meet at my office at lunch to begin the adventure, because my office is located behind prime photo ops.....a high class "gentleman's club, near a famous liquor store and right across the stree from Georgia Tech and BONUS...free parking!!

My dear husband, of course assures everyone that "Why yes my wife knows how to drive a stick. The first car she bought was a Corolla stick 18 years ago"

What he failed to add is that it has been 15 years since I drove said stick.

Note to self....don't EVER leave to go to the bathroom during one of my parties again.

Fast forward to this morning.

It's pouring down rain. I roll over and look at my husaband and ask

"What the hell did I agree to this morning???""

"Stick shift baby. Photography. Scrapbooking. Ya ready??!!"

Hitting the floor running I'm ready in 10 minutes flat cause I MUST beat Atlanta traffic to my office. If I, in my stick shift senility, fail to engage the gears properly I will stall on 285 and I'll be just another traffic statistic.

Before getting to Kyle's house where Phil's car is parked, I pass Kyle on the road. Backing up, we roll down the windows.

"Is Phil's car ....reallllllly a stick??" I ask, voice quavering

"Don't worry Luke, the force will be with you."

"Leia, Kyle, Leia....Luke is a freaking wimp" I mutter to myself rolling up the windows.

Surprisingly driving a shift IS like riding a bike and I manage to arrive at my office with car, physical body and sanity intact. I will not be winning any driving awards and Phil's clutch may be a little worse for the wear, but I didn't get myself killed. Score two for me.

At lunch time, my cohorts arrive en masse in one car, Kyle having acted as chauffeur for my friends who work in my neck of the woods. It's still raining. I'm driving...did I mention that Isuzu's have really screwed up gear boxes, like why even bother taking your foot off the clutch between first and second???

No??Okay. Well we take many pictures, funny stuff. Suzy in front of the gentleman's lounge, Suzy in front of the liquor store, Suzy at the Ikea looking for a "hot" new sofa. The list goes on and on.

And somewhere along the way I'm channeling Phil, who shall we say, has rather reckless driving habits. He drove through the footpath cut through from my neighborhood to his one memorable Halloween night.

So yep...that would be me driving over curbs and on sidewalks and squeezing around barricades for the perfect picture.

Sometimes it's fun NOT to be the responsible one.

And when Phil comes back he will have a little album of photos of Suzy's adventures "while HE was away"

heh.

I love my friends.