Good morning! Please do come join me for a cup of coffee and if you’re in a warm place, can you may be spread some warmth?

This is my garden at the moment. It’s been bitter cold this week. A nice snow storm came Tuesday morning and dumped around 6-inches of snow in my backyard and just as it melted a little bit on Thursday, another one came early Friday morning to dump more of this white stuff.

I need to go check to see if I put the lids on my compost bins but obviously can’t at the moment. Oh well, whatever’s happened to my brewing compost has already happened. No going back now.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you I made myself proud this week.

I typically go into the office on Wednesdays. This week, just so happens, mom has an appointment with an ophthalmologist to get her eyes checked out. She was lying on the couch looking at her phone a few weeks ago. She must had sat up too fast because the blood vessels behind her retina burst, causing her to see dots and cobwebs aka floaters.

Anyway, because she needed to have her pupils dilated, she didn’t feel comfortable driving. So I drove us to work that day.

It was quite a stressful drive that morning. First, the interstate highway shut down due to police activity. Commuters were re-routed, causing a massive traffic jam in the suburbia town I call home. It took me about an hour just to get on the freeway even though the entrance was less than 2 miles away.

My stomach was growling of hunger by the time I got to the office. I was in desperate need of my Starbucks coffee and breakfast not only for sustenance but as a reward for putting up with mom. You’re following too closely, don’t drive so fast, don’t forget, you were in an accident!

I did not know how I made it to work that morning.

Mom works on the 7th floor and I work on the 9th. As she got off the elevator, she said, “I’ll be by later to pick up the keys.”

“What keys?” I asked as the elevator doors closed.

“The keys to your car.” Hell she was, I thought. I was not about to let her drive my car after getting her pupils dilated.

About 2 hours later, after sneaking a trip to Starbucks to get myself a toasted white chocolate mocha and some breakfast, I heard the door to the back stairwell open and knew immediately that it was mom. Hurriedly, I hid the mocha behind a water jug and disposed the evidence of my Starbucks breakfast.

“Where’s your keys?” She demanded.

“I am not giving you my keys.” I said firmly. “I will drive you to the clinic, just let me know when.”

It was the beginning of a dance. Thankfully, there wasn’t anyone else in the office. I stood my ground and kept repeating, “I’ll drive you to the clinic when it’s time.” Eventually, she called me stubborn and went back to her floor while my heart was still pounding.

I really thought I was going to give in. If I had, I knew exactly what would had happen. She would’ve driven herself to the clinic. Upon picking me up at the office after her appointment, she would realize that it was dark and didn’t feel safe letting me drive. So she would take the wheel and drive us home.

I don’t mind her driving but my car is my car. It’s like a sacred space and having someone else drive it is like having someone invade my personal space. I want control of my car just like I want control in my life. Control helps me stay grounded because I know what I want. Therefore, no uncertainty. For me, no uncertainty means no anxiety.

I am proud to had stood my ground and took control of the situation for once. I guess that’s a score numero uno for me.

For those first-time visitors, this is an important victory for me because my mother has sought to control my life (more aggressively in recent years) instead of letting me make my own decision even though I’m now a full-fledged adult of 30-something. I used to live life in oblivion, letting her take the wheel but I have woken up from that daydream.

#weekendcoffeeshare is hosted by Natalie of Natalie the Explorer. I appreciate you stopping by and hope to chat again same time next week.