That Time I Drove a Big Car

Last week, I had to drive our 4Runner while our hybrid was at the dealer. My husband, Dan, usually drives the 4Runner, and mostly we take it into the mountains or in the snow. My personal car of choice is much smaller and much more gas efficient.

When I was in college, I drove a Hyundai Excel. When we got married, Dan insisted that I at least drive a car with four doors.

"Trust me," he said. "You will appreciate the extra space."

I am finally accustomed to driving our Ford Fusion, but driving the 4Runner last week was a different experience.

I make stupid mistakes when I drive large vehicles. I don't know where all of the controls are. At one traffic light, I slammed on the brakes and squealed the tires. (Don't judge me. The brakes are much more sensitive on the 4Runner.)

One afternoon, I missed a turn onto a busy downtown street, almost entered the wrong way on a one-way, and had to turn abruptly to rectify the error. When I drove over a curb a few feet down the road, the same driver followed behind me, shaking his head. He had witnessed my whole debacle.

"Ugh. I wish he would turn off," I muttered through gritted teeth.

I hit the concrete island in my school parking lot the next morning.

Side note: Parking is also an adventure in the 4Runner.

"I kept wondering, 'Who is parking in Becky's spot?' Then I realized, you got a new car!" a teacher friend said as I slid out of the driver's seat and jumped to the ground.

I explained that my car was in the shop.

"It's not my favorite to drive," I said. "I can't get in or out of it without being an American Ninja Warrior."

"That is a big vehicle for you," she admitted.

Dan, on the other hand, thinks it's hilarious.

"I like how you have to get a running start to get into the driver's seat," he said as I was trying to get to school one morning.

He stifled more laughter as I pulled the seat up as far as it would go.

"I can't reach the pedals!" I explained. "How do I turn on the windshield wipers again?"

Anyway, nowadays, I am back to driving my normal car.

It's much more Becky-size.

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Who Knew Showering Could Be So Disconcerting? (RE-POST from 10/7/12)

I wrote this blog post seven years ago. I actually don't take showers at night as often anymore. It turned out I missed those warm, morning showers too much. Plus, I started running out of time in the evening. But it's still fun to look back on this short-lived routine of mine. Enjoy this reread from 10/7/12!

I have begun taking my showers at my night rather than in the morning. I started doing this in September, around the start of the new school year. I had several reasons for changing my showering habits.

1. During the school year, I usually work out in the evening. It's nice to go to bed refreshed - as opposed to sticky - after a 5K or an hour of Zumba.

2. It cuts about fifteen or twenty minutes off my morning ritual. This is especially important on my before school choir mornings. I am all about simplifying my life right now.

3. I'll let you in on a little secret. I have a couple of minor neuroses, as if you hadn't already guessed. For example, I suffer from night terrors. If you have ever followed the comedy of Mike Birbiglia, you have an idea of what I experience occasionally (on a smaller scale, thank goodness).

Anyway, showering at night has helped me wind down before bed. Consequently, I have had fewer night terrors since the school year began, and the first months of school are often my most stressful, night-terror-filled times of the year.

These three significant positives were enough to convince that it was time to change my showering schedule.

However, my husband, Dan, was not so enthusiastic. And I couldn't figure out why. Dan doesn't emote about anything. His response to almost every question I ask is, "Sure, if you want to."

Here is a sample conversation:

Me: "Do you want to go to Johnny Carino's tonight?"
Dan: "Sure, if you want to."
Me: "Will you go with me to a romantic comedy next weekend?"
Dan: "Sure, if you want to." 
Me: "Are you willing to go to four Broadway shows when we are in New York?"
Dan: "Sure, if you want to." 
Me: "Do you want to have four kids by the age of thirty-five?"
Dan: "Sure, if you want to."
Me: "I don't want to."
Dan: "Okay, that's fine too."

But when I told Dan, "I'm going to take a shower now. Is it okay if I leave you to do the dinner dishes tonight?" his response was, "Yeah . . . I guess."

He does the dishes every night, so I knew his reluctance didn't have anything to do with this particular domestic chore. But I shrugged and took my shower anyway.

I noticed that he continued to reply hesitantly every time I brought up this new nightly ritual. One evening, I decided to pry a little deeper.

"I think I have found out how to sleep sans night terrors."

"How's that?"

"I shower at night. And then I put lavender oil on the nightstand. It helps me wind down."

"That's nice . . . I guess."

"Does that bother you?"

"What?"

"That I shower at night?"

Dan sighed, "No . . . not really."

"That's weird. With all of my personality quirks, my showering at night is what bothers you?"

"No, it doesn't bother me . . . really . . ."

"What's the problem, then?"

"Well, it's just . . . that's what my parents always did. They took their showers at night. Does that mean we're getting old?"

"I never thought about it," I said. "That's what my parents always did too. We are getting old!"

However old it makes me (or my husband) feel, I have continued taking showers at night - most of the time - at least the nights before my early choir mornings. But now that it's getting colder, I am starting to miss a hot shower in the morning. Of course, that could be because Dan turns the thermostat down to sixty every night. Now I wonder if there is an ulterior motive behind our Arctic bedtime temperatures.

For the latest blog updates, visit and "like" Rebecca Turner-Duggan.

PART 2: Ready or Not! Here Comes School!

Funny stuff is still happening at school. Here is one more installment of (mostly kindergarten) anecdotes from the beginning of the year.

One afternoon, I jumped up from my floor spot to grab my guitar. The kindergartner sitting next to me tried to move into my seat.

"Please don't sit in Mrs. Duggan's spot!" I called to him.

"If Mrs. Duggan has to sit on your head, your head will be in Mrs. Duggan booty!" another student said.

"That's not an appropriate word for school," I said (while stifling some giggles.)

One little girl brought her class's stuffed dog to music. We sat the dog up front so he could make sure we were doing a good job in music.

"What is the name of your dog?" I asked the kids.

They stared at me for a moment.

"Ghostbusters!" said one little boy.

"Your dog's name is Ghostbusters?"

"No. Dog," another kid said.

"His name is Beau," said a little girl.

She was so confident, I just assumed the dog's name was, in fact, Beau.

"We hadn't even talked about a name," the teacher told me when she came to pick them up.

"Well, I guess his name is Beau now," I said.

I call one of my kindergarten classes the "Play 'Freebird' Class." Every time I pull out my guitar, they start making requests.

"Play the farm one!" (Old MacDonald)

"Play the school one!" (Wheels on the Bus)

"Play the elephant sitting on people one!" (Willoughby Wallaby Woo)

"You guys are like, 'Play Freebird!'"

I figured I might as well amuse myself even if they wouldn't know what I was talking about. For some reason, they thought that was hilarious.

"PLAY FREEBIRD!" they shouted.

Oh great! I hope I don't get phone calls.

One of my students walked into choir the other morning, carrying his breakfast. I knew I needed to let this kid eat because he is prone to hangry-ness. I told him he could sit on the side and finish his food.

We started warmups, and I noticed a commotion on the top row. 

"Let's keep focused," I encouraged.

"There's a safety issue!" the kids said. (They know me way too well.)

The potentially hangry student had crawled under the risers and was eating his breakfast there.

I somehow managed to get the kid out from underneath the risers to the table in the back of my room and still maintain control of the seventy kiddos in my choir . . . probably because I'm a rock star.

For the latest blog updates, visit and "like" Rebecca Turner-Duggan.

Ready or Not! Here Comes School!

The school year started off with a crazy bang. Now that I am three weeks in, I think I have finally compiled more funny-ha-ha stories than funny-UGH stories. So . . . Here. We. Come. Ready or Not!

A couple of weeks ago, my husband, Dan, sent me off with a Latte With Love and the new Ex Hex album he had sneaked onto my computer.

In Kindergarten, We Walk
The first week, I giggled every time I heard a kindergarten teacher say, "We're just walking. That's all!"

I could just imagine what the sojourn down the hall looked like at that moment.

No Snacks in Junior High
Also during the first week, some of my former students, big tough junior high boys, visited me after school. They immediately found their old riser seats.

"Hey, guys! Let's sit in our old spots!" they said.

They reminisced over the Mary Poppins pictures hanging on my wall. I asked them how junior high was.

"Good," one of the boys said, "except they don't give you snacks."

Mrs. Duggan Laughs
I laughed at something silly one of my first graders did. I can't even remember what he did that was so funny, but he turned to me and said, “Is that your evil laugh?”

Now that was funny.

Channeling Cardi B 
We were singing "Oh My Aunt Came Back" in one of my classes, and a third grade student made the best Cardi B "okuurr" sound right in time with music.

I asked the kid's older sister if he listens to Cardi B a lot.

"No! Not at all!"

A few days later, she asked me if her brother was still making Cardi B sounds in music.

"Not lately. Now he just says 'sizzle!' when he plays a quarter rest."

In Which I Mention Weird Al and Am Met With Blank Stares
I was talking about parodies of songs, and I dropped Weird Al's name as being a famous writer of parodies.

"Who is Weird Al?" one of my sixth grade students asked.

Before I could answer, another boy answered, "He wrote the Captain Underpants song."

Katy Perry's Mom
Throughout the years, I have been told I look like Katy Perry.

For the first time in my career, this week one of my first graders told me, "You look like Katy Perry's mom."

I Wish I Had . . . 
One of my fifth grade students was irritated with another kid in class. The classroom aide moved the fifth grader away from the other kid.

"AGGH!" the fifth grader shouted. "I wish I had stripes and a wand!"

"So do I," the aide said.

"Yeah," I agreed. "That sounds pretty cool."

VSCO Girl
Have you heard of this VSCO girl trend? I hadn't either until one of my middle school teacher friends mentioned it.

"Maybe it hasn't hit elementary school yet," I said.

"Yeah, maybe," my friend said. "When you start hearing them make the 'sk' sound repeatedly, you’ll know it’s hit."

Fast-forward twenty-four hours later . . .

I took a drink from my Hydroflask during one of my sixth grade classes. (VSCO girls like Hydroflasks, apparently.) All of a sudden, I heard a chorus of whispers.

"HYDROFLASK! sk sk sk sk . . ."

I might need something a little stronger in my Hydroflask this weekend.

For the latest blog updates, visit and "like" Rebecca Turner-Duggan.