Oops, I did it again!

What made me happy today? Oops, I did it again.
About half a year ago I made this post about passing my theoretical driver's exam on the first try. Two months later, I finished the necessary lessons and got to drive around on my own.
So 4 months and almost 5000 km later, the time had come to take the practical exam. Man oh man, I was nervous...
Good thing the exam was scheduled in the morning, it's not too hot at that time. Off to the driving school, to pick up the supervisor. We went and practiced the turning and parking maneuvers. Turning wasn't a problem. But I just couldn't get the darn car parked. That did not help with my nerves.
Then we headed to the exam center. Handed over the papers, paid for the exam, and took a seat while trying to get my nerves under control (and failing at that). After a few minutes the examiner came over to me. Time to get started. I'll spare you the details, but I was sweating all through the exam. I got to the exam center and thought I had failed miserably.
Even more so when he said that he wanted to go over the exam with me. He started summing up what I did wrong, and after the second one I was convinced I'd failed and have to come back. But I had only two mistakes and then he told me I passed! On the first try! I stammered 'Really?' and he nodded. My face must have been priceless. Right hand clasped over my mouth, left hand against left cheek, red face and tears in my eyes because I was so relieved. I could have hugged him. It felt as if a ton of bricks just fell off my shoulders.
According to the supervisor from the driving school it really showed that I drove so much. And that really helped. I was worried I failed because I couldn't get the car turned in three moves, but I drive a large car (Ford C-max grand) and had to execute the turn in a small street. They take the size of the car into account.
I am so happy! I passed on the first try! So bye bye learner's permit and hello real driver's license! Yay!

Big announcement!

What made me happy today? Being able to share my big news with you!
As I have mentioned before, in the past few weeks I took a course and an exam at work, in order to get a promotion.
Well, the results are in and *drumroll please* I passed! I did it! I'm going to be promoted! When that email came with my result I was so happy, I think I almost cried with pure joy :-) So all my hard work, all those long says of studying, all the fatigue etc. has all been worth it because I did it!
Yay! Whoopwhoop! Time to celebrate :-D

Bring it, world!

What made me happy today? Feeling so ready to take on the world!
Let's be honest here for a second: nobody likes Monday. I mean, you just had two days off from work; you got to sleep in and stay up late. And if your weekend was anything like mine, it was an awesome one :-)
And then, at 5.30 in the morning the alarm goes off. It's pretty cold outside, with a chilly wind and snow. So I bundled up and walked to the station to get on the bus. Which, of course, was late (snow in Belgium). When I got to work and opened my emails, I found out that somewhere something went pretty wrong and I had to fix it. Which basically meant 4 - 5 hours of re-work. I could have gotten angry or sad about it; I could have complained or I could have let my head hang. Instead I decided to put on my big girl panties and boots :-) and I got a cup of coffee. After which I started working on the problem. And turns out it wasn't that much of a mess at all! Success!
That basically made me feel ready to take on the world. Well, at least ready to give Peter and Dilbert a swift kick in the behind. Which I totally did! Amazing for a Monday :-)

Success

What made me happy today? Passing my theoretical driver's exam. On the first try!
I never really needed a driver's license. I managed to get everywhere with public transportation, friends and/or family. I live within walking distance of the shops, doctor and all other necessary things. I can easily get to my office with the bus. So after putting it of for about 10 years, I decided that it was about time to go and get a learner's permit to learn how to drive a car.
So I found this great website: www.gratisrijbewijsonline.be and started studying. When I felt confident I had a decent grasp on the theory I made a lot of the exams, which I all passed. In order not to put all my eggs in one basket, I also made a bunch of exams on the website of the VAB: www.vab-rijschool.be I passed all of those as well. Time to bite the bullet and go for it, I figured.
I'll admit: I was nervous. I hate exams, I have performance anxiety... But once I got started, it went very well. There were 4 questions you had to answer to familiarise yourself with the system. I got all of them right. That was the moment where my anxiety started to fade and I began to feel more confident. And I passed! When those words appeared on the screen I almost jumped out of my chair with joy. Good thing nobody saw it :-) I must have looked a bit silly. Oh well...
Now all I need to do is find a driving school that feels ok and I can get out on the road. Well, once all this snow melts any way.
People living in and around the Leuven area: consider yourselves warned ;-)