Stick Shifts and Flashing Lights

I am a confident and good driver...when I am driving an automatic.  Before this last March, the closest thing I had come to a manual transmission was our 4-wheeler. Lets just keep that in mind.

On Sunday Derek and I made some delicious brownies. We decided to take some over to Abbie and Adam so that they could share in the deliciousness that was the brownies we had made. (Yes, I said "was" because as of two days ago, they are gone.) After dropping off the treats and chatting with them for a few minutes, we said our goodbyes and headed out the door. I had been promising Derek that I would practice driving his car because it's a manual transmission, so he finally took me up on that and we drove to an empty parking lot for me to practice. So far, so good...a little rough, but I was getting the hang of it. He then said:

"Hey Tay, why don't you drive home?"
"Derek, I don't think I can!"
"Come on Tay, just drive home."

So without another word, I pulled out of the parking lot and drove home.  Now, lets keep a few things in mind:

1. Before this evening, I had only ever driven a manual transmission once for about ten minutes.
2. I have never before driven in Rexburg.
3. I was extremely nervous and all my focus was on making sure I didn't kill the car in the middle of the road.

As I approached the roundabout, I realized that I was speeding. I slowed down, went through the roundabout, and as I look in the rear view mirror, I see flashing lights.  My mind instantly goes into panic mode, my sympathetic nervous system kicks in, and I pull the car over and successfully kill it. I turn to Derek and say with panic in my voice, "I don't have my driver's license!"

I didn't have my license because I was not planning on driving that evening. After the officer explained to me what I had done, I was speeding (at least he was nice about it) he asked for my license and I said somewhat sheepishly, "I don't have it because I was not planning on driving this evening."  Luckily, he took the insurance and registration and let us off with a warning.

When I finally pulled the car into the parking lot of my apartment complex, shut it off, and climbed out I looked at Derek and said, "Well we'll just see when the next time I drive your car is."