This, my dear friends, is the sweatiest episode of Your Daily Lex ever.

Your Daily Lex.

I mean that quite literally.

I’m very sweaty.

Here’s why.

Normally, my routine would be to work out in the morning.

Several things have been interfering with my ability to work out in the morning.

One is house guests who are accommodating, but sometimes, you know, if I know that they’re getting ready, I gotta not use the gym when I would normally use it.

Two was specific to today.

Ani, who turned 17 last week, was taking the driving test today, getting a license in MoMA.

The theory was, we’d go get a license.

And because of that, there were extra, there were chaotic plans because Lauren had to get the other two kids to school in different ways, one to two different buses.

And then Ani was getting picked up at 7 a.m.

by the driving instructor for a lesson that would culminate in going to the DMV, a pretty faraway DMV where they do driver tests, and then take the test.

And then I had to meet Ani there to help pay for a license in Victory, and then get Ani to school, et cetera.

And a lot of moving pieces.

And the driving instructor guy, his name is Al, he showed up at 6.40 or so, 6, maybe, I know, I think he was there earlier, he was there around 6.20.

And so that caused some panic because Ani wasn’t ready to go out then.

And he’s like, no, no, I always get here early, don’t worry about it.

And he set up cones, traffic cones in the street so that Ani could practice parallel parking.

Ani hadn’t really practiced parallel parking, I think, ever before that time.

But this is how the driving school does it.

They teach you to drive, they tell you to drive with your family for a year, and they say, the day of your driving test, we’ll teach you how to parallel park for the test.

Which is precisely what they did.

But so I was supposed to meet Ani at the driving place at precisely 8 a.m.

Now, Ani’s appointment wasn’t until 8.20, but I was supposed to be there at 8 a.m., apparently.

So, I go out of the house at 7.28, because it’s a 30-minute drive.

And I see that Ani is still in our cul-de-sac, practicing the parallel parking.

And so I watch this for a little while, and then I see they’re going to go practice K-turns.

And I’m like, well, I’m supposed to be there at 8, so even though Ani hasn’t even left yet, I’ll go, because it seems weird for me to just sit in my driveway watching Ani drive in the street.

I didn’t know if I was maybe making Ani nervous, which was not in any way my intent.

So, off I go.

I get there, and I see a text from Lauren that Ani has left for the DMV roughly four minutes before I parked at the DMV.

So I know I have about a half an hour to wait until they’ll even be there.

Great.

So, then, I just got a text from my kid Sierra, in all caps, saying, Help, because of a spider.

But anyway, so I just wait for Ani.

Then, I’m tracking Ani, I find my friends, and Ani’s getting closer and closer, and then Ani’s really close, but then I don’t see Ani.

Like, I know that Ani’s there, but I don’t see Ani.

And I’m looking around, and eventually I send a text to Ani being like, I know you’re here, but I can’t see you.

And Ani sends me a photo of Ani’s view, and I realize that they are not going into the main DMV entrance.

They’re going to the secret behind entrance that’s just for applicants in cars, and Ani is in car, in line.

And so I wish Ani good luck, and then I stand around with other parents.

And there is a line of cars, especially because I guess they were half an hour late for their appointment or so.

And then Al comes out of his car, and Ani’s going to drive Al’s car.

And, you know, the biggest thing is Ani’s nerves.

Ani’s a reasonable driver for being 17, just doesn’t quite have enough confidence yet.

That’s what Ani’s working on with driving.

And Ani would be the first to admit that.

But so, Al and I are talking and watching and observing, and he’s like, I told Ani everything she needs to know, it’s going to be great.

And Ani did go pretty slowly, but nailed the parallel parking, which is a dumb thing to include on a driver’s list anyway.

And then did all the other driving stuff right, including a K-turn, and remembering to stop at a stop sign, signaling turns, etc.

And then, indeed, got awarded the license.

I was very proud.

I teared up.

It was lovely.

And then Ani goes into the DMV building solo because nobody else is allowed for some reason.

I have to give Ani my credit card to pay for the license, whatever.

And we don’t have the license license, the cool-looking one yet.

We just have the provisionary thing or whatever.

And that’s fine.

Ani is now a true licensed driver.

Then I have to take Ani to school.

Then I get to go home and do my workday.

And then, when I had a little break in my workday calendar, I said, you know what, I never got to run today.

And the New York Times had an article this week that says that running, even running slowly, even running for just 20 minutes at a time, a couple days a week, is really healthy, probably the most healthy exercise.

And I was like, man, I want to run.

So I did.

I just ran three miles before recording this episode, hence any out-of-breath-lessness that you hear, and hence being really freaking sweaty.

But I’d like to cool down, as you know from regular listening to this podcast.

I like to wait, if I can, before the shower, because then I can try to get some of my sweating done before the shower, because I hate sweating post-shower.

That seems like a waste of a shower.

Anyway, have a wonderful weekend, and be careful on the roads in New Jersey and everywhere.

Thanks.