Volvo V70

A little story about my Volvo and in the end it will give you something to relate during this award show time of year. Promise.

I loved my Volvo wagon. I'm a mom, what's not to love?

One day it dies in the middle of an intersection. Someone has to push me to the side of the road. A week later it dies again. This time I have my 2 kids in the car, it is 95 degrees out and the tow truck driver arrives 45 minutes later. He doesn't have room in his cab for all 3 of us so he leaves. Yep.

I get a new transmission. Two weeks later the car dies again. This time on the side of Laguna Canyon Road. For those of you not familiar, Laguna Canyon Road is a beautiful stretch of highway that leads from Irvine to the beach. It has no emergency lane.

A couple of days later I am headed to Ontario to judge the District 15 ADDYs. A lovely Saturday drive about 50 minutes away from my house. As I am pulling into the parking lot, you can guess what happens. My car dies AGAIN.

Four times in two months. I just about lost it. No wait, I did lose it. Total frustration, tears. And now I have to go in and judge a slew of pieces in an award show.

Some advice: Never judge an award show in a foul mood. About halfway through I had to excuse myself from the judging. I couldn't focus, I had no idea what to do about the car and I needed a beer really bad.

My point to you. You never know who is judging your work and what happened to them that day or the night before. Now I'm not at all saying that judges aren't worthy and don't take the process seriously. They certainly do. I am saying don't get too stressed over not winning every award show you enter. There are a lot of Volvos out there on the road.