So over the last few weeks we've celebrated Ryan's 34th birthday, made a quick trip to NC for my 10-year Homecoming at WCU and made it successfully to the end of the potty training era. All in all, it's been a mostly uneventful few weeks at our house.
I did however, receive something that I've never even been in a situation to receive before in my entire life...my first speeding ticket. Now, this isn't the first time I've driven faster than the speed limit...that's pretty much expected on the roads in Dallas...if you drove the speed limit around here you'd get run over. But a couple of weeks ago I was headed to the doctor and the road I normally take is out b/c of a bridge replacement so I had to go a route I'd never been before. I'll admit, I was running a little late and distracted by both my baby in the backseat and looking for detour signs so I really had no idea how fast over I had been going when I saw that motorcycle cop behind me...honestly, I didn't even know how long he'd been back there so that'll tell you how aware I was of the situation! Luckily I was only doing 42 mph in a 30 mph zone (and it wasn't a school or construction zone) so no immediate revoking of my license was necessary.
For the most part, the officer wasn't too bad...he did however irk me with his response to my question of whether he could just give me a warning ticket considering this was my first "pull over" since getting my license in 1993. His response, "I would think this would be a great opportunity to teach your children about actions and consequences"...my response to that, "we're currently working on learning to extend grace and forgiveness at our house". Yeah, that didn't get me anywhere...but I felt better after saying it. :o)
After I called Ryan (and yes, I cried like a little girl) I called my insurance company b/c I didn't even know how the process worked or what I needed to do. I found out in the course of the conversation that since this was my first speeding ticket, I could either pay it and get the points on my insurance, pay a fee and do deferred something or other meaning I just can't get another one in the next three months and then it'll go away or I could take a defensive driving course and it would disappear like magic. I also found out that the defensive driving course would save me 10% on my car insurance over the next three years (which, considering the cost of car insurance in Texas is a pretty nice chunk of change) so I opted for that.
I immediately started looking around for defensive driving courses and I found out that it doesn't really matter how the material is delivered...it just has to be 6 hours of instruction followed by a standardized test. First I considered doing it online but I heard from others before me that it's really a pain...no "doing it quicker" than the computer will let you and you can't open other windows with the instruction material open. Like I could find a time when I'm home that I could have six uninterrupted hours to work on this...I can barely manage six uninterrupted minutes! Then I found my solution...a class on Tuesday nights at Joe's Crabshack where the presentation is done by a bunch of comediennes! So for $30 I get to have a child free night of laughing about driving defensively, all while removing my ticket from my driving record and saving a boatload of money. I feel like I should write the officer that gave me the ticket a thank you note!!!
Other than that, things have been pretty normal around here...a few Sharpie marks on the wall, a squirrel (we think) in the attic, Alison starting solids, you know, just the usual stuff. :o)
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