Warning! Warning!

Luckily today, I was given two warnings...

Today was a pretty busy day. I had the boys signed up to go the the "playcare" at the YMCA while I worked out, then Harrison had a sports class, while Noah stayed at playcare a little while longer. Harrison also had a birthday party to go to, and I hadn't taken the time to wrap the gift for the party yet. I felt rushed all morning.

While we were at Harrison's sports class, one of the kids showed up about 15 minutes late. His mom said they would have been on time, but she got pulled over. I was thinking "I'm so glad that wasn't me!" I just recently (within the last year or two) had the ticket that I got back in college (driving home cross country) taken off my record. And I have never gotten a ticket in California, but from what I've heard they are expensive. I was thinking "I'm glad I haven't ever gotten a ticket here" and thinking that if we move soon I will have dodged that bullet. That was warning number 1.

So sports class ended, and Harrison and I rushed to grab Noah, and rush off to go to the party. I was giving the boys a lecture on how fast we needed to be when we got home so Harrison wouldn't miss any more of the party. We were already a half an hour late, and so I was rushing. Just as I was telling them this, I thought to myself, "I should watch my speed." But did I? No. I adjusted my rear view mirror and thought "I never see cops around here..." I didn't even have a chance to look at my speedometer when I looked up to see 5 CHP motorcycles and a cruiser with several officers with radar guns. And one of them was waving me in. All I could think was "How stupid can you get?" (me, not them...) After I stopped, I rolled down my window, to have the cop turn the radar gun around and show me that I was going 42. In a 30 zone. All I could think was, "Man, how much is that going to cost me." but I managed to mutter, "I am so sorry." He asked me for my license, and said hi to the kids in the back as I pulled it out. I tried to explain myself, "We were late to a birthday party, and I wasn't paying attention. I'm sorry." He asked for the year of the car, and then said it would be a couple minutes. He went back over by his bike, and started filling a ticket out. I said to Harrison, "This is going to be a really expensive birthday party..." and started thinking about the long term insurance ramifications. A few minutes later he came back to my window. I was prepared for the worst. He said, "I'm going to give you a warning this time. And I'm giving it to you because I want you to get this bird poop off your car." And that was that. He handed me a piece of paper that just told me to drive better - no fine, no driving record. Wow. Warning number 2.

A little background on the bird poop - Sunday morning when we went out to our car, a seemingly massive bird had left quite a display on Noah's window. It was huge and nasty. So big that the boys have been complaining about their view being obstructed by it. But, with gas prices being what they are, we've been driving less, and going to the cheaper gas stations without car washes. So I hadn't had the chance to go through a car wash. And so there was (and still is) a huge mess on the window right next to where the cop talked to me. Thankfully it saved me paying a big fine. I've never been so happy to have such a dirty car before. Needless to say, I drove under the speed limit the rest of the way home, not worrying about the extra time it took.