I Don't Speed!

Ever. Not when I'm late. Not when people wave nasty fingers at me. Most of you know this about me, as I don't even like to ride with people that speed.

(Well, there is that occasional time when I get chatty in the car and don't realize I have crept up a couple of miles per hour, but when I catch myself I immediately return to speed limit or below.) Therefore, I do not fear the law. When I hear sirens, I know they are not for me. I find cops friendly. So what I'm about to tell you may surprise you...

Today I received my very first speeding ticket. Ever.

I know. I was so surprised myself, that when the officer pulled me over, I actually thought I was getting punk'd.

You see, this was the speed limit for the stretch I was driving at the time...

But I was not driving 35. I was actually driving about 20.

I was approaching this sign:

Apparently, when you see this sign, you should already be slowing even before you reach the sign because at the sign you should already be at 15mph.

***

At my 20mph, I had not yet begun to slow, and therefore the officer did not feel confident that I would slow in time to stop for a hypothetical little one who might hypothetically dart into the road unexpectedly.

My bad.

The cop just flashed his lights - didn't even use his siren or "woo woo" to pull me over. I think he, too, was embarassed.

I looked around to see the idiot speeding in the school zone. Alas, it was me.

For all you non-believers and thinkers that "5 above" is the "safe zone" - See ya in court!

Butterflies And Other Lies

Perhaps we should get out more often. We try, we do.

After football, ballet, piano, life... it's just not easy packing up a family of 6 and heading off for a family field trip. But sometimes we do.

I saw this advertisement in our local parenting magazine for a butterfly garden exhibit. "Wander through a garden filled with more than twenty species of live butterflies. Price $3." (Score!)

It took two hours to leave the house. It took 30 minutes to get there. It took 2 adult admissions at $15 a piece and 3 children's admissions at $8 a piece (Isaac was free - we love the under 3 for free rule) to the botanical gardens just to earn the right to pay the EXTRA three dollars a piece to see the butterflies. That's right. (Foul!)

Well, there was no turning back now, it was too much work getting there, and we didn't have a plan B. Lucky for us, the butterflies really were fabulous. It's hard to be cranky when you are surrounded by multitudes of flittering butterflies. Have a look at some of the pictures I took in the garden...

Beautiful, yes?