My Day in Court

Yes, you read the title correctly. I had the opportunity to go to court today (a first for me)! As a warning this post became rather long so sit back and get comfy...

My long, sad story began the day after Christmas on the way home from taking Sweetie to the doctor. She had some sort of bronchial thing (a really bad cough) and we were headed to the pharmacy for her medicine. We were almost to our destination when a cop on a motorcycle flipped a u-turn and put his siren on. I tried to get out of the way and was rather surprised that he was pulling me over. I was wracking my brain trying to think what in the world I had done wrong (I admit that I speed on occasion) but he was stopped at the light going the opposite direction so that wasn't it. I pulled over and he came up and said that my state inspection was expired for over 60 days. I was truly confused by this because I knew that we had the inspection done in the summer.

Let me pause at this point and explain to those of you that don't live in the great state of Texas that each year your car must pass an inspection. They check various things (we had to fix my emergency brake) and it varies from county to county (you have to pass emissions in Plano but they don't do that in Waco). Then you get this nifty sticker with large numbers on it showing the month and year it expires. You place this sticker next to your registration sticker on the driver side of the windshield. Lots of stickers to leave a big gooey mess on your windshield. Fun.

Back to the story...He asked for my insurance and let me look for it while he went back to his bike. I couldn't find my proof of insurance anywhere in the car and I started to panic. I sent Ladd a text message and he told me they were at home (we just got our new papers for our new insurance). Great. The officer came back and I told him about the insurance. He then asked if the address on my license was correct (lucky me, I actually changed it this time, I don't usually do that for months and months after we move). So he went back to his bike while I sat there getting worried I'd get a ticket for the insurance too.

After what felt like forever (all the while poor Sweetie was hacking up a lung) he came back with my ticket for my expired inspection. He told me to go home and get the insurance papers into the car but he'd let that slide. At least something went my way.

I got home and told Ladd all about what happened and sure enough the sticker said June 2008. Now I suppose it would be fair to point out that I should have noticed this long before I got the ticket, but I really don't pay much attention to the stickers on my car. Plus we were in Seattle for a good chunk of the summer and as soon as we got back to Texas we moved into a rental place in Dallas. We've had a lot going on this past year.

Then I called the place where we got the inspection done and the owner apologized profusely for what happened. After some research it was discovered that our sticker was never replaced with a new one. He wrote a letter explaining what happened along with copies of the work order and receipt. I went down to the Plano courthouse and got an appointment for the end of Feb. to come back and explain myself.

Today was the big day! I was very nervous about getting there by the 8:30am starting time with 2 little kids in tow but we made it! After we got through security we checked in and the officer told me I had to wait in the hallway (instead of inside the courtroom) because 'the child was too loud'. I was very relieved by this so we got to play until it was our turn.

I went in and spoke with the judge. He asked for my plea (not guilty) and then I met with the prosecutor to show all my documentation. The kids wasted no time getting antsy and making noise while he copied my papers. After a couple minutes I was called back up and the judge said my case was dismissed (hooray!) and I was free to go. Most everyone else there had speeding tickets and had to take some sort of driving class to get everything cleared up.

I learned 2 things from this entire event: 1) Check your inspection sticker before you leave the inspection place and 2) It is very easy to get pulled over in Plano. I was chatting with a guy that said he's never been pulled over so much in his life as the last 4 years he's lived here. Cops are everywhere!

Footwear

Cutie Pie is showing more of her personality all the time. One thing she is very opinionated about is her footwear. Let me explain...

Around Thanksgiving she needed some new shoes (there are certain things like shoes that I don't pass from kid to kid) so we went shopping. She was happy until we sat down to try on a pair. I don't remember what they looked like but she threw a tantrum. I couldn't even get these shoes onto her feet to see if they fit. I finally gave up (some things just aren't worth the fight). We were about to leave when I saw another pair and decided to try one last time. We sat down and Cutie Pie sat perfectly still and put them on. I hurried and bought them before her good mood vanished. I was afraid that once we got home she wouldn't like them (Sweetie is famous for this) but the opposite happened, she LOVES her baby Skechers. I thought it was interesting that someone so young would have such a strong opinion about shoes. Here they are...

For fun, here she is wearing some Hello Kitty slippers....

For Valentine's Day I got the girls some fleece lined crocs (they were $3 a pair) and true to form Cutie Pie didn't like them at the store and wants nothing to do with them now. Sad.

Well, today we were at Walmart and I saw some cute Princess Mary Jane's. Normally I'm not a fan of character clothes and shoes (I talked Sweetie out of a pair of HSM shoes) but I thought these were cute. I showed them to Cutie Pie and lo and behold...she liked them! I put them on her feet and she had a fit when I took them off! She wore them out of the store and all day long. In fact, Popcorn likes them so much she wants a pair too. Here are the Princess shoes...

Gotta love a girl that knows what she wants!

Cooking with Dad

The girls had fun helping smoke our 'feast of pork' last week. First off let me say that Ladd makes some super delicious ribs. After years of perfecting the recipe he has it down to a fine art. They cook for 5 hours, which is quite a commitment of time. He stopped making them just for us and would only do them for company. However, the Super Bowl was a special event (to him) so we got to enjoy some yummy food all to ourselves. Here's Ladd with his little helpers....



Popcorn was the most interested in helping and was the first to spritz (I'm not sure if I'm allowed to disclose the liquid!).

Sweetie also got to help, although she was bothered by the bright sun, as evident from the first pic.

Not wanting to be left out Cutie Pie joined the fun, but she had to be contained so she wouldn't get burned or fall into the pool. She likes to reach in and splash the water. On a side note the little car has fallen into the pool twice (from the high winds). That thing fills up with water and is very difficult to fish out!

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