3rd time's a charm....and a suprise

     On our way home from spending Thanksgiving in Idaho, we were driving along, minding our own business, when we passed by a cop who had just finished pulling someone over. I thought to myself, "poor person, that is not a fun way to end your Thanksgiving holiday." We continued on, when we noticed that the cop had pulled out and was tailing us. And then the lights came on. Crap. Ben wasn't speeding, I mean common here, people don't call him "grandpa Ben" when he is behind the wheel for nothin'. Love you Ben! We were all buckled up, everything seemed fine, we were stumped. The cop walked over to our car and asked the usual, "Do you know why I pulled you over?" Ben said he had no idea, and the cop said that our registration was outdated. Oh man! Ben was very polite, but the cop was really stern and not about to budge with anything. He spent forever doing whatever they do in their car, before coming back over and slapping a ticket in Ben's hand. Rats! Rude cop. Bad luck. Guess we need to get things registered and up to date.

A few days later, Ben was driving the other car, for work. And what do you know, he gets pulled over! Again, he has no idea why. The cop, a little more politely this time, tells Ben that the registration for that car is overdue. Seriously! It was almost comical, aside from the fact that Ben got a fix it ticket. Boo. What are the odds. Twice in a week, for the same thing.

  Fast forward to this morning.
Setting: Ben is frantically getting ready for work. I am cleaning up from making the kids pancakes, while fixing Mary's hair for school. Luke has a huge blow-out, probably from the penicillin he is on. Ben is up to his elbows in Lukes poop, while I am trying to eat oatmeal, get Mary out the door, and clean up from Breakfast.

Story: Ben finishes up with Luke, and runs out to his car for something. He leaves it warming up for me and Mary. So sweet. I am still in my mis-matched pj's, my hair is all over, no make-up, you get the idea. Mary and I start heading out the door and William freaks out because he wants to come. I grab William who has no shoes, no jacket, his diaper from last night still on, and pancakes all over his clothes and face. The back of Ben's car is full of snow skii and work gear, so I hurridly buckle Mary and William together in the front passanger seat, and we take off for the school. No, I did not grab my purse. I barely get Mary to school on time, but we make it. Few! As I am driving away from the school, I notice that a cop has pulled someone over. I think to myself that this morning, of all mornings, would be the worst possible time for me to get pulled over, and thank my lucky stars that the person on the side of the road is not me. And then the car behind me, which looked like a normal car, all of a sudden has lights blaring and is tailing me. argh...undercover cops! I quickly glanced at my speed. 35mph, few, I am not speeding. And then it hits, I am still in the school zone, and my heart drops to my feet. I pulled into the rec center parking lot and waited for the inevitable. And then I quickly assessed the situation. I look like absolute white trash. I have no make-up, my hair is everywhere, I have my pj's on (which do not match at all), I am wearing slippers. William has no shoes, no coat, is covered in syrup, is in the front seat, and is not in a booster seat. Double bad. The back of the car seriously looks like I am living out of the car. There is stuff everywhere! And to top it off, I don't have my purse, which means no lisence. Oh yeah, and the registration is outdated. Rock on. I basically sink down in my seat and wait to be arrested, have my child taken from me, or fined thousands of dollars. The cop walks over to the car, and I roll down the window. He glances over me, William and the car, and instead of instand disapproval and rage, his face shows pity. And then I get it. He thinks I am homeless, can't afford shoes or coats for me or my child, I am living out of my car, (which is a nice car, but maybe he though I won it from a drawing or something:) )and we will be having no Christmas this year. He asks me how I am doing. Not the usual, "do you know why I pulled you over?" It is amazing what can go though a person's mind in just a few seconds. I was tempted to totally play up the situation, start bawling, and talking about our dire situation, me being a single homeless mother, raising my filthy child, and living in the car. But, I went for honesty. I tell the cop, that I was in a hurry because my husband was late for work, and I took his car to drop my daughter off at school. (yup, I let him know that my husband did in fact have a job, I was married, and I may have been speeding) The cop kindly smiles and asks me if I can give him my lisence. ugh. Here we go. I say, "This is my husbands car, and I rushed out the door. My purse is in my car at our house. (great, now he knows we do in fact have a home, and we even have another car. The hole just gets deeper) I decide to just be humble, so I say, "look, I really am sorry for whatever it is I did, I know this looks really bad." The cop actually chuckled! He said, "well, your back break light is out. But since this isn't your car, you wouldn't know that. Just tell your husband to get that fixed asap. And you have a good day and get him off to work on time ok. Merry Christmas." I literally almost pass out from shock. And then the cop looks at William and asks him his name. I glance over and William and my eyes bulge out. Not only is my two year old child in the front seat, and not in a booster (two major no no's), he has unbuckled himself at some point. I figure the Mr. Nice cop thing is over. I am toast. I hold my breath as William chats away with the cop. He shows him his cars he is holding, and his gum he is chewing. The cop just smiles. Then the cop gives William and hand shake, me a nod, and leaves. I sit there frozen in shock for a few minutes, before heading home. I am still reeling from the whole thing. What a huge blessing! It literally made my day. So, we have now been pulled over three times in a month. Third time is a charm I guess.  I feel lucky.

And to top it all off, here is the suprise. While I have been typing this post, Ben called. THEY ARE DIGGING THE HOLE FOR OUR HOUSE TOMORROW!!!! I am so giddy right now I can hardly stand it. We were just hoping they would dig by Christmas, so this is a suprise. A great one. It really does feel like Christmas today. I am headed out to take some "before" pictures, and then tomorrow we will go as a family to watch them break the ground. Hip Hip Hooray!!!!