po po power!

My blogging dedication seems to be deteriorating (or maybe just my free time!). Things are going super though. Next weekend Dan and Laura are coming to visit! I would love to think they are just coming to visit meee... but then I would just be lying to myself. They are coming out to support Robbie (an old roommate of Dan's) - he's getting hitched! It's a very popular weekend for love it seems... I can think of at least 4 couples tying the knot that weekend. Good for them :)

Speaking of love - it's Valentines Day on Monday! Who can guess what I'll be doing...? I bet you guessed wrong because it's way more fun than you'd expect.

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I'm going to court. Yes, that's right - I'm a criminal. I will be on trial. Not only is that super fun news, but I also get to drive all the way to Wellsville to do it! Yep, 2 hours there, 2 hours back = 4 hours of glorious driving time on Valentines Day. I'm sure you're dying to know what trouble I got myself into this time... well, it's pretty dumb. I wish I could give an exciting story like the time I was in trouble with the police for my potato gun. Nope. You see, the sad part about this story was that I was actually trying to follow the speed limit. We all have our times when we are knowingly speeding 5-10 (some people 15-20) mph over the speed limit. Not this time. I knew that Wellsville was a speedtrap and I didn't want a ticket! So, I responsibly put my cruise control on 31 mph (the limit was 30). So, much to my surprise I suddenly had flashing lights behind me. Knowing that I couldn't possibly be guilty of speeding, I willingly pulled over and waited to see what the officer had to say.

Bleh.

Apparently I was in a school zone and the limit was 20. Meaning, I was going 11 over in a double-fine zone. MAAAAN! I have the worst driving luck! it is especially sad when I have good intentions. So, the bottom line? $209 poorer, mandatory court appearance on Valentines Day, and adios to my clean record. I guess it could be worse.

airports, illegal weapons, and the TSA police

 

So you may think that this looks like a real gun.... well, so did the police (TSA) at the airport. Adam (Sego) and I were happy to find out that we had the same flight home - so at least I had someone to share the madness with. The airport adventure began like any other. Janet had warned us not to go through the "special scanner" because apparently it strips you naked and the airport personnel can see, well, EVERYTHING. I vowed to avoid that line. Only, I wasn't so lucky. We were running a tad bit late and so I jumped into the shortest line to speed the process along. Bad idea. Yep, you know what happened. There was a reason the line was so short.

So, after enduring that embarrassment, I was waiting patiently for my backpack, carry-on, and shoes to come down the line. Red lights started flashing and an old security guard confiscated my backpack. He said there was something "suspicious" inside. I realized that I hadn't removed my pepper spray and got a little worried! He was frustrated to find that I had my purse and my makeup back inside of my backpack and sighed heavily and told me it was going to "be a while." I wondered whether you could get arrested for bringing pepper spray into the airport. Well, it wasn't the pepper spray (he didn't even find that!). Instead, he found my little bottle of vanilla lotion... which passed the test because it was only 3 ounces. Phew, with that crisis averted, I looked back to get my carry-on bag. What I saw was not good. There was a group of security guards huddled around the monitor x-raying my bag... pointing... muttering... and CALLING THE POLICE. Uh oh. The old man security guard informed me that I was "in lots of trouble." Adam was just laughing... and honestly I was too. I hope it wasn't disrespectful. 

So, the police came and looked at the monitor. The old man security guard asked me whether I had anything I needed to tell him. Whether I needed to "confess." I confessed all right. I told him I had clothes and Christmas presents in there. The police walked over and took me to the side and asked me in a calm manner, "Ma'am, do you have anything in your bag that might resemble, you know... a gun?" I had to think about it for about 3 seconds and realized that I DID have a gun in my bag! Not a real one though. I bought my brother a nifty miniature potato gun for Christmas (see picture below). Unfortunately, it does look like a gun... even made out of metal! Long story short, they confiscated my arsenal and I was allowed to pass w/out handcuffs.