Speeding? Not me!!!

The ONLY downer of the Seattle weekend was on the way home. Here's how it went down:

Keri: Driving along chatting with her friend, laughing, talking, having a really great time. The car goes up and over a little hill and there he is...da da dum....

Keri: Seeing the officer, thinks, "I wonder how fast I'm going." Looking down she realizes that she is going 13 mph OVER the limit. Oops. As soon as she sees the cop she just starts making her way to the side of the road cause she knows she's toast. Sure enough he's after her. Keri removes her seat belt as soon as the engine is off. Mistake 1.

Officer: "Hi there. Do you know the reason I pulled you over?"

Keri: Said in a cheery, apologetic voice. "I sure do! I was totally speeding. I didn't mean to, but I was. I came up and over the hill and saw you--looked down and started pulling over. " (Yes, I actually said "totally speeding" to a police officer. Sigh. What can I say, I was nervous!)

Officer: Obligatory laugh. "I see that you are not wearing your safety belt."

Keri: Said in panicky voice with laughter. "Oh no! I promise that I was wearing it. I just took it off when I stopped the car. I SWEAR!!!" More nervous laughter. Then remembering that this is a solemn event, says, "I know this isn't funny." More nervous laughter.

Officer: "May I see your license and registration please?"

Keri: "No problem. Let me get it." At this point my hands are shaking and I feel like I might vomit having only been pulled over one other time, 13 years ago...for speeding. Mistake 2....Proof of insurance is expired. Mistake 3.....Registration card is expired.

More nervous laughter from Keri.

Officer: Taking the license, announces that he'll be back.

After what felt like FOREVER, but was probably only 5 minutes or so.

Officer: "OK, your registration is current and I was able to verify insurance. You were going 13 mph over the legal limit. I'm going to cite you for 5mph over. Your insurance shouldn't make too much noise about that. Make sure you get your paperwork squared away once you get home."

Keri: Said respectfully, "Thank you, sir."

Officer: "One more thing. If you ever have an emergency vehicle escorting you to the side of the road in the future, pull to the right side of the road rather than the left." Argh!!! Mistake 4.

At that point I just started babbling about how I'm from a really small town and Seattle traffic is really scary and I didn't know what to do.....and....and...and....I call it diarrhea mouth when that happens. My mouth just kept going and I couldn't stop the words from coming out....ever had that happen? In my defense, I was in the far left lane of 4 lanes of traffic. He was in the median and there was a WIDE open emergency lane on the left. It made so much more sense to go to the left rather than crossing 4 lanes of busy Seattle traffic to get to the right. Right?!


Now that it's over I can totally (yes, totally) laugh about it. The officer was really cool about it. By the end he was laughing...I never stopped laughing-- my laughter just got less nervous. Today, I am sending in my payment of $93--which could have been for SO MUCH MORE!!!! My only regret at this point? Why didn't I get a picture with him??!!! Wouldn't that be the perfect ending to this blog entry??!!